People ask, “How can Green Newton support the Northland Newton development? After all, development is the opposite of green, right?”
Actually, no. Development is sustainable when it generates far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than comparable buildings. Sustainable development is extremely energy efficient, it reduces transportation emissions from residents and visitors and it uses land efficiently.
The Green Building Standards Committee promotes four green building principles: Passive House design, electric heating rather than gas heating, materials that have less embodied carbon (more wood and less steel, for example) and efficient transportation.
The Northland team agreed that at least their three largest multi-family buildings, comprising 35% of their housing units, will be Passive House certified. Their non-Passive House buildings will also have high performance building envelopes—making them extremely energy efficient. No natural gas will be used for heating and residential cooking, and their design team will minimize materials with high embodied carbon.
Northland had already planned a state-of-the-art transportation system—including a free shuttle to and from the Green Line every 10 minutes, 16 hours a day. The shuttle will be open to the public, using electric vehicles, in perpetuity.
In the meantime, Newton city councilors negotiated valuable changes to the original plan: underground parking, a much smaller building footprint, 140 affordable units, extensive open space, a major contribution to the Countryside School renovation and more.
If built today, Northland would be the largest Passive House development in Massachusetts. Each Passive House apartment will use 10 to 15 times less energy than a typical new single-family house. Parking will be limited, attracting tenants who want a single-car lifestyle. Electric vehicle charging, car-sharing, bicycling and walking will be facilitated. The state-approved traffic analysis, verified by Newton’s traffic consultant, predicts some impact, but much less than many imagine.
If this project is voted down on March 3, the progress we’ve made to make this development a model of environmental sustainability could disappear, and be replaced with a development under the state’s 40B law that would not require green buildings and open space.
The Northland Newton project will benefit Needham Street and Newton as a whole. Once built, it will provide better land use, more green space and added vitality. Importantly, it will benefit our children by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
We will vote “Yes” on March 3.
Jim Purdy, Vice President, Green Newton Board
Dan Ruben, Chair, Green Newton Board
But wouldn’t alternative 40B development at Northland (1) provide much more affordable housing there and (2) thereby achieve 40B safe harbor for all of Newton?
I’m sorry I’m not up on all of the building details, but will Northland be taking advantage of solar power on top of the multiple buildings they are building? That seems to me like a minimum requirement for a project to be considered “green”.
Also, won’t all of the extra traffic from the thousands of car trips required by this massive development add to green house emissions? There are some good “green” ideas on the development but suggesting this project is good for the environment seems to be establishing a really low environmental bar for new developments.
Thanks…
@Jim– A 40B development at Northland would provide far more affordable housing that the Special Permit for a mixed use development. Given that a Special Permit generally has significantly more value than a 4oB to a developer, this underscores what a poor job city officials did negotiating affordable housing with Northland. But a 40B at that site would absolutely crush Newton schools, and provide nothing in the way of impact mitigation. It would end up costing taxpayers a fortune. So it’s unfortunate that elected “leaders” put the people of Newton in this position, but the city will be better off voting Yes to approve the terms of the Special Permit.
Mike,
I see what you’re saying, however, affordable and density housing advocates don’t deem crowded schools and city expense to impede those objectives. Otherwise, where is there ANY case for density, diversity and affordable housing in Newton?
Arthur there will be less traffic with denser development like Northland. The farther out and more spread out housing is, the more traffic. No traffic on my street is NIMBYism, Environmentalism is less traffic overall.
GreenNewton supports this project because the building standards are very high – meaning it will take less energy to heat and cool these buildings – and because Needham St offers many services – restaurants, shops, groceries – in a close area reducing the amount of driving residents need to do. Plus there will be an electric shuttle to the T.
Jim – outside of its environmental benefits, the case for diversity and affordability in Newton: If you care about equality in America, you should be mortified by the achievement gap. The way Massachusetts has segregated its school systems is shameful. Fifth graders in Chelsea should not be in classes of 30 with little to no SPED support or guidance counselors, no recess, Gym class 2 times a month,…. The differences between our school systems in MA, in large part due to the local funding of the school systems, is shocking.
Our city should be grateful to Green Newton for all they’ve done over the decades to educate and advocate for environmental sustainability.
In the case of Northland, Green Newton really helped push the project towards a sustainable design, unsurpassed by anything we’ve seen in Massachusetts and made it a better project.
Jim and Mike: Not sure how many more times this needs to be said but environmentalists and housing advocates don’t just approve of this project because they felt it was the best they could get….they enthusiastically support it just as it. They like it. They really like it. Just. The. Way. It. Is.
Greg– Both you and I will be voting Yes to approve the Northland development. One of us will be fooling himself into thinking the city actually negotiated a good deal. The other will not.
Arthur — Green Newton, of course, supports rooftop solar panels. Northland will incorporate them, as stated on their website and by Mayor Fuller.
To be clear, solar panels only provide a fraction of the electricity needs for multi-story buildings with equipment on the roof. Passive House certified construction and heat pumps are far more consequential than solar for these kinds of buildings.
If the project is approved, Northland will set a new green building standard in MA. It’s a very visible project, and other developers will take notice.
Thanks Dan. On page 111 of their final plan it says “potential solar ready roof areas.” Doesn’t sound like a commitment to solar to me. These are huge buildings compared to other buildings in Newton. Density like that belongs in more transit friendly areas. Thanks again.
Where are these more transit friendly neighborhoods in Newton?