MA 'Green' Building Design

With funding from the EPA, the Office of Technical Assistance co-sponsored a full-day Sustainable Design Roundtable Discussion to initiate this important dialogue between the public and private sectors regarding the integration of Sustainable Design Principles in the Commonwealth's public buildings - primary schools. On February 6, 2002, 54 representatives from private industries (such as architectural and construction firms) and various state and municipal agencies gathered to participate in the Roundtable. During the Roundtable, all of the participants were engaged in an open discussion about sustainable design and construction programs in Massachusetts. Existing barriers were identified and opportunities to address these barriers were discussed, all in an effort to assist state agencies in determining where they can most effectively leverage their internal resources to facilitate green building and green school programs. Process, planning and communication issues were also discussed at the meeting, while leaving the technical concerns for future discussions. The Roundtable was identified as the first step to bring Sustainable Design into the design of public buildings. The participants made a commitment to continue this effort into next steps and focus on resolving or overcoming the barriers identified during the meeting.