Boston, Massachusetts

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power

Region 1 Office

Total Facility Area: EPA in 225,000 square feet of 633,032 square foot building
Estimated Personnel: 875
Btu per GSF per year: 50,000 to 55,000 (estimated)

Description

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to renovate the historic 1932 John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse Federal Building in downtown Boston. EPA Region 1 will be the lead tenant in the building, occupying approximately 225,000 square feet of space in the 633,032 square foot building.

GSA plans major building envelope upgrades, including new energy-efficient windows and the addition of insulation behind the building’s skin. Major mechanical system improvements include the addition of high-efficiency chillers and replacing and repositioning the building's cooling towers, which currently dominate the views of the U-shaped building's interior courtyard. An accessible green roof will be installed where the old cooling towers are located. Interior spaces will be upgraded, brought up to code, and refurbished. Completion of the renovation and occupancy by EPA is currently projected for 2009.

Starting Early and Setting Goals

From the initial stages of the project, EPA partnered with GSA to make the building an energy-efficient and sustainable facility. GSA worked with EPA to include sustainable design and energy efficiency experience as a criterion, along with historic preservation and basic design capabilities, when prospective architecture/engineering teams were evaluated. EPA and GSA also set the project goals of making the building an ENERGY STAR^® -labeled building (i.e., performs in the top 25 percent of similar office buildings vis-à-vis energy use), and achieving Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED^®) rating system. GSA and EPA have monitored energy use estimates and the other environmental aspects of the design throughout the design process. A green roof will serve as a signature environmental and design feature of the project.

Anticipated Environmental Features

Green Roof

Cross section of proposed green roof plan

A green roof garden will encompass 25 percent of the building's footprint and will serve as a model for green roof design throughout New England.
Located on the 4th and 5th floor roofs, it will be an aesthetically pleasing place to walk through and sit.
Indigenous plants will be used to incorporate sustainable functions with minimal maintenance.
Irrigation water will come from roof runoff and air conditioning condensation. Pumps will be powered by solar panels.
Combination of intensive planting (8-10”) soil depth on the 5th floor and extensive planting (2-5”) soil depth on the 4th floor.
Plantings will be visible from many floors of the building.
Why a green roof?
- Reduce the building's ecological footprint.
- Control the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff.
- Reduce the heat island effect in dense cities.
- Increase wildlife habitat in urban areas.

Energy Conservation

Energy cost savings will be 20 percent better than ASHRAE 90.1-1999.
New low-e spectrally selective and historically appropriate windows will replace the existing windows.
R-11 insulation will be added to the interior of the building perimeter.
Energy for lights will be conserved with occupancy sensors in private offices and daylight sensing dimmers in offices close to windows.
Air side economizers on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors and water side economizers for the entire building will help to reduce cooling costs.

Green Power

In June 2006, EPA signed a contract to acquire 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or "green tags," from 3 Phases Energy Services over the period September 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007. This blanket purchase supplies EPA with enough RECs through FY 2007 to offset 100 percent of annual electricity consumption at the Region 1 Office and other EPA facilities not covered by separate green power contracts. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center , this contract supports wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Water Conservation

EPA will achieve a 20 percent reduction in water use from 0.5 gallons per minute (GPM) bathroom lavatories, 2.5 GPM showers and kitchen sinks, and 1.5 gallons per flush toilets.
Installed plumbing fixtures will reduce estimated water consumption by 32 percent compared to the facility's building code requirements.
Rainwater stored in cisterns will be used for irrigating the green roof.

Transportation

The energy used by building occupants to commute to and from their offices frequently exceeds the actual energy used by the building. By locating in the downtown Boston area, EPA will reduce commuting-related energy use.
The building will be within one half mile of a subway station.
Racks for 90 bikes and 12 showers will accommodate those who wish to bike to work.

LEED Scorecard

The renovated building is expected to achieve LEED®-NC 2.2 Silver.

Other Features

Indoor air quality will be improved through the use of low-emitting paint, carpeting, and composite wood. Additionally, sources of contaminants such as copy rooms and janitors closets will be isolated from occupied areas and the air exhausted directly to the exterior.
Occupant comfort will improved by providing 90 percent of occupants with views to the exterior.
The majority of wood materials will be purchased from Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources. There is also a rigorous construction waste management plan for recycling/salvaging at least 75 percent of non-hazardous construction and demolition debris.

Extensive Green Roof System

Sketch of extensive green roof system layers.

Overhead View of Green Roof Layout

Sketch of overhead view of green roof layout.

Schematic of Rainwater and AC Condensate Collection and Irrigation System

Schematic of rainwater and AC condensate collection and irrigation system.

For More Information

Contact

David Austin (austin.dave@epa.gov)
1 Congress St.
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: (617) 918-1919

Web site: www.epa.gov/region1/