Greenhouse gas emissions will be limited on Harvard's new Allston camopus

Harvard University this week reiterated its long-standing commitment to improving the environment, voluntarily agreeing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new buildings constructed on its Allston campus in ways that will keep those emissions levels well below current national standards for similar facilities. This commitment begins with the Allston Science Complex, the first project in Harvard's 20-year master plan.

The agreement between the University and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) ensures that the four-building, 589,000 square-foot Allston Science Complex will produce only half the greenhouse gas emissions of a typical laboratory building already meeting current national standards.

"This is a first," EEA Secretary Ian Bowles said of the University's commitment. "Governor Deval Patrick and I applaud Harvard for its leadership in voluntarily capping greenhouse gas emissions from its Allston campus project," he said. "Harvard's Allston project will now be watched carefully around the country and I expect other institutions and states will step forward and take on similar commitments in the years to come," Bowles added.

Thanks to Jim Barrows