Waterfront Square Greenhouse Gas Project

HMMH qualitatively evaluated potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a large mixed-use transit-orientated development project for compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) GHG regulation by evaluating proposed sustainable design elements. The Project was selected under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development program (LEED ND). The LEED ND program was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and incorporates principles in smart growth, new urbanism, and green building practices. The purpose of the qualitative analysis was to show in lieu of quantitative analysis, that implementation of a wide-ranging array of sustainable design elements would minimize and mitigate GHG emissions when compared to building to local ordinances and code.

HMMH evaluated a wide array of proposed sustainable design elements for direct sources such as heating and HVAC systems, building energy efficiency, along with indirect sources from traffic generated by the Project. Many of the sustainable design elements were innovative and exceeded local code, thereby intuitively resulting in lower GHG emissions and satisfying the MEPA GHG Policy.