Waltham, MA – Hobbs Brook Management LLC announced that two new buildings located at 175-185 Wyman Street in Waltham have been certified LEED® Gold by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). All 39 construction phase credits were accepted, resulting in a perfect review score. The project also received all five Innovation in Design credits available.
The buildings at 175-185 Wyman are the only speculative office buildings in Massachusetts to have achieved LEED® Gold certification to date.
Owned and operated by Hobbs Brook Management, the 335,000sf two-building complex was designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects, and built by Columbia Construction Company.
Hobbs Brook Management’s devotion to sustainability is evident through project aspects that include an integrated green cleaning program, mature landscaping, high-reflection roofing, preferred parking for hybrid-vehicles, and shower facilities for bicycle commuters. The state-of-the-art stormwater quality treatment system was incorporated into drainage and uses a pond that doubles as a landscape feature to clean water before it heads to the Cambridge Reservoir while additional stormwater runoff collected on site will be used to irrigate the landscaping.
Special consideration was also taken with the HVAC units and the energy efficient cooking and cooling equipment in the new state-of-the art dining facility. The project featured a 40% water-use reduction and a 22% optimized energy performance during the design, engineering, and construction phases, with the intention of reducing energy costs to future tenants.
Of the original 65,000-ton building that was demolished in order to construct 175-185 Wyman Street, 90% of the steel, concrete and glass from the existing building was recycled and re-used onsite.
An important aspect of the project, the design aesthetic played a significant role in achieving LEED Gold certification. Taking advantage of southern and western facing elevations, Margulies Perruzzi Architects incorporated practical solar protection into the design. The solar shading on the exterior window system cuts down on heat gain in the buildings and reflects light into the office space in the winter. Whenever possible, all exterior treatments and materials, such as the terracotta rain screen panels and recycled hardware, were chosen specifically for their sustainable properties.