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We had a great turnout for the Annual Chapter Meeting at the Centennial Inn! Our esteemed president, Jeff Myrdek, gave a state of our chapter address, we presenting Building of the Year to Unity Homes, and made about $500 in donations to the Friendly Kitchen of Concord. 

 If you were one of those who came out, find yourself here!

Great to see you all!

-Doug

Our USGBC Members came from all over the state to the Manchester Millyard Museum, where the director regaled us with accounts of early hydro power during the industrial revolution. The Millyard was a very different place then, with Canal Street actually being a canal, and world-class textiles filling the iconic brick buildings. Everyone had different take-aways, but this USGBC member works in the Millyard, and was left in awe at the changes that can take place over such a short time.

This year's Annual Meeting was a great success! We were fortunate to have an excellent venue, which included tours of the LEED-Gold-Certified Smuttynose Brewery, top-notch food and drink, and, of course, some of the leading minds in sustainability all catching up. It's been an exciting year.

Rodney Bartlett presented the largest solar array in NH to the group, which powers the town of Peterborough. We saw why many cities and towns are now looking at this project with interest, and learned all about the many nuances of accomplishing such a large-scale renewable energy endeavor.

Next we presented our "Building of the Year" award to our host, Smuttynose Brewery! They really raised the bar, so to speak, and it was wonderful to be able to see what it takes to be on top during the tours.

Finally, we took a few moments to appreciate the great work of a local charity, New Horizons, by chipping in for their wish list:

Great to end the year on a positive note, and I hope to see us do even better next year! Happy Holidays, everyone!

-Doug Shilo, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

On May 2, 2016, Maggie Hassan signed HB1116 into law, raising NH's net metering cap from 50MW to 100MW. This is a critical step for the future of renewable energy in our state. Find out more here.

This year's summit at our own Mt. Washington Hotel was a great success. Kudos to the speakers, who inspired us all to look to the future; our sponsors, who made this great event possible; and our participants, who will go forth and put all this knowledge to use!

Check out this great video recap. We will post the entire broadcast soon.

Chapter members Heather Fournier, Michael Eardley, and John Pietroniro attended the 2015 Regional Summit at the historic Mechanic's Hall in Portland, ME on May 1st. Following the presentations, the group participated in a service charrette with stakeholders from the City of Portland to examine principles and features of resiliency for four buildings on the waterfront. Climate change and sea level rise are particularly relevant to the future of Portland's waterfront built environment.

 

Next Summit coming to ... NEW HAMPSHIRE! 

Our green eggs program got off to a great start. Keith McBrien of GDS and two representatives from Smuttynose brewery took 14 of us on a great tour. GDS was nice enough to give us a tour and pay for breakfast to boot! Couldn't resist trying the beer, of course - very tasty by all accounts! Big thanks to everyone involved in making this tour (and great building) happen! 

The GSA is now seeking public comment on its 2014 report which determined that LEED V4 aligns better than ever with Federal green building requirements. GSA is also asking for input on questions about GSA's process for reviewing green building certification systems, whether GSA should emphasize certain credits, and how the federal agencies can be involved in developing and supporting such systems. Let the GSA know you support LEED V4.

After three years of development, six public comment periods, and plenty of controversy, USGBC members voted to approve LEED v4undefinedin a landslide. Read More...

While the LEED system is already applied to around 1,000 federal government projects, chemical and forestry industries have made concerted efforts to scupper its usage.

The Green Building Initiative, which is comprised of a number of chemical and forestry companies, has pushed for the use of the Green Globes standard instead, which is an ANSI-certified system. Click here for more.