Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Every week, there are stories reported of the growth within Boston’s innovation economy from small biotech start-ups to a sea-change in relocating a large company headquarters to Boston, such as GE’s move from suburban Connecticut. While there are many reasons for the GE move, GE did comment on Boston’s walkable urban environment, a vibrant and stimulating city for its workers, and perhaps, most importantly, the access to tech talent also relocating to innovation hubs.
How are these innovation hubs created, and what drives their success? A newly formed committee at the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), the Committee for Research and Innovation Design, will delve into these questions. Within Boston, there is a community of architects, researchers, entrepreneurs and developers that collectively understand what it takes to create an ecosystem generating new knowledge and new ventures. This committee will provide a forum to share knowledge related to the design, operation and use of science, research and innovation buildings and facilities.
The inaugural event for the committee will be held on Tuesday, June 20th, and will be hosted by Maggie O’Toole, Vice President of Operations, at LabCentral. She will lead a presentation titled, “How sharing space and resources catalyzes biotech ventures” followed by a tour of the research space. The event is free and open to all.
Details:
Tuesday, June 20th | 4:30-6:45pm
LabCentral
700 Main Street
Cambridge, MA
Cape Cod Community College’s Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center is a net-positive energy building designed to transform the heart of campus.
The project approaches sustainability through a holistic and global approach, implementing a range of moves including passive solar shading overhangs, air-source heat pumps, high performance materials with low embodied carbon and the expansion of the range of thermal comfort and lighting power density. Combined with on-site photovoltaics, the project achieves net-positive energy use.
The project’s thermally modified wood rainscreen façade is a study of the modern expression of vernacular Cape Cod architecture while reducing embodied carbon. Early lifecycle assessments identified the immense carbon savings of wood over fiber cement. The design team did not stop there, furthering reductions by peeling back unnecessary finishes like carpet and ceilings. Together, these decisions enabled a 19% reduction in embodied carbon.
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