The light spring rain did not deter a group of more than 50 UEP alums and faculty from getting together to celebrate the presentation of the first UEP Alumni Practical Visionary Award on March 26. UEPers gathered to reconnect and socialize at Henrietta’s Table in Cambridge where class of 1980 alum Mark Cutler graciously accepted the Practical Visionary Award, sharing some of his career highlights and vast experience in transportation planning. It was a lively evening with folks discussing everything from who’s currently working where to the current economic situation and the rising “green” economy.

Chrissy Ungaro, MA UEP 2009

BA, Political Science & Environmental Studies, Allegheny College

Current Position: Associate, LEED Technical Development: US Green Building Council

Description:  The LEED Technical Development Department refines, improves, and creates credits in the LEED rating system.  LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39 percent of CO2 emissions, 40 percent of energy consumption, 13 percent water consumption and 15 percent of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85 percent of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

As the Associate for LEED Technical Development, I am on the team developing the next version of LEED.  I coordinate the Technical Advisory Groups, which include experts in the fields of architecture, engineering, brownfields redevelopment, planning, policy, water efficiency, site development, energy efficiency, and materials- to name a few- from around the world.  The six groups- Energy & Atmosphere, Indoor Environmental Quality, Location & Planning, Materials & Resources, Sustainable Sites, and Water Efficiency- are responsible for changing the buildings market through technical development of building solutions, including new credit development, existing credit changes, and addressing new markets to standardize.  I facilitate teleconferenced meetings with each group bi-weekly, helping them to develop a work plan for the next version of LEED, as well as being responsible for keeping each member in compliance with USGBC’s policies and procedures, ensuring a transparent and public process for the LEED development cycle. 

In addition to facilitating each of the Technical Advisory Groups, I serve as the liaison between these groups and the LEED Steering Committee, charged with setting policy for development of LEED, prioritizing LEED’s development, and ensuring technical rigor of LEED while considering market feasibility.  I petition the LEED Steering Committee to approve recommended credit development, changes, and sub-group formation for the Technical Advisory Groups to be most efficient and effective.

Having the opportunity to work for the US Green Building Council is incredibly rewarding, as our work has such an immense influence on the building stock and industry in the United States and internationally.  LEED is one of the few metrics that helps to define sustainability, and will no doubt continue to positively change the way the world approaches building design, construction, and resource use. Our work pays off in CO2 emissions decreased, water saved, land preserved, and healthier people in a healthier world; some of the many reasons I am proud of the work I do.

UEP graduate Eric Friedman is featured this week on the Tufts website homepage. Please visit tufts.edu to read about his role as director of Massachusetts' Leading by Example program.