Green Builidng Ordinance Nearing Approval

The work over the past couple of years to develop a citywide Green Building standard has almost reached fruition. The goal is something similar to Boston's Article 37 (one of the first and most progressive zoning standards in the country), but adding a few interesting incentives for Green Roofs and other measures. There are a few Hearings upcoming--one this Thursday--on the proposed standards (details at bottom).

Here are some of the highlights of the proposed standards, paraphrased from a memo from the City Manager to the community:

• All major new construction (and significant rehabs) would be required, at a minimum, to meet LEED green building criteria at the following levels: 25,000-49,999 sf (think small office buildings, drugstore-sized retail) would be required to meet LEED ‘Certified’ level, while 50,000 sq. ft. and larger would meet LEED ‘Silver’
• Formal certification from US Green Building Council (USGBC)/ Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) would not be required.
• Green roofs would be excluded from the calculation of gross floor area, allowing buildings to be slightly larger (with increased income potential) in exchange for the expense of installing a green roof. As an incentive to create green roofs, decks or patios less than or equal to 15% of the green roof area and set back 10’ from all building edges may also be excluded from the calculation of GFA in certain zoning districts.
  Other green building elements that may reduce a building’s energy consumption and improve indoor environmental quality would be excluded from the calculation of GFA, including extensive wall insulation and shading devices.
• Building mounted solar energy systems (such as MIT's proposed Solar Air Conditioning System) would be defined as mechanical equipment in the zoning ordinance and hence would not be subject to FAR and height restrictions. Installation of solar systems would require a building permit and new development projects adjacent to existing solar systems would be encouraged to minimize shadow impacts on those solar systems.

Here is the info on the two upcoming meetings, per CDD's Iram Farooq, a city planner:

1. At the Ordinance Committee, May 6, 6 pm (Sullivan Chamber, City Hall, 795 Mass Ave
2. At the Planning Board, May 18, 7:20 pm (2nd Floor Meeting Room, at City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway)

MIT's Solar Air Conditioning System Research

MIT is planning on installing a Solar Air Conditioning System on the roof of their Mail Facility building at 350 Brookline St (between Henry and Waverly Streets in lower C-port). Solar cooling has a lot of potential to help buildings get closer to zero net energy use, so this is exciting research. These systems have a ton of variants, however, and the neighborly details (size of system, energy impact, efficiency, etc) is in each installations particular details.

Sarah Gallop, MIT's Co-Director of Government and Community Relations (and no stranger to the neighborhood), passed along a flyer for a public meeting on Thursday 5/13 at the Mail where some of these questions can be answered.

Full flyer with details (including location) below.
Solar AC Flyer

Climate Change at Central Square Library

From the folks at Cambridge-Somerville for Change:

Cambridge-Somerville for Change’s Energy and Climate Team and Green Decade Cambridge will host "Copenhagen and Beyond," a forum on Jan 26th, 7:00pm at Cambridge Central Square Library, 45 Pearl Street to discuss the recent U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen. Key speaker Cambridge City Councillor Henrietta Davis, one of the National League of Cities’ two official representatives, will highlight her experiences at the conference and discuss what our cities can be doing to stop the coming climate emergency. Kate Anderson, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Kerry, will also discuss the Senator’s proposals on energy and climate change.

RSVP by following this link.

MIT Dorm Achieves LEED-Gold Sustainability Benchmark

A new MIT dorm on Pacific Street on C-port's east side officially received Gold-level designation under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The architect of the "new" Ashdown House was William Rawn Associates, who has been feeling a lot of Cambridge love from another recent project, the Cambridge Main Library addition.

Details on the building's green strategies, from the Chronicle:

Ashdown House, a graduate residence that houses more than 400 students and includes a full dining area, earned its Gold rating for a variety of green features: The building’s landscaping and irrigation systems use water from a non-potable source; a storm-water management system significantly reduces storm-water runoff; maximized daylight is available in 95 percent of regularly occupied spaces; and low-flow fixtures reduce water use by more than 20 percent. What’s more, care was taken to make the construction of Ashdown House as low-impact as possible: More than 10 percent of its materials included recycled content; more than 75 percent of the waste from the construction was recycled; and the building uses low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) -emitting paints, sealants and carpets.

Photo courtesy MIT.

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

A topic for every interested C-porter:

• Tuesday, 12/1: Planning Board Meeting, including a "design review of a limited number of façade changes for the church structure phase" of the Blessed Sacrament condo conversion (aka "Dana Park Place"); 7:30pm, City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd floor meeting room
• Wednesday, 12/2: C-port Neighborhood Association meeting, with an agenda that includes a year end review/visions for next year, the city arborist discussing neighborhood street trees, Housing Authority initiatives, the Police Review Committee on policing policy; 7:00pm, Woodrow Wilson Court, Fairmont Street entrance (via ramp to basement level community room)
• Tuesday, 12/8: City Council Housing Committee meeting to review the significant ongoing and planned initiatives by the Cambridge Housing Authority; 5:00pm, Sullivan Chamber, City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue
• Wednesday, 12/9: City Council Hearing on the Stretch Energy Code, which is contemplated as an option for municipalities to increase energy conservation & energy efficiency beyond statewide code minimums; 5:00pm, Sullivan Chamber, City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue
• Wednesday, 12/16: "Envisioning Central Square," a public forum being orgainized by Mayor Simmons and Vice Mayor Seidel; 6:00pm, City Hall; contact Jeff Walker, Mayor Simmons' Chief of Staff, at JWalker@Cambridgema.gov for more info

A Greener, More Just C-port

There's no doubt the kind of call for change that Al Gore promotes resonates globally (and this past weekend, locally) is needed to pull the planet from our current path toward severe climate change. Gore, however, is the first to agree that the kind of collective action he's seeking originates at the household and neighborhood level, and extends beyond energy efficiency and less wasteful lives. It begins with individual responsibility and extends to a sustainable, socially just basis for our local economy, the kind of approach shared by MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and by organizations like the GreenPort Forum.

GreenPort, formed in 2006, is a group of local neighbors coming together to learn and collaborate and act on this shared vision. The "fringe benefit," they claim, is that "neighbors working together to solve global warming builds a strong neighborhood."

Last week, GreenPort founder Steve Morr-Wineman announced the next Forum, on Common Security Clubs, presented by Andrée Zaleska (co-founder of the JP Green House):

Coming together to prepare for economic change in uncertain times: Find out why these locally-based initiatives focused on shared learning, mutual aid and social action are emerging in dozens of communities across the country.

Tuesday, November 17 at 7 pm
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl St.

For more information, contact Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net.

Another Week, Another Major Sustainability Address

One week the president, the next a former VP.

As a neighborhood, we continue to struggle to find greener ways to coexist with each other and our surroundings. But wee little C-port, nestled tightly between MIT and Harvard, neatly finds itself in one of the world capitols of the sustainability movement. Following the president's MIT speech on energy policy last week, Al Gore comes to the other end of Mass Ave to tout Our Choice, his follow-up to An Inconvenient Truth.

This Saturday's event at the First Parish Meetinghouse near Harvard Square is sold out, but as with President Obama, there will surely be a crowd gathered to try and catch a glimpse of the Nobel Prize winning superstar of the green movement.