ASR Meeting Minutes for February 2000

Minutes by Charlotte Matthews

Business and Announcements:

• In addition to implementing a more formal framework into ASR meetings, such as an agenda, the group looks to change its name. (The list of names proposed by the group follows these meeting minutes.)
• A proposal was offered that the group craft a questionnaire to assess the experience and expertise of Boston-based firms in Green design, with the idea of compiling a list of Ecologically-aware architects in the area. Some interest expressed by the group in response, but as of yet no action has been organized.
• Deane Rykerson will work as cochair for the committee until January 2001. Deane nominated Charlotte Matthews as cochair-elect in order to facilitate further transitions.
• The Building Energy 2000 Conference will be held on March 15-18, 2000 in New Haven. CT. Those interested should seek out http://www.nesea.org.
  On March 24th, Tufts University is hosting a daylong conference to kick off a study into the affect Climate Change will have on Massachusetts Infrastructure.

Presentations:
1.  Sarah Conn, Psychologist with the Ecopsychology Institute.
As detailed in their mission statement, the Ecological Institute was established in recognition that human health and the health of the earth are inseparable. The Institute sees a strong connection between the "inner ecology of humans" and the "external" ecology. As will be more fully explained in an upcoming BSA newsletter, the Institute is currently involved with the development of a training program to teach professionals (in all fields) methods of inquiry which will explicitly and subliminally encourage clients to realize their own connection to the environment (built and natural) in which they live and work. Sarah is seeking volunteers to participate in the pilot training program specifically geared towards the Architecture profession.

2.  Sonia Hamel , Policy Advisor for Clean Air and Climate Change in the Massachusetts Executive office of Environmental Affairs.
The Massachusetts government is currently drafting new regulations and guidelines for reducing the state's emissions of Greenhouse gases. Buildings contribute 40% of the state's emissions through energy consumption related to construction and occupancy. Having completed sections on power plants, composting and agriculture, the state is now looking at buildings.

Unless the state is contributing a fair portion of the money for a building project, the government is only in a position to encourage builders to minimize the environmental impact of their project "to the maximum point feasible". The incentive for builders to integrate green is that MEPA will let them though the permit process faster. Those builders who no not integrate green measures into their projects, face a long and arduous battle of explaining to MEPA why a considerable list of sustainable building measures were not considered feasible for their project.

The government is also proposing that builders be required to submit an energy calculation for their building, as designed. While no penalty would be imposed upon projects that come in just over code (so as to encourage full enclosure), the idea is that the state will gain more information on what constitutes a base line building (as well as what is possible in energy performance) and that building designers will use the model for their own benefits in reducing the energy load of the building. Sonia asked the group how much they felt that this requirement would cost projects, and how relevant such an energy calculation would be if the building were not yet fitted out.

Rather than focus on these questions, the concern of the group was that the proposal focused on building energy consumption, an area already under the eye of building codes. The suggestion of a few group members was that the state instead require a more comprehensive analysis, such as that offered by the LEED Green Building Rating System, which forces architects, engineers and planners to look beyond the mechanical system and at the full impact of the building ­ including the connection offered to occupants with the outdoors.

New Names Suggested by the Group to replace "Architects for Social Responsibility"
Green Button Committee
Committee for a Healthy Environment
Committee for the Future
Cleaner and Greener Building Committee
Mainstreaming Green Committee
Green Assisted Design Committee (GAD com)
Advanced Green Practices Committee
Committee for Integrated Green Design
Committee to Integrate Sustainable Design
Committee for Sustainable Design
Total Green Design Committee
Committee for Green First Design
Green First Architecture
Green First Design
Green First Committee
High Performance Building Committee
Eco Design and Construction Committee
LEEDS Committee
Gold Star Building Committee
Eco Smart Design and Construction Committee (ESDCC)
Build Smart Committee
Eco Smart Architecture Committee
Build Green Committee
Smart Building Committee
Smart Design Committee
Beating MEPA Committee
Green Gain
Green Advances in Architecture
Committee to Advance
Green Design and Construction Practices
Advancing Green Practice
Future Build Committee
Green Futures Committee
Vital Design Committee
The Green Challenge Committee
Green Challenge for Architects
Eco-Challenge Committee
Code Green (Committee)
Green Structures Committee
Green Building Design and Technology Committee
Eco-Build Roundtable
Eco-Building Committee
Committee for Eco-Wise Building and Design
Eco-wise Design and Practice
Eco-wise Practices Committee
Eco-Practices Committee
Eco-Praxis Committee (Def of Praxis: Practice instead of Theory)
Eco-Praxis Roundtable
Architects for (after) C.A.S.H. (Community Awareness, Sustainability and Health)
Building for C.A.S.H. (Community Awareness, Sustainability and Health)
V.I.E Committee (Value in the Environment)
The FED Co. (Front End Design Committee)
Committee for Responsibility and Sustainability
Committee for the Environment (COTE)
Architects for Eco-Logical Building (AEB or AELB)
Architects for Eco-Logical Design (AED or AELD)

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 28 March 2000 at 6 PM at The Architects' Building, 52 Broad Street, Fifth Floor.

Presentation and discussion on Pennsylvania's Green Building Guidelines