Why Sustainable Development Can Push To New Heights

Sustainable development isn't new anymore, which raises the question: Has all the low-hanging fruit been picked? That is, will it be more difficult now to achieve even greener features?

Yes and no. Hobbs Brook Management principal architect Bradley Cardoso tells us everyone is in the same boat when it comes to sustainable development. Some things are economically feasible, while others need to show ROI to justify the investment, he says. "However, we believe in developing sustainable buildings in order to create sustainable communities. We want the community to benefit from having us here."

Recently, Hobbs Brook and Margulies Perruzzi Architects completed the interior fit-out for the North American office of Cimpress at 275 Wyman St in Waltham. The project earned LEED Platinum, an achievement made possible by the base building receiving LEED Gold. For this project, Cimpress requested carpool spaces, EV charging stations and other sustainable features that the 315k SF 275 Wyman St was already designed to accommodate.

As an example a community benefit, Bradley says, "Wyman Street is adjacent to the Cambridge reservoir so we worked with them to make sure we're protecting the water supply. We did this by managing parking lot runoff, changing how we fertilize our grounds and installing underground retention basins so rainwater leeches back into the water table." Also, during construction the company needed to open Wyman Street, and Hobbs Brook worked with the City of Waltham to upgrade water mains, sewer lines and drainage that cross the park.