Sustainable Landscape Networking Night on Cape Cod

by Adam Prince, ZeroEnergy Design

USGBC MA Cape & Islands Interest Group just enjoyed an evening with two sustainable landscape design presentations and a quick tour of a newly renovated commercial building.

Michael Talbot, co-owner of Talbot Ecological Land Care and principal at Environmental Landscape Consultants, LLC, and Seth Wilkinson, President of Wilkinson Ecological Design, each presented a program on ecological and sustainable land development.  Michael provided an overview of sustainable landscape design and management principles, and Seth followed by reviewing case studies of how to incorporate sustainable design by including these principles in the planning and permitting phase of the building process.  Each took questions afterward, as the 20-ish attendees enjoyed a fabulous food spread with refreshments sponored by Cape Associates.

The evening ended with a quick tour led by Adam Prince of ZeroEnergy Design together with Seth Wilkinson, as the group investigated the well insulated office building for Wilkinson Ecological Design which recently underwent a full gut renovation. With green architecture and mechanical design by ZeroEnergy Design, and construction by CapeWide Enterprises, the tour highlighted the many green features of the building.

PRESENTERS:

Michael Talbot, co-owner of Talbot Ecological Land Care

http://www.talbotecolandcare.com

Seth Wilkinson, President of Wilkinson Ecological Design

http://www.wilkinsonecological.com

SPONSOR

Cape Associates

http://capeassociates.com

AHA Consulting Engineers Spotlight

815 Albany Street, Graduate Student Housing

This year AHA Consulting Engineers completed a number of LEED certified projects, including the LEED Gold Certified Graduate Student Housing Project for Boston University. Developed by the Fallon Company, and designed by Beacon Architectural Associates, the 84,000 sf, 9-story project houses over 200 graduate students in 104 2-bedroom suites. Construction was finished in 2012 with a budget of $33 million, or around $390 per sf. This is the first phase in a larger development project on 1.7-acres adjacent to the Boston University Medical Center. The project includes a 12,000 sf park, and over 400,000 sf of development comprised of three buildings and parking facilities.

AHA's role on the project as Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing engineers significantly enhanced innovation in energy efficiency, and helped the project achieve LEED Gold Certification. The project reduced potential water consumption by 40% through the installation of low-flow fixtures, and by harvesting rainwater for use in a high-efficiency irrigation system for native plantings, which in conjunction with permeable surfaces, helps reduce storm water runoff.

The building is 18% more energy efficient than required by code, thanks to high-efficiency building envelope, efficient heating and lighting, energy recovery, and regenerative-drive elevators. There are individual thermal controls in every space, including offices and commons space to help save energy when spaces are not in use. The building employs both natural and mechanical ventilation to meet ASHRAE requirements, which improves the indoor air quality while saving energy.

Other programs in the building include a gym, extensive bicycle storage in the basement, laundry, and the Little Sprouts child care and early childhood education center on the ground floor. All of these features combined make a great place for graduate students to live well while saving energy. The project earned a total of 60 points, you can see more details by checking out the LEED scorecard here.

The Delight of the Living Building Challenge

This past Saturday, the USGBC MA Chapter convened a tour of the Bechtel Environmental Center at the Smith College Field Station in Whatley, MA.

Student volunteers from Smith hosted us, first greeting us at the end of a long and winding country road, and then to describe how the College uses the facility for a variety of purposes. It was funded by the S.D Bechtel Jr. Foundation, in case you were wondering.

Shawn Hesse, of emersionDESIGN, a new member of our Board of Directors and long-time Chapter volunteer, is also an Ambassador for the International Living Future Institute. He regularly provides trainings and outreach programs for the Living Building Challenge. The BEC (as it is known) is the fifth Living Building ever certified. We are proud that we can visit, right here in Massachusetts, the result of a lot of hard work under the auspices of the Living Building Challenge!

Below is a map of the area.

 It was quite picturesque.

Attending the tour were over 30 people, including Chapter Programs Manager, Steve Muzzy. The place is set up so you have to take a five-minute stroll (longer in the snow) from the parking area to get to the building. Nice gaiters, Steve!

Once inside, you can enjoy the cozy comfort and real beauty of the design - created by Coldham & Hartman Architects. Nice clerestory!

Shawn Hesse led the discussion - outlining the basic features of the Living Building Challenge and then going into detail on each of the petals.

Here we have the Smith College tour guides explaining how it came to be and how they use the place...including for ski weekend adventures and summer study sessions...

Here we have the speaking crew: Grey Lee, Emmett Wald, Brice Hereford, Julie Graham, & Shawn Hesse.

 I got a chance to plug the Chapter and Brice gave the pitch for the visitors to become part of the West Branch. It was actually interesting how many people - perhaps a dozen - actually came out from the Boston area to see the place. Living Buildings have some real star power!

So cute!

Part of the Living Building Challenge is its petals and one of them is Equity - quite an advanced subject actually, and unfortunate that we have to enshrine it in a reward system like LBC rather than it being a spontaneous manifestation of the built environment. 

And here are the requisite solar panels which enable the facility to achieve net zero energy. Now here are things that manifest rather regularly in the built environment. More every day!

Another petal is Health:

We anticipate returning to the BEC for a summer gathering - perhaps a solar-powered sustainable BBQ of some kind? I have a SolSource parabolic concentrator we could use for a giant pot of vegan chili! 

At any rate, thank you to all the presenters, all the parties involved in the creation of this beautiful Living Building, and to all the attendees who made it through the rough roads and deep snow to visit and learn with us. We look forward to promoting the Living Building Challenge throughout Massachusetts and beyond.

See you next time!

Thank you for additional photos from Shawn Hesse, David Bliss and Chris Farley

Reducing Power Plant Emissions

EPA Rule 111: Clean Power Plan

In 2013, the EPA proposed new carbon pollution standards for power plants under section 111 of the Clean Air Act. The program is designed to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for new power plants under federal guidance, and to address the emissions of existing power plants through a state-based program. The proposals are designed to cut emissions from the power sector by as much as 30% by 2030, which will help to protect our health and the health of the environment for future generations. For a comprehensive list of benefits, see the EPA's fact sheet on the Clean Power Plan. The following diagram helps to explain the different kinds of greenhouse gas pollution and which sectors are major contributors.

The map below shows the location of the 54 fossil fuel fired power plants in Massachusetts. The data points and background map come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA); their online mapping system allows users to explore the various sources of energy production and distribution across the United States.

In December of 2014, the USGBC submitted recommendations to the EPA supporting their Clean Power Plan, proposing that States be given flexibility in developing their individual compliance strategies. The USGBC also suggested that existing knowledge around evaluation, measurement and verification used in the LEED system, be applied to tracking the reduction in emissions of power plants.

The EPA Clean Power Plan proposes 4 building blocks for states to achieve reduced power plant emissions, 1) power plant efficiency improvements, 2) dispatching to cleaner natural gas combined cycle plants, 3) renewable energy, and 4) energy efficiency. The fourth building block presents an opportunity for Massachusetts professionals to leverage their leadership and expertise in green building practices to help the Commonwealth achieve these important goals.