Dan and Mike getting ready to tee off:

The USGBC - National Capital Region Chapter provides locally-based leadership, advocacy, education and resources to create a vibrant and environmentally healthy Metropolitan Washington region. With individual members from every sector of the building industry, they engage, educate and encourage our community to live within and advance a sustainable, ecologically restorative and economically prosperous built environment.

The USGBC National Capital Region Chapter held it's premier green building networking event of the year at the Netherlands Embassy. The Chapter recognized several regional projects.  Mike helped announce and recognize this year's Awards of Excellence winners.  Congratulations to this year's award winners and thanks to all those who helped make this event a success; sponsors, volunteers, attendees, Chapter staff and host The Netherlands Embassy.

• up to $1,000 for holding an energy efficiency charette
• $0.10/SF (up to 50,000 sf), $0.03/sf (over 50,000 sf) energy modeling incentive
  
• whole building measures compared to ASHRAE 90.1-2010 Appendix G Baseline
  
• up to $8,000 for implementing enhanced commissioning services

SBP is an approved PEPCO Trade Ally

We were proud to partner with Seawall Development Company on this great showcase of true sustainable design and adaptive reuse and urban revitalization.  From the preservation and rehabilitation of an 1866 facility to  the inclusion of higher performance systems, lasting impact, community pride and private partnerships. 

I was fortunate to attend the Grand Opening of Union Mill and listen to speakers, including the Mayor of Baltimore, Governor of Maryland, DOE, financing partners and representatives of the community.  And to hear the impact this facility has and will have for the years to come was a reminder of why we do what we do.  Using a beautiful, energy efficient facility to house non-for profit organizations and give substantially reduced rental rates to draw good inner city teachers blends performance, durability and cultural significance.

Our participation in this project was centered around bieng the first project in the city to comply with the Baltimore City Green Building Standards (BCGBS) and to help Seawall secure a $164,258 utility rebate for their efforts to go above and beyond typical design performance.

Rebate & Systems Case Study...

Feel free to look around and as always we look forward to hearing from you!

We are proud to be a silver partner of the Special Olympics District of Columbia 43rd Annual Summer Games taking place at The Catholic University of America from May 22nd thru the 24th.  The Annual Summer Games are no longer receiving funding from some previous sources so we were glad to be able to step in and help support this great event!

The Montgomery County branch of USGBC’s National Capital Region Chapter invites you to join us for lunch and a fascinating insider look at building energy modeling as more projects strive to optimize building performance, maximize LEED EAc1 points and ultimately achieve our project goals.

• Effective energy analysis; when to start, stages, collaborative workflow
• Requirements for maximizin the benefit of energy consulting services
• Going beyond LEED EAc1 point accounting; meaningful impact
• Understanding the ASHRAE 90.1 Baseline; getting behind the standard
• Project examples and success stories
• LEED 2012 energy modeling requirements; “what’s coming…”

Recent Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) interpretations and reviews have indicated a shift in philosophy around how we meet ventilation requirements in multifamily LEED projects.  Those of us who have been navigating these waters are looking for that "silver bullet" uniform and repeatable solution that doesn't adversely impact our project budgets.  As we move forward with new building codes, ASHRAE 62.1 requirements, LEED Credit interpretations (which by the way may not always mesh with each other) it is important to make sure we focus on these design issues early on in a project so that change orders, project schedules and sticker shock around this issue is avoided.

Pictured above from left to right: DBI Architects' Kathryn Ciliberti, SAIC's Douglas Koelemay, JM Jones & Associates' Patricia Ann Maccini, Transwestern's Caulley Deringer, Fenway Financial Group's Song Park, the American Cancer Society's Sarah Cox, Reznick Group's Jim Martinko, Palm Facility Services' Herb Palm, McGuire Woods' Lee Fifer Jr., Boston Properties' Peter Johnston, and Sustainable Building Partners' Dan Wilcox

Read full press release here...