Fun Networking at Knoll!

Last night we had the first in our new series of Networking Nights for the USGBC MA Chapter in Boston.

Knoll - furniture provisioner extraordinaire - provided their LEED Platinum showroom space and a full array of beverages and food for our community. It was a great night for making new connections - I came across the EDF, Spaulding Rehab, a neighbor from an office just upstairs from mine, and met a recent arrival who's only been in Boston two weeks but was part of another Chapter in the midwest and is ready to help out with our crew! Thanks!

And major thank you to Knoll, in particular Jamie Stuono, the Showroom Manager, for making everything come together, and to Andrea Coan, Arch. & Design Manager, for organizing the event and presenting about Knoll. It was great to learn about the features of the space and how the points all came together to earn the highest rating from the USGBC. 

I enjoyed speaking with Andrea about Knoll - how it started with a German refugee in 1939 - Hans Knoll - who brought the Bauhaus design approach to furniture, making a great impression in the US. He was part of a community of forward-thinking designers including the Eames and Eliel Saarinen. The firm started with furniture but expanded into interior design and now full office systems. They innovated in the business by not having designers in-house but rather contracting with the "creatives" to always have new ideas coming from outside the organization. 

She highlighted a favorite piece of hers: a table in the "antennae" product line. The design team had previously worked on subway systems - trains, gate-access systems (I would call them turnstiles but I know that's not really what they are anymore), but who Knoll pursued to work on a line of furniture. The table is classy and clean, but does not look anything like a subway train!

Below is our Green Schools Program Manager, Steve Muzzy, using his hands to explain how wonderful the Green Apple Day of Service is going to be, this September, and how everyone could get involved.

Thanks Knoll and everyone for coming out last night! We look forward to the next time - which will be our "Summer Social" on July 16th, again a Tuesday night at Knoll. 

See you there! More Green Buildings!

-Grey Lee

Platinum Tour of the UTEC in Lowell

In June 12th, the Emerging Professionals (EPMA) hosted a green building tour and networking night in Lowell.

United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) was the venue and provided a great opportunity to see a LEED Platinum facility. It is actually the oldest building to go through to LEED Platinum.

[more commentary is coming, but here are some pictures:]

Fraunhofer hosted the Climate, Mind & Behavior Program June gathering of the Garrison Institute's Boston Hub. We had about 25 people come out to their new facility at 5 Channel Center Street in the Innovation District. Fraunhofer performs a lot of research on buildings and building systems.

Kurt Roth, Fraunhofer's Director of Building Energy Systems Research Group, presented on the "moral licensing" effect of water conservation efforts on electricity use. In their study, an apartment complex where an outreach effort to reduce water was successful, unfortunately, electricity use increased. 

Dallase Scott, Sustainability Programs Manager at GreenerU, showed us research they have done at a university to show that comprehensive outreach efforts do indeed help students embrace new behavior patterns. She described the opportunity in the first semester, to engage with students who are in the process of redefining themselves. The new habits, esp. around energy conservation, they can create then will last a lifetime. 

The group discussed the science of behavior change and outreach and had a lot of good things to share with each other. Thank you to Fraunhofer for hosting us and to the Garrison Institute for providing refreshments.

The Climate, Mind & Behavior Boston Hub will continue: we are hosting our next program on September 25th - hold the date! We welcome suggestions of future presentations. We want to hear from researchers who can answer the following questions –

o   What is the thesis statement?

o   How did you test it?

o   What were the outcomes?

§  What worked

§  What didn’t

o   What are your disclaimers ?

o   What would you have added/what is still missing?

o   How would results from this study be integrated into the field?

Below: Local organizers: Kurt Roth, Bonnie Bentzin, Dallase Scott, Grey Lee and Ed Connelly

Please contact Adam Meier (program coordinator) at adamm@garrisoninstitute.org if you are interested in presenting. Thank you!

From Kurt Roth:

“For better or for worse? Empirical evidence of moral licensing in a behavioral energy conservation campaign”

Environmental campaigns focusing on target behaviors are rolled out to millions of households. Yet it is not clear if these programs lead to adoption of additional environment-friendly behaviors (positive spillover) or reduced engagement in other environmental domains. We conducted a controlled field study to determine if positive or unintended contrary side effects dominate by evaluating the impact of a water conservation campaign on electricity consumption. We use daily water and weekly electricity consumption data of 154 apartments in a multifamily residential building. The results show that residents who received weekly feedback on their water consumption lowered their water use, but increased their electricity consumption by 5.6% relative to the control group. Our findings are consistent with moral licensing behavior. In the future, we recommend taking a more comprehensive view in environmental program design/evaluation to attempt to mitigate such unintended effects.

From Dallase Scott:

“Knowing the Full Story: The Process for Effective Program Evaluation”

This presentation will provide participants with an overview of a year-long study that evaluated the effectiveness of a behavior campaign to reduce energy use in dorms. In this study  four dorms at Brown University received dorm efficiency and control upgrades. Only students in two of the dorms received a targeted behavior campaign  along with the new upgrades. Building energy use, window opening behaviors and awareness and attitudes were examined  between the control and targeted dorms.  During this presentation, we will review the process of 1-Choosing a short term objective to be examined. 2-Choosing an appropriate research design, given constraints and capacities. 3- Determining measurable indicators of success for project objectives. 4-Collecting and analyzing information to identify program impacts.

Networking Nights are Back!

It's time to connect. Join your fellow Green Building professionals and enthusiasts for an informal evening of networking on June 18th. Don't miss this chance to re-launch our energizing series of monthly gatherings designed to bring you together with others who are as passionate about sustainability as you are.

Chapter Silver Partner Knoll has generously agreed to sponsor our networking sessions and host us at their showroom space in the Innovation District of Boston. This month, Andrea Coan will speak briefly at 6:00 to give us highlights of the LEED Platinum space. Appetizers and drinks will be provided.

The Knoll Offices and Showroom at 281 Summer Street, Boston, MA was awarded LEED Platinum certification in 2012

Doors open at 5:30 and stay open until 7:00. This is an informal gathering so please come and go as you please. No worries if you are late or have to leave early.

Register now through the Chapter web site. We look forward to seeing you there!