Congratulations to Nitsch Engineering on their Gold Space!

On Friday, May 31^st, representatives from the USGBC MA Chapter stopped by Nitsch Engineering’s new office at 2 Center Plaza to celebrate the office achieving LEED-CI Gold Certification. USGBC MA Chapter Executive Director Grey Lee, MSc, LEED AP BD+C; USGBC MA Chapter Chair Gregory Sampson; and USGBC MA Chapter Vice Chair Neil Angus, AICP, joined Nitsch Engineering President & CEO Lisa A. Brothers, PE, LEED AP BD+C, and Chief Engineer Sandra A. Brock, PE, CFM, LEED AP BD+C (who is also a Board Member of the USGBC MA Chapter) for a tour of the office, which was designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects. Lisa and Sandy shared information on the sustainable office elements, which include refurbished office furniture, optimized energy performance, comingled recycling, sustainable building materials, and a green cleaning plan. For more details on Nitsch Engineering’s green office, visit www.nitscheng.com.

Photo Courtesy of Nitsch Engineering. Left to Right: Neil Angus, AICP, Staff Planner at Devens Enterprise Commission and Vice Chair of USGBC MA Chapter; Gregory Sampson, Associate at Robinson & Cole LLP and Chair of USGBC MA Chapter; Lisa A. Brothers, PE, LEED AP BD+C, President and CEO of Nitsch Engineering; Sandra A. Brock, PE, CFM, LEED AP BD+C, Chief Engineer of Nitsch Engineering and Board Member of USGBC MA Chapter; and Grey Lee, MSc, LEED AP BD+C, Executive Director of USGBC MA Chapter.

The USGBC Annual Report is Out!

If you really want to geek out about the USGBC!

Each year, the national organization collects information from the many chapters across the country to get a sense of how much advocacy, education, and professional development work is happening.

Caution:  this is a 379-page pdf  but it's worth scrolling through if you're interested in knowing more about how we compare to our peers and how similar our efforts are across the country. Quite inspirational to think about how many volunteer hours are being contributed to this cause, and how we are succeeding at making more and more components of the built environment better for the, well, the environment!

Project Spotlight: Harvard Graduate School of Education Gutman Library (1st and 2nd Floor)

Harvard Graduate School of Education recently celebrated the LEED Platinum certification of the 1^st and 2^nd floors of the Gutman Library. With three certified buildings already under their belts, HGSE now leads the University for the number of certified projects per square foot.

The 1^st and 2^nd Floors of the Gutman Library, approximately 36,000 square feet, are certified under the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI v2009) rating system and earned a total of 83 points out of 110 possible points.  The goal of the renovation was to create a meeting place for the students and faculty of the School of Education while still prioritizing sustainability. The renovations included the addition of a café, indoor and outdoor seating, new reading and lounge areas (including a working fireplace), and the rearrangement of book stacks, periodicals, and microfiche collection. The project team also addressed outstanding renewal issues with the mechanical, heating, and plumbing systems.

To achieve their goal of sustainability, the Gutman Library project team:

• Installed demand control ventilation. The volume of outside air supplied to multi-occupant spaces is controlled by a C02 sensor. C02 increases as more people enter the room and more outside air is provided
• Reused waste heat in the kitchen. Air handling units in the kitchen hood captures and uses the waste heat from the refrigeration equipment to pre-heat the supply air      
•  Diverted 96% of construction waste from the landfill

For more information on this facility and its sustainability features:

Harvard School of Education  

Sustainability at Harvard

SUCCESS: Boston Building Energy and Disclosure Ordinance Passes, Becomes Law

We are proud to announce that the USGBC MA Chapter was part of a broad coalition that successfully advocated and ensured the passage of the ordinance on May 8th, 2013. You can read more about it here. Congratulations are due to Brian Swett and the Environmental & Energy Services department in Boston for making it all come together.

Mayor Menino's Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance was approved by the Boston City Council in a 9-4 vote. The Ordinance requires large commercial and residential buildings to report and disclose their energy and water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage investment in energy efficiency and further the City's climate action goals. 

The resource consumption database for buildings will help the City craft more programs to support better energy efficiency. The Chapter will be sure to participate in rolling out education and outreach programs to help more owners and users of buildings embrace carbon mitigation and other environmentally responsible strategies.

The next big question is: could this reporting process and database become a State-wide phenomenon?