The Macellan Building is the first completely green
building to grace the state of Massachusetts, and many hope that it
inspires many more to follow in their footsteps. The film documented
the process of the actual planning and execution of this new
development in South Boston. The owner of the estate, Tim Pappas, is a
relatively new face in the real estate world, but made the decision
himself to make this project a green one.

The term green is
derived from the amenities and actual materials of the building. A
group called The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED),
whom follows a strict point system while assessing buildings, gives out
the green certification. The goal of this project was to get a Gold by
LEED's standards. To do so, The Macellan buildings amenities included
no fiberglass installations, close to the T, local vendors, double
flush toilets, and used local vendors. The building ultimately did
receive the Gold.

In the film Pappas discussed how when it was
time to get developers in on the action, it was hard at first to find
ones that were willing to participate in the green process, probably
because of the foreign nature of the procedure, being far from the
traditional means. For example, almost the entire frame of the building
was made from recycled materials from the old structure, the wheat
board cabinets from Minnesota, and the bamboo floors from China. All of
these materials proved to be tricky because of how new to the market
they were.

Pappas found that all the leaders who wanted to get
involved were around his age (late 20's). Of them, Jason Burrell was
the Project Manager. In the film he described the mixed reaction from
the community, it being a traditional, working class, Irish-Catholic
neighborhood, and the project itself being very out of the ordinary.
Still, all those who cared enough to see how the building was made
seemed to agree that it was great for the community, and a good step in
the right direction.

The film also discussed how an estimated
43% of all green house emissions come from the development and
sustaining of buildings. On top of this, according to the film,
buildings consume around 70% of energy in America. The Macellan
building aims to be a pioneer in righting these wrongs that
developments cause to the planet, while still building a structure that
serves its purpose.

The only drawbacks to the system that some
found were the LEED's negligence in assessing the energy used to ship
all of the materials to the site itself, from places like China,
Bolivia and Minnesota. The project itself proved as a success, the
ending of the film stated how the Mayor announced in 2007, after a
visit to the Macellan Building, that all new buildings must be green.