Introduction

Boston, Massachusetts has experienced a recent surge in "greening" efforts largely as a result of various Mayor Menino initiatives. This web page will attempt to highlight the important initiatives within this movement and provide insights into the benefits of green building.

Boston Skyline
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Boston's Green Building Task Force

Formed in 2003 by Mayor Menino, this group was charged with the formidable task of establishing Boston as a notional leader in the field of green building. Comprised of experts in every area of building design, construction, management, and financing, as well as public health and environmental experts, the Mayor's Green Building Task Force conducted a comprehensive exploration of green building's full range of opportunities and challenges. The major step proposing by the Task Force was a zoning amendment that would required all new building projects in Boston over 50,000 SF to meet green building certification.

LEED Zoning

The green building standard of LEED- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design- was used as a template for the new permitting standard for all building projects over 50,000 SF. The amendments were codified into Boston 's Zoning ordinance under Article 80 in January 2007 and Boston is now experiencing the first applications for building under the new codes.

This move definitely carries some national significance as Boston is the first major US city to implement green building requirement for all development. There have been other cities that have required it of public buildings but Boston is the first to mandate it for city-wide private development.

LEED Score Card
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

Here is an example of a filled out LEED score card. It contains many specific criteria for gaining point that fall within the broad categories of: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Material and Resources, Indoor Environmental Air Quality, Innovation and Design Process.

It is important to note that Boston is utilizing its own certification process that is almost identical to LEED- with a few additions- but the city wanted to take the review and certification process into it's own hands to avoid a lengthy and documentation heavy process of having a third party- that being the US Green Building Council- approve of every decision.

Benefits of Green Building

With about one-third of all energy consumed in the U.S. being used for heating, cooling, lighting, and appliances in buildings, considerable attention has been focused over the past three decades on enhancing energy efficiency within homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and other buildings.

Energy efficiency measures include elements such as passive solar design, tight construction, natural lighting and ventilation, insulation, high performance insulation, windows and doors, as well as efficient heating and cooling systems, appliances, and light fixtures. These approaches have been successful in reducing energy consumption at a relatively low cost.

Recently, a more comprehensive view of the environmental impact of buildings has led to the promotion of waste minimization, water conservation, indoor environmental quality, low-impact use of land, and the greater use of natural and recycled materials. These approaches minimize the impact of building elements on human health and the environment.

The "green building" concept also includes the incorporation of renewable energy technologies into buildings, particularly solar electric (photovoltaic) systems. Green building practices that encompass renewable energy technologies are best considered at the start of the building design phase.

LEED Accredited Building
http://www.architects.org/portals/index.cfm?doc_id=123#case_studies

Case study

Unfortunately, since these requirements were enacted so recently there is little to judge in terms of built and planned projects to gauge the extent to which the Green Building codes are working. But while planning the codes, the Task Forces conducted many case studies of successful green buildings in the area.

The George Robert White Conservation Center in Mattapan, MA served as a case study for the city and in many ways also served as their major showcase project for displaying why green building works both environmentally and economically. From the beginning, the City of Boston wanted this project to address two complaints about green buildings: cost and architectural merit.

George Robert White Conservation Center
http://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/gbtf/gbtfhome.asp

This 8,500-square foot building, now fully operational, was built for $180 a square foot, well within the acceptable range for City projects. It utilized materials including: engineered wood timbers, wood from certified sustainable forestry operations, low VOC paints, low-emission recycled-content carpets, and locally quarried field stone.

Photovoltaic roof shingles generate electricity. Geothermal pumps create earth-generated heating and cooling so that no hydrocarbons are burned on site. Solar thermal panels heat water. Passive solar vine trellises provide summer shading.

The building was able to integrate these sustainable features wile still not suffering in term of aesthetics. Most importantly the cumulative effect of these technologies is a 40% energy savings as compared to traditional building operation which equates to recouping extra money needed to implement sustainable design practices after just seven years.

Other Green Programs:

Urban Tree Canopy Initiative

Tree Planting Efforts
http://www.bostonforest.org/

Another very recent a program- enacted within weeks as of this writing, May 2007- is an urban tree canopy initiative entitled "Growing Boston Greener". This is another Mayor Menino program and is a partnership between the City of Boston and the Boston Urban Forest Coalition, and is working to improve the urban forest ecosystem, public health, and quality of life for Boston 's residents.

The program has set a goal of increasing canopy cover by 20% by the year 2030. This is a significant undertaking, and will require the planting of over 100,000 trees between now and 2020. The initiative will focus on addressing environmental justice concerns by planting trees in areas with low canopy cover, and on mitigating urban heat islands, improving air quality, and will include plantings on both public and private property.

In 2006 the Urban Ecology Institute and Boston 's Urban Forest Coalition completed the first-ever comprehensive inventory of Boston 's urban forest in order to better understand the state of Boston 's environment. The results of the inventory showed that:    

• Boston has 34,497 street trees. 26,527 trees are in "Good" condition 5,967 are in "Fair" condition, and 2,003 are in "Poor" condition.
• Overall, Boston has 29% canopy cover (this includes all trees, such as trees in parks, private yards, and along streets).

The city of Boston exhibits a dense urban framework within which there are limited expanses of green space. This places a higher priority on taking advantage of street trees to perform the critical functions of heat reduction, improving air quality and enhancing the aesthetics of the neighborhoods.

Nexus Education Center

Nexus Education Center
http://www.greenroundtable.org/

Located in downtown Boston , Nexus serves as a sustainable buildings resource center that was clearinghouse and showroom for high performance design and construction products, services, and methodologies.

This facility was launched in the Spring of 2005 by an organization entitled the Green Roundtable- an organization that was very active in The Green Building Task Force.

The center is staffed by green building experts and LEED accredited professionals. It is open to building owners, architects, engineers, designers, developers and the general public. The center serves several functions as a reference library for professionals, function hall for sustainable oriented events and a place for the public to learn.

Green Policies

The city has implemented numerous sustainability initiatives under Mayor Menino's leadership, including:

Green Power: the city procures 8.6% of its electricity load from renewable sources, representing the largest municipal purchase of electricity in New England .

Clean vehicles: the city has implemented a new vehicle procurement policy requiring the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrids, or a vehicle of similar fuel economy.

Clean Fuel: the city recently purchased 650,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel for use in all of its heavy equipment and diesel vehicles, thereby reducing emissions by 12-17%. 

Energy Efficiency: the city is undergoing a major overhaul of existing city-owned facilities to reduce energy consumption, including retrofitting traffic signals to LED's which are 90% more efficient than traditional bulbs, installing solar panels at schools, and investing $6 million in energy conservation measures at city owned facilities.

Summary

Boston is on the road to becoming a more sustainable city, with a city government committed to sustainable practices. As the major rezoning to incorporate LEED requirements has just taken place, it is difficult to gauge the success of that bold step. In many ways Boston should be commended for taking that step and venturing into uncharted territory. Boston's green building efforst have been recognized nationally as the city is considered the 7th most sustainable city in the nation by SustainLane, a national organization advancing sustainable development for state and local government.

There are several opportunities that could promote an even better quality of life for the city's residents. Improvement in both air and water quality would make the city a healthier place to live. About half of the city relies on heating oil, most of which is imported and vulnerable to world market forces. And this mostly sea-level city has no greenhouse gas reduction goals or tracking mechanism. Portland , San Francisco , and New Orleans could all serve as models for improvement in that area.

References

http://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/gbtf/gbtfhome.asp

http://www.greenroundtable.org/

http://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/gbtf/documents/GBTF%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

http://www.cap-e.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F3481.pdf

http://www.tufts.edu/tie/pdf/mondazzi.pdf

http://www.architects.org/portals/index.cfm?doc_id=123#case_studies

http://www.bostonforest.org/

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

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