Green or not Green at Harvard?

Harvard University's planned 500,000-square-foot science center will be green—even greener than required. The bad news: It appears that it will skirt an environmental impact review.

Good news and bad news in green building politics. Harvard University’s planned 500,000-square-foot science center will be green—even greener than required. The bad news: It appears that it will skirt an environmental impact review.

The science center planned for Harvard’s new campus in Allston, across the Charles River from the main campus in Cambridge, MA, will cap greenhouse emissions beyond national requirements, according to Massachusetts officials in a Boston Globe report.

According to the report, Harvard has agreed that its project will emit 50 percent less greenhouse gases than national standards require. However, as part of the agreement, the state will exempt the school from an environmental impact review.

The state says Harvard won’t get away with anything, because the Allston campus is still subject to an environmental impact review, and the waiver only goes into effect after a 14-day public comment period. 

The building will also reportedly include glass greenhouses that use natural light, geothermal wells that cut heating and cooling costs, solar chimneys and roofs painted a dark color so the complex heats up during the day and cools off at night. According to the state, Harvard must also show that its storm-water management system will reduce the flow of polluted water running into the Charles River.

That’s all nice, nice and greener. And I understand how politics work. Harvard agrees to much tougher standards, and it gets something in return. But come on, no building—green or other—should get a pass on an environmental impact review if it is warranted. Green building projects should be the first to make themselves available for environmental reports, and they should never skirt that process. That’s sort of what being green is all about.

And what if there is an environmental issue with the building once it’s constructed? That could actually defeat the purpose of it being green. In addition, skirting the process sends the exact wrong message to environmental groups who could be championing this project, as well as to skeptical neighbors. 

Do we trust Harvard and the state to do the right thing, without a proper environmental impact report? Maybe. But in this day and age, maybe not. What are all those MBAs at Harvard thinking?