Boston Smaht visits BU Data Science Building

We had the pleasure of touring the BU Data Science building which is one of the first all electric, net zero buildings. One of the biggest takeaways: There is not any brand new tech used in the building. It was all existing technologies properly orchestrated to achieve a goal.

To make this happen, first reduce the loads, then control the loads, and leverage high efficiency. The geothermal wells (3500ft deep) only added 1% to the construction cost. Digging into the way each piece of equipment ran, the design team was able to use mostly standard equipment to deliver a high performing building.

There is an awareness of the emphasis on operating differently. All the high efficiency equipment won't mean a thing if lights are left on or heat is just cranked up for a cold call. BU is staffing appropriately. There were also many lessons learned on what they would do next. Join the group to discuss what the next net zero building will look like.