Harvard U. Agrees to Legal Limits on Emissions for New Complex

Harvard University has signed an agreement with Massachusetts officials that will restrict greenhouse-gas emissions from a new science complex to half of what national standards allow, according to The New York Times. Unlike the LEED standards for buildings or the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, the agreement that Harvard signed will be legally enforceable, according to the state’s energy-and-environment secretary, Ian A. Bowles.

The agreement may be the first of its kind for a university. It covers a planned four-building, 537,000-square-foot complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, across the Charles River from Harvard’s main campus in Cambridge. Construction is to begin this fall and continue for about four years. Greenhouse-gas emissions from energy use in the complex will be limited to 50 percent of the national standard established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Chris Gordon, chief operating officer of the university’s Allston development group, said he did not expect the restrictions to add significantly to the cost of the complex. He said that the cost of energy-saving technology had come down in recent years and that technology would let the university save money on the complex’s operating costs.