450 Kendall St. Building Tour Recap

By Jessie Miller, Outreach Committee Chair

On Thursday, March 24th, a group of green building enthusiasts toured 450 Kendall, a laboratory and office building, in Cambridge. This LEED Gold certified building joins the other five LEED certified buildings in BioMed Realty’s Kendall Square portfolio. 

Sponsored and facilitated by Arrowstreet, AHA Consulting Engineers, and BioMed Realty, the tour kicked off with an overview of 450 Kendall and the LEED Certification process. Some of the sustainable features of the building include faceted glass, which refracts the light of the sky and surroundings, and sunshade systems that limit solar heat gains while creating visual interest.

The building exemplifies Kendall Square’s energy, from the giant neuron sculpture in the plaza to the detailed synapse wall graphics in the common space. In particular, the Innovation Clock literally captures real time innovative thinking. This device tracks and highlights tweets related to innovation in the Kendall Square area and adjusts exterior lighting as the number tweets fluctuate in volume. The tour also showcased the building’s partnership with Art in Giving, an organization focused on funding pediatric cancer research through the lease and sale of art. 

The group toured the building from the penthouse down, observing tenant’s systems in the penthouse to the tenant spaces. After the tour, the group headed across the street to Commonwealth for drinks and appetizers organized by the USGBCMA Chapter Outreach Committee. It was a great evening of learning and networking!

If you'd like to learn more about our socializing activities, please email us at outreach@usgbcma.org – thank you!