Benjamin Silverman, EPSM Alum, Offers Advice and Opportunities to Current Students

Benjamin Silverman, an Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management alum, is currently the Climate and Buildings Program Manager for City of Boston's Environmental Department. Through his additional work at the US Green Building Council, he has a volunteer opportunity for New School students at the Greenbuild Conference in Boston, happening in November 2017. Students who volunteer at the conference will be able to attend the conference for free.

Find out what else Benjamin has been up to since his time at The New School:

Q: What originally sparked your interest in sustainability?

A: It was the recognition that climate change was going to be *the* penultimate world issue for the coming decades that will determine and shape all other issues. As such if I was going to dedicate my life and specialize my career skills in any particular cause, it should be this one.

Q: What have you been up to professionally since graduation in 2014?

A: I briefly worked for a green building consulting company in NYC which was followed by a internship with the NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability. While there I worked primarily on the NYC Carbon Challenge, a initiative for the leading large institutions in the City to voluntary cut their emissions. After NYC I served a year in the Americorps CivicSpark program with the City of Oakland's Environmental Services Division. CivicSpark partners emerging sustainability professionals with local governments all over California, and I would highly recommend it for any EPSM graduates looking for next steps. While with the City of Oakland I worked on a number of projects related to green buildings, building energy reporting and disclosure, zero-net energy retrofits, and electric vehicle charging stations. After CivicSpark I was hired full-time as the City of Boston's new Climate and Buildings Program Manager within the Office of Environment, Energy and Open Space. Here I work primarily on the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, as well as other green building ordinances and programs.

Q: How did you get involved with the US Green Building Council, and what is your role as a volunteer with the Massachusetts chapter?

A: I have been involved with the USGBC since my time in EPSM and going to the Greenbuild Conference in Philadelphia in 2013. I have gone to many events and programs by different USGBC chapters in NYC and the Bay Area, but it was only with my new position here in Boston that I had the time to volunteer with them more consistently. Presently I am helping with the the Welcoming Committee for the 2017 Greenbuild Conference, which as fortune will have it, will be in Boston. Much of that work is around helping to recruit the over 700 volunteers needed for this amazing conference.Q: How can New School students with an interest in green building get involved with the USGBC?

A: I think the Greenbuild Conference in Boston is an amazing learning and professional growth opportunity for any New Schoolers interested in sustainability or green buildings. Greenbuild Conferences are the largest conferences related to sustainability in buildings in the country and arguably one of the largest sustainability oriented conferences period. There will be tens of thousands of people attending, thousands of companies and organizations represented, and hundreds of incredibly interesting and informative panels to participate in. This is where the leaders and innovators in building sustainability go and Boston has a real honor in hosting them this year. Volunteers work 2 four hour shifts and in return get full free access to the remaining conference. The professional networking and educational experience can't be undersold. I highly recommend a group of New Schoolers from all programs to get together, organize a carpool, and come to Boston this November to volunteer with the Greenbuild Conference. Volunteer applications will be opening in the summer, so now is the time to start organizing that trip.