I have a story on the state of green building in Greater Boston in the current issue of GreenSource magazine, commissioned on the occasion of GreenBuild, the US Green Building Council's national convention. As many as 30,000 builders, developers, architects and other green partisans are expected at the Convention and Exposition Center next Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 19-21).

You can see the whole story here, but to summarize, I found a very vibrant community, anchored by leaders (Menino, Patrick) who do more than talk about green development; a high percentage of development led by nonprofits, which are more likely to go green (witness Harvard's decisions for its $589 million science complex in Allston designed by Behnisch, Behnisch & Partners); and the region's academic centers, which place their stamp not only on architectural currents but engineering.

EnerNOC is an example of the latter, a leader is demand-response management. In briefest summary, it has two sets of clients: companies willing to let them, for a fee, control some of their energy practices, some of the time, and utilities willing to pay for reductions in electricity demand. This is a forerunner of what may be one of the most profound changes this century, the smart grid, on which I've written for E/The Environmental Magazine. (It's submitted, but won't be out until January.)

They're even going green over at Fenway, which isn't a reference either to the Monstah or the grass. The Red Sox unveiled an extensive solar hot-water array back in May:

From left: Bruce Johnson from National Grid; state Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary Ian Bowles; Kevin McCollister of GroSolar, which installed the panels; Red Sox president Larry Lucchino; and Patrick Nye of Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The panels, which are affixed to the roof above the State Street Pavilion, are in the background.