To support Harvard University's multi-decade expansion of its 200-plus acres of land in the Boston neighborhood of Allston, CDM is designing a campus-wide utility delivery system that will provide for all thermal, electrical, and wet utilities. The 50-year campus master plan provides the vision for the university’s physical and academic growth in Allston while contributing to the region’s social, economic, and environmental development.
A critical component of CDM's design contract is a campus-wide network of distributed energy facilities. The first 9-megawatt cogeneration plant, an efficient technology that generates fewer greenhouse gases and reduces carbon footprint, will include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) features and provide electricity and high-pressure steam for medical research. Future energy facilities will be incrementally installed as energy demands require, a cost benefit that will also provide the flexibility to take advantage of new technology or better energy solutions.
CDM will also be designing the utility delivery package, including utility tunnels, water mains and sewer inceptors, and electricity and telecommunications systems—most of which will be installed in the plan's first 20 years to support the design and construction of all buildings and infrastructure.
Other sustainable campus design components being considered include a stormwater plan that maximizes retention, reuse, and groundwater recharge through natural landscaping and subsurface infiltration galleries; heat recovery systems; and thermal storage strategies that will chill and store water in the evening to minimize peak-demand operations.
In addition, CDM is providing an array of environmental consulting and field services to support the project. Services include soil and groundwater sampling and characterization; regulatory filing and reporting; and construction-related monitoring of dust, vibration, and noise.