NEWS
FOLLOWING SOMERVILLE’S LEED: HOW THE CITY IS WORKING TOWARDS GREEN CONSTRUCTION BY ELIE LEVINE
S
omerville’s new zoning ordinance introduces a set of limits to the city’s energy standards for new laboratory buildings in the city, and not everyone agrees that this will help the city. The new standards require that development in Somerville is even more sustainable than what is currently required in nearby Cambridge and Boston. The City Council approved the new codes in a meeting on Dec. 12, after more than seven years of deliberations by city officials. It marks the first significant legal change to Somerville zoning since March 23, 1990. The city also approved its first changes to regulations that had been in place since Somerville first adopted zoning in 1924. 14 Meet the Makers | scoutsomerville.com
The ordinance requires developments that are over 25,000 square feet to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification and developments that are over 50,000 square feet to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Earlier drafts of the ordinance established the requirements at LEED Silver and LEED Gold, respectively, to match sustainability standards in Boston and Cambridge. In addition, the ordinance stipulates that new laboratory buildings must earn LEED Platinum certification. That provision led to backlash just before it was adopted, Somerville’s senior planner, Dan Bartman, told The Tufts Daily. At a public hearing two days
before the City Council approved the new ordinance, the city government reviewed the final draft of the zoning code with community members. “As we see it, we’re building a new operating system for how the city handles development, and we want something that is consistent with all of our values, values around affordable housing, around economic development, and—as it relates to this particular issue—values around climate change and environmental protection,” George Proakis, director of Somerville’s Office for Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD), says. “It’s very important for us to set high standards to continue to lead the way on building systems.”
The LEED v4.1 BD+C guidelines, the newest version of the standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, aim to provide a global framework for green building and construction. To determine a project’s level of sustainability, the guidelines take into account a wide variety of factors. Among them are a plot of land’s proximity to public transit (bicycle facilities, access to electric vehicles, sensitivity towards the land,) sustainable sites, water efficiency, light pollution, rainwater management, renewable energy, and indoor air quality. Each of these subcategories is associated with a point value. LEED certification requires a minimum of 40 points. Silver requires 50 points, Gold requires 60, and Platinum at least 80. Photo courtesy of Trent Bell Photography.
