Boston Housing Authority has set a strategic goal to develop a new Net Zero Energy public housing development covering 16 acres at its Old Colony Housing in Boston. This project is the nation’s first public housing initiative undertaken at this scale.

While early phases of the project will not be able to fully accomplish the goal, BHA is taking a longer-term approach to achieving Net Zero Energy over a number of phases and many years.

Several preliminary sustainability and energy analysis on site- and building- levels were performed by The Green Roundtable / NEXUS Net Zero Energy™ team led by Ravi Srinivasan. Scientific analyses include local climate assessment to understand effect of temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, wind direction and speed, precipitation, ground temperatures, etc. Identification and quantification of renewable resources at site is critical especially when the goal is Net Zero Energy. Site renewable resources change based on building design, orientation and location of proposed buildings in project site.

Development Profile:

• Location: Old Colony, Boston
• Owner: Boston Housing Authority
• Building Type: Public Housing
• Site Area: 16 acres

Besides, four principal passive heating/cooling strategies were identified for the project i.e.,  internal heat gain, passive solar & high thermal storage, shading devices, and natural ventilation cooling. These passive strategies have been selected as they affect thermal comfort level for most number of days in a year. Moreover, as passive heating is essential for proposed buildings in the project site, evaluation of site in terms of overshadowing by adjacent / nearby buildings was completed. Four high performance design strategies -- optimal orientation, optimal glazing performance, daylighting penetration, and optimal light illuminance – were studied.

Existing site sustainability was assessed using metrics such as walkability, livability, and including building stock re-use, etc. Furthermore, performance rating criteria such as Enterprise Green Criteria and LEED (including Homes and Neighborhood Development types) in relation to the project, and intersections between them were assessed

Learn more about NEXUS' consulting services. For additional information and/or comments on this project, contact Ravi Srinivasan at ravi@greenroundtable.org.

Simulation credit: The Green Roundtable / NEXUS