At 19 stories, this award-winning, iconic building—housing the departments of Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Science and the Hariri Institute—will become the largest fossil-fuel-free building in Boston, relying on deep wells to harness the thermal capacity of the earth for heating and cooling and eliminate the need to connect the building to a gas line.

Energy Efficiency

• The building's design minimizes energy consumption using energy-efficient strategies such as external sun shading devices, triple glazing on the windows, enhanced heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and high efficiency LED lighting.
• With 31 boreholes, each 1,500 feet deep, the heating and cooling system is expected to provide over 300 tons of heating/cooling capacity. Heat pumps use the temperature differential the earth provides to draw heat from the ground in the winter and to expel heat in the summer.

Profile

645-655 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

Total Building Area: 345,000 sq ft

Architect: KPMB Architects

LEED Consultant: The Green Engineer

MEP Engineer: BR+A

Structural Engineer: LeMessurier

Landscape Architect: Richard Burck Associates

Geotechnical Engineer: Haley & Aldrich

General Contractor: Suffolk Construction

Visit Campus Planning & Operations to learn more.