Mass. Green Cement Startup Lands Contract that Could Unlock ‘Megaton’ Factory
Sublime Systems’ prototype cement factory in Holyoke is still under construction, but already it’s landed a contract that could unlock a huge new “megaton-scale” plant.
List of Mass. Buildings That Must Report Energy Use Taking Shape
More than 30,000 properties currently appear on a draft list of “covered buildings” tied to the LBER policy, which was embedded in a 2022 clean energy and offshore wind law.
Somerville Skipped Over for Fossil Fuel Ban Pilot
State officials have picked Northampton to round out its fossil fuel-free building pilot program, skipping over an application from Somerville officials.
Your Feedback Is Helping Adapt Boston’s Buildings for a Sustainable Future
The engagement of A Better City and our member companies in this process was instrumental in finding a solutions-oriented approach to a critical piece of combating climate change.
BERDO Turns Up the Heat on Landlords
Boston’s groundbreaking law cutting large buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions is set to gain a set of teeth, but a leading real estate group says the measure could drive up rents and make the affordability crisis worse.
Additional Items Can Boost Massachusetts’s Climate Plan
The state’s new plan to reduce its carbon emissions is missing two key and common-sense items: commuter rail electrification and a regional approach to flooding from storms and extreme heat.
Concrete Getting Pulled into Beacon Hill’s Carbon Battle
As lawmakers look at regulating building and infrastructure materials in pursuit of the state’s emission reduction goals, the concrete industry wants to been seen as a partner, not a foe, in the effort to make Massachusetts greener.
Climate Activists Blast Hanscom Private Jet Expansion
Climate activists urged Massport officials to discard a proposal to add 27 hangars and enable an expansion of private jet service at Hanscom Field at the agency’s board meeting Thursday.
Builders Predict More Pain for Housing Production
Homebuilders say the latest energy efficiency standards being adopted in many Massachusetts communities will wipe out recent progress the state has made toward spurring housing production.
Monitoring the Pulse of Multifamily Building Performance
Robert Cooper’s Worcester proptech startup Embue says it can predict which of the “hundreds or thousands” of Boston apartments that will have to start paying carbon emissions fees in the next few years.
The City Where Skyscrapers Are Turning to Carbon Capture
The goal is to stop that climate-warming gas from entering the atmosphere. And there’s a dire need for reducing emissions from skyscrapers like these in such a vertical city: New York state’s buildings also emit more air pollution than any other state’s.
Can a Green Bank Offset the ‘Brown Discount’?
Real estate analysts have started to warn building owners that their property values will fall if they don’t wean themselves off fossil fuels. Now, Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a ‘green bank’ to do just that.
Flipping the Sustainability Switch in Construction
Newton-based Chapman Construction is leading by example in setting a goal of shrinking its own carbon footprint under an initiative being led by John Hyde.
A Modest Proposal for Suburbs’ Gas Bans
Many of Greater Boston’s richest suburbs want to cleanse their blocks of fossil fuel pollution by banning natural gas hookups for new buildings. But why should this admirable impulse to fight climate change locally stop there?
Solar Array Planned for Ashland Apartments After $53.6M Acquisition
An Ashland apartment complex is due for a series of energy efficiency upgrades as Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings’ RENU subsidiary expands its portfolio.
Bill Seeks Electric-Ready Infrastructure in All New Construction
Massachusetts can avoid the “tremendous additional work, disruption and cost” involved with retrofitting buildings to meet its 2050 net-zero emissions target if the state requires all new construction and major renovation projects to install electric infrastructure, lawmakers said Tuesday.
Big Biz Urge Biden to Make Big Emissions Cut by 2030
More than 300 businesses and investors, including such giants as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Coca-Cola, are calling on the Biden administration to set an ambitious climate change goal.
Revised Climate Bill Retains ‘Net Zero’ Building Code
A month after Gov. Charlie Baker returned a sweeping...
Legislative Leaders Refile Vetoed Mass. Climate Change Bill
The climate and emissions reduction bill opposed by real estate industry groups and vetoed by Gov. Charlie Baker last week has been refiled by House and Senate leaders in the hopes of quickly returning the legislation to the governor, only this time with the opportunity to override a veto if it comes.
Baker Vetoes Climate, Emissions Reduction Bill Amid Developer Opposition
Scuttling what looked to be a major session-ending accomplishment for the legislature, Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed ambitious climate legislation on Thursday over his concerns that key pieces of the bill could stymie housing construction, and that the legislature did nothing in the bill to help cities and town adapt to the effects of climate change.
