The state’s top environmental official said Tuesday morning that Massachusetts’ nascent effort to reduce commercial buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions has already cut emissions in new developments by 10-15 percent, even without a firm regulatory framework in place.
"All we’re saying is, analyze the alternatives to minimize and mitigate the impacts," said Ian Bowles, the state’s secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Speaking at a Denterlein Worldwide public affairs breakfast at the Boston offices of CBT Architects, Bowles said a new MEPA requirement asking developers to crunch the math on advanced green building techniques has brought many developers face-to-face with unexpected cost savings.
"We’re seeing a lot of proponents investing in green building now," he argued. "They’re saying, ‘We ran the economics, and the mythology has been stripped away. Let’s make that attempt, and save ourselves money in the process.’" He added, "We’re doing it in a non-regulatory way."
Bowles’ secretariat is expected to release a formal report on its commercial greenhouse gas reduction efforts later this fall. It’s clear that, if MEPA’s current policy hardens into firm regulations, some friction points will emerge. For instance, Bowles said, proponents are telling his office they can’t afford to include solar panels in new projects.
"With rebates," Bowles argued, "The payback is five to seven years. Some people say that’s uneconomical. In a building that’s going to be around for 40 years, how economical is that?
In owner-occupied projects, green buildings are already the norm. In commercial real estate, there’s still some difficulty because of a misalignment of interests. The developer cares about first-dollar costs, and the user is the one paying the utility bill," he said.
Bowles also said that while his secretariat has retained some Romney-era smart growth programs, the concept of smart growth should be expanded beyond projects built alongside public transit. For instance, he said, projects that locate in gateway cities, rather than in highway-adjacent greenfields, should qualify as smart growth projects.
"We need a broader concept," he said.
