The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) building is a four-story, 48,000 s/f, medical office located at 20-30 Maverick Sq. The project is a brownfield redevelopment since the site used to be the home of gas station and funeral home, and required substantial removal of contaminated soil and asbestos. The center is located within walking distance of several bus stops and a MBTA station; therefore, there is very limited parking on site and most employees and patients/visitors are encouraged to use the public transportation.
In the earliest stages of the design, achieving LEED Gold certification was set as one of the main goals for the project team. Therefore all of the design parameters were consciously selected to reduce energy loads, costs and carbon emissions.
Some energy conservation measures in this project are efficient glazing, enhanced envelope insulation, evaporative cooled rooftop HVAC units, efficient lighting design, occupancy sensor controlled lighting, white roof, low-flow water fixtures, and differential CO2 demand control ventilation. Using the DOE-2 based energy simulation software, it is estimated that this building is 31% better than the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 regarding the energy use. The Energy Performance of the building is evaluated based on the total electricity and gas usage for the entire year of 2012 via the Energy Star portfolio manager. The current Site Energy Utilization Index is 91 kBTU/SF; and the National Median Site EUI for the same category (Medical Office) is 119 kBTU/SF, which means that the baseline is using 23.5% less energy than the median medical office building.
EBNHC has been a part of East Boston for 40 years and has been the primary medical and dental provider for several generations of East Boston children. The building design and construction is a testament to EBNHC's dedication to the neighborhood specifically and sustainability in general.
Project Team:
Owner/Developer: East Boston Neighborhood Health Center Corp.
Architect: isgenuity LLC
MEP Engineer: AHA Consulting Engineers
LEED Administration: Robert G. Andrews, Jr., PE, CEA, LEED AP BD+C