An exciting building will soon rise over Commonwealth Avenue, which could offer some key clues for a real estate industry looking to adapt to climate change.
As Steve Adams describes in his story today, the Boston University Data Sciences Center is trying to be the Boston area’s biggest, most sustainable urban construction project on record in Massachusetts.
Key to the school’s plans is a geothermal heating and cooling system that will allow it to manage the temperature inside the building – and the power-hungry cooling for its computer servers – without having to resort to conventional, often natural gas-powered systems. Providing a helping hand will be triple-glazed exterior windows and giant louvers that will reduce the amount of unwanted solar heat transmitted to the interior.
After transportation – representing around 40 percent of Massachusetts’ greenhouse gas emissions – systems used to heat and cool buildings are our next-biggest source of emissions, thanks to dramatic reductions in the carbon output of our power plants courtesy of a long-running cap-and-trade system.
If BU can demonstrate design elements that help it regain the extra upfront investment in green tech in less than five to seven years, it could be revolutionary.
However, reducing these emissions in large commercial buildings is a tall order. Single-family homes and small multifamily properties are relatively easy to retrofit with insulation, solar panels and energy-efficient heat pumps. But studies show green commercial buildings take longer to both design and construct, and the machinery required to operate them more efficiently is currently more expensive than traditional HVAC equipment.
If BU can demonstrate design elements that help it regain the extra upfront investment in green tech in less than five to seven years, it could be revolutionary. This would show that even developers whose hold time is relatively short can be confident investments in green building tech will not overturn their business models.
Having merchant developers, who represent a large part of the commercial building industry, on board with the transition to a carbon-neutral future will be crucial – both politically and technically – to achieving that vision.
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