The USGBC Massachusetts Chapter has been working hard all year, helping to build the road to Greenbuild. Boston first served as the host city for Greenbuild in 2008, and USGBC Massachusetts is excited to host in 2017 for this second visit.
As the number one state for LEED buildings in the U.S., with more than 24 million square feet certified in 2016 alone, Massachusetts is a leader in the green building industry. The state has been growing fast in its LEED certifications, moving from number five nationwide in 2014 to number three in 2015, before topping the list in 2016.
While green building professionals from all over the world convene in Boston, the city will be showing off its sustainable features and LEED buildings on Greenbuild tours, as well as offering expertise at education sessions about strategies that have made Massachusetts a greener, healthier place to live and work.
The next generation of green builders
Focusing on growing the green building industry through education and equity, the USGBC Massachusetts community initiated the Greenbuild Boston Legacy Project, currently under way at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Dubbed the Green Building Tech Program, this project will create awareness of green building technologies and the green trades, such as facilities management, electrical and plumbing skills, to help close the "green gap" that exists for the next generation of building operators.
Another way the community is reaching out to students is through a free workshop at Boston University, "How to Network at Greenbuild and Build Your Career in Sustainability." Local students and emerging professionals can brush up on their skills ahead of Greenbuild's many opportunities to connect.
Green building tours
A wealth of walking tour options is available at Greenbuild: The 2017 slate covers 80 sites throughout Massachusetts, across 30 different tours. In these tours, attendees explore exciting places ranging from higher education facilities to sports venues to local neighborhoods. There's even a harbor tour, at Boston's rejuvenated Seaport District. Here is just a sampling of what you can see outside the conference center:
- Monstah Green—Mon., November 6, 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
- Rebuilding Boston—Mon., November 6, 1–5 p.m.
- Seaport Sustainability—Fri., November 10, 1:30–5:30 p.m.
- Creating a Sustainable Community from Scratch—Sat., November 11, 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
Explore more Greenbuild tours.
Education sessions
Attendees at Greenbuild have the choice of a broad array of sessions and workshops. Among them are many Boston-area projects, collaborations and case studies from which green building professionals can take away insights and strategies to help them succeed in their own localities. Here are just a few:
Creating Disaster-Resilient Housing in East Boston—Thurs., November 9, 3–4 p.m.
This session showcases an East Boston waterfront apartment building designed for resilience against storm surges, sea-level rise and flooding in a site particularly vulnerable to climate change. Learn about Boston’s zoning code “Green Buildings and Climate Change Preparedness and Resiliency Policy," and how the project was “built to last” rather than “built to code.”
Social Equity at Work in Roxbury and Dorchester—Tues., November 7, 2:45–3:45 p.m.
The session will focus on achieving the LEED Social Equity in the Community credit, describing the process from the perspectives of the developer and the community advocate and discussing effective community engagement in the building development process. Attendees will learn how to avoid displacement, enhance access to public transportation and engage community through art and culture.
Renewable Energy: Innovation Through Collaboration—Thurs., November 9, 3–4 p.m.
Explore the lessons learned from a joint power purchase agreement model implemented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston Medical Center (BMC), and Friends of Post Office Square. The team bought electricity from a large new solar power installation, adding carbon-free energy to the grid and demonstrating a partnership model for other organizations in climate-change mitigation efforts.
See more Boston-related sessions by using the keyword search field in Greenbuild's Sessions page.