Chairman's message: Green construction committee formed

Recognizing its growing importance in our industry, ABCMA is an emerging leader in the field of green construction. At the Strategic Planning Conference last fall, ABCMA identified green construction as one of our top four priorities for 2008. A green construction group, headed by former chairman Doug Hunter, has been formed and is meeting monthly. Between meetings, the group shares thoughts and ideas through a Yahoo discussion forum. The committee has an ambitious agenda and is still looking for members; if anyone is interested in joining please contact Patty DeVito at 781-273-0123. On January 17th, ABCMA hosted its first green dinner, meant as a kind of "green 101" for members. Over 200 members attended, eager to learn of the current trends in the construction industry and how they could best prepare themselves. We were fortunate to have Suzanne Robinson from the green round table to join us. Robinson spoke about creating healthy environments by integrating principles of sustainability into mainstream planning, design and construction. She also gave some tangible examples of green construction in greater Boston. With more of our members going green, we will be able to win higher level jobs. The round table is the liaison with the U.S. Green Building Council, the entity that administers the leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) exam. Through a collaboration between the Gould Construction Institute and the green round table, ABC will help prepare our members for this exam. We also distributed a survey at the dinner meeting in hopes of determining where our members' interests lay in the field of green construction. Thus far, 50 surveys have been returned with more coming in every day. Continuing on with our theme of "going green," the committee hopes to again partner with the green round table for a dinner meeting in April at their facility in Boston. This meeting will be a chance for members who were not able to attend the January session to become acquainted with this emerging area. Our goal of "going green" is far from over and we want to encourage you to be a part of it. Chris Kenney is the 2008 chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors-Mass Chapter, Burlington, Mass.