How to Get Involved:
Organizations and Programs
Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust (RET)
RET has the primary funding source for green buildings in Massachusetts in recent
years. Through its funding of 16 schools and more than 25 buildings to date,
RET is dedicated to developing real-world examples of green buildings that
will serve as examples for the broader building industry. Each green building
funded by RET also includes clean energy technologies, and the process and
performance data from completed projects is being complied for dissemination
to architects, engineers, owners, and other key decision-makers. Much more
information is available at RET’s
Green Buildings & Infrastructure site.
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The U.S. Green Building Council is a national membership organization with
the mission to educate the building industry about green building processes
and elements. The USGBC's primary resource is the Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System®.
Variations of this system focus on different building types and provide guidance
to building teams that are considering or in the process of developing green
buildings. LEED awards points for the use of various green building elements
in five categories: energy, siting, water use, material use and indoor environmental
quality. Projects can achieve Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum certification
based on the number of points achieved. LEED is a widely-recognized national
standard for green buildings, and more than 100 projects have been LEED certified
with approximately 1,400 additional projects registered for certification.
ENERGY STAR®
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program
provides resources to help homes, businesses, schools, and government agencies
improve their energy efficiency through energy-saving products with the ENERGY
STAR® label. The site also contains energy-efficiency tips for the home
and business, along with information on building an ENERGY STAR® home.
A list of homebuilders, developers, lenders, utilities, and energy rating
professionals who partner with ENERGY STAR® to help consumers is also
available. Click on “Find Local Homebuilders” to search by state
through the link above.
Northeast Green Building Awards
NESEA is the Northeast’s premier membership organization for green building, energy efficiency, and renewable energy professionals. NESEA provides networking opportunities through its annual Building Energy Conference and other events and can provide contacts to energy professionals around the region. It also administers the Northeast Green Building Awards, which recognize the best green buildings in the northeast United States. The Renewable Energy Trust has been the major sponsor of the Building Energy Conference for the past four years and has sponsored the Green Building Awards on several occasions.
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