Thirty-five building professionals enjoyed the warmth and beauty of Massachusetts' North Shore while touring these two homes - one designed to be net zero and the other designed to comply with stringent coastal siting requirements - and concluded with an informative workshop at the Joppa Education Center.
Past Events
During this Pro Tour, members looked at two Deep Energy Retrofit projects in Northampton, MA. Members were also able to meet with other sustainability professionals, ask questions about DER, and network. The afternoon capped off with a workshop event where the building teams were able to share their successes and mistakes, address specific questions, and show pictures of the project under construction.
Supported by a grant from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Smith College completed the construction of a 2300-square-foot environmental classroom at the Ada & Archibald MacLeish Field Station in 2012. At the time of the Pro Tour, CEEDS anticipated that the building would be certified as a “Living Building” in late 2013 or early 2014, a process which was realized in early 2014, making it the fifth Living Building Challenge certified building in the world.
In 2010, a dilapidated 100-year old brick warehouse sat at the corner Warwick St. in Springfield, MA. After a deep energy retrofit, the building is now home to EcoBuilding Bargains, New England’s largest used and surplus building materials store, and uses 75% less energy.
NESEA and Yestermorrow Design/Build School partnered up to host an intensive (and intensely awesome) 2.5 day learning experience and high performance buildings tour in Vermont. Led by Andy Shapiro of Energy Balance, Inc, participants were able to interact with some of the region’s leading high performance building practitioners, delving deeply into the details of outstanding projects, asked questions and got feedback on pressing building questions.