Article published in the New England Real Estate Journal's May 21-27 "Construction, Design and Environment" section.
Green Building at the Presidential Conventions
by Lance McKee
The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC) is working
with the host committees of the Democratic and the Republican National
Presidential Conventions to introduce environmental best practices for
these major events.
Their goal is to minimize the environmental footprint of the conventions
and then extend the program to other conventions. CERC has initiatives
in green construction, energy, waste, hotels, and transportation and
they will
host educational events.
Shawmut Design and Construction will manage a $3.5 million construction
project in Boston's Fleet Center to accommodate the needs of the 2004 Democratic
National Convention. Shawmut, already acclaimed for green building, will
work with CERC to expand their environmental best practices.
Barbra Batshalom, Co-chair of CERC's Construction Committee, said, "Forward-looking
architects, contractors, and building owners are increasingly interested
in implementing green design. Environmental considerations are closely
tied to the economic, health and community values that are integral in
good architecture."
Besides working with Shawmut and other contractors to use green building
practices in designing, building and then removing convention structures,
CERC is publishing a green construction guide and a resource guide for
green building. Also, CERC is organizing tours of local LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental
Design) certified buildings, including the Artists for Humanity Epicenter
in Boston and the Genzyme headquarters in Cambridge. Along with the tours,
CERC will promote and lead seminars on best practices for green construction
and demolition and on how to use low environmental impact building materials
and local recycling markets. These activities are in line with the missions
of the Mayor's Green Building Task Force and Boston's Green Roundtable,
who work to make Boston a leader in green development.
Electrical power for the Fleet Center during the Democratic National Convention,
which opens July 26, 2004, will be matched by purchases of wind certificates
from several wind turbines, including the one in Hull, Massachusetts. Delegates
and others will be invited to take boat cruises to see the Hull turbine.
To learn more about CERC, and to become a CERC sponsor, see CERC's web
site, http://www.cerc04.org.
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