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Greenbuild 2016, LA
I’m just back from Greenbuild 2016 in LA and it was another great conference with plenty of knowledge shared, new tech seen and fun had. Along with my colleague Shannon Kaplan, I was able to share our work on engaging occupants in achieving net zero and high performing buildings. My most memorable takeaway was “Partnership is the New Leadership”. This…
Governor Baker Signs Energy Bill
As Advocacy Chair of the USGBC Massachusetts I have had the privilege to work with the chapter and a broad coalition of other organizations around PACE legislation for commercial buildings. We are very excited to see that the energy bill passed by the MA legislature includes provisions for PACE. This is one portion of a larger bill that focuses on…
USGBC Legislative Celebration BBQ
On Thursday the USGBC Massachusetts chapter, along with Climate Action Business Association (CABA), hosted a legislative celebration BBQ. CABA graciously hosted the event at their new headquarters at Old West Church in Boston. There was grilling, cold drinks, yard games, and a great group of people; it doesn’t get much better than that. Attendees, including state legislators, city officials, advocates,…
New England AIA COTE Leadership Summit
Many AIA chapters throughout the country have COTE (Committee on the Environment) groups. The New England AIA COTE committees get together yearly to discuss current topics in the industry. Sustainability leaders throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire are invited to participate in the day long series of workshops. I participated in the event on June 2nd,…
IBPSA Workshop
Arrowstreet participated in a workshop last week hosted by the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) Boston chapter, which focused on early energy modeling. The workshop brought together architects and engineers to talk about ways that we can improve upon our processes to facilitate better design integration of energy modeling. We also discussed ways that we can use modeling to demonstrate…
Designing Environmental Advocacy
As Advocacy Chair of the USGBC Massachusetts, it was a pleasure to host in partnership with AIA Massachusetts, a roundtable discussion with a dozen sustainable and environmental focused organizations from the Commonwealth. We had an exciting group of people who advocate for solutions to climate change, education, health, etc…The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss advocacy goals around the…
Taking the 2030 Pledge
On Earth Day this year, Arrowstreet celebrated an important milestone as we made a pledge to the AIA 2030 Commitment. The AIA 2030 Commitment is a “national initiative that provides a consistent, national framework with simple metrics and a standardized reporting format to help firms evaluate the impact design decisions have on an individual project’s energy performance.” Arrowstreet made this…
What is a Net Zero Building?
There are several different definitions that are used for net zero energy buildings. Late in 2015, the US Department of Energy came out with a definition to help create a uniform language. The DOE definition states: “An energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported…
Tools for a Greener Boston
As reported in MIT News last month, researchers at the MIT Sustainable Design Lab (SDL) and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory have worked in collaboration with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to develop a powerful new tool for planning the energy future of the City of Boston. The model continuously estimates the gas and electricity demands of every Boston building. It…