EPMA Presentation Recap: Bringing Sustainability to Life

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Written by Jonathan Carey

At our recent Emerging Professionals meeting, we were treated to a presentation by Roland Jenkins called “Bringing Sustainability to Life.”  Roland Jenkins is currently an Assistant Project Manager of B.W. Kennedy & Company located in Arlington, Massachusetts and his presentation was on the LEED certification for the lab and biotech facility located on 828 Winter Street in Waltham. 

The featured facility is a 144,000 sq. ft. core and shell building specifically designed for life science and would be attached to a four-tier parking garage covering over 155,000 sq. ft. that would seat over 500 cars total.

For the construction, a submittal process was necessary.  The submittal process helps with the procurement of building materials. There was also the need for monitoring of the job site operations in order to conduct site reports, which would all go towards compliance confirmation of the construction phase. All of these steps were tracked and documented throughout the procedure.

The final phase involved the LEED verification and certification.  A compilation of LEED documents were compiled together for the final steps.  All of these documents would be used for the final project that was submitted to GBCI, who would conduct their final review decisions.  Once the decisions were made, a final LEED certification was implemented for the building through an end-user program.

At the end of the day, the new lab and biotech facility scored a total of 51/110 for LEED certification requirements.  Thus, the building earned a Silver LEED certification overall.  Roland explained how the building met the National Grid and Eversource requirements for energy conservation and through the MEP energy modeling and reductions, they were able to provide significant rebates to the clients.  Other than that, there were also considerable energy savings over the life of the building itself.

Some of the value engineering that took place helped reduce equipment components and defer equipment installs was well.  Some of the other plans that were in place included the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), Construction Waste Management Plan, and the Indoor Air Quality Plan.  All of these factors were considered when utilizing the LEED certification model for the new lab and biotech facility on 828 Winter Street.

Thanks again to Roland Jenkins for the informative presentation on the new life sciences building in Waltham.  It was great to see the building earn a silver LEED certification for sustainability.