HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-09-SLC-min 1.
Town of Lexington
Sustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of March 9, 2021
A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A
quorum of seven was present.
Members Present: Cindy Arens, Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Marcia Gens, Todd
Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (chair), Charlie Wyman
Members Absent: Archana Dayalu, Rick Reibstein
Other Attendees: Stella Carr (Sustainability Director), Jeffrey Rhodin, Joe Pato (Select
Board), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Charles Hornig (Planning
Board), Robert Peters (Planning Board), Rick DeAngelis (EDAC
Chair), Ben Myers (Boston Properties), Melinda Walker, Lin Jensen
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by
the Town Clerk, and all members present responded that they could hear.
The Tree Committee articles discussion was postponed at the request of Gerry Paul, chair of the
committee.
Article 44. Todd reviewed the amended language proposed by the Building Sector team for
Article 44 regarding installation of EV charging stations and conduits:
135-5.1.13.11
i. A parking lot with twenty-five (25) or more newly constructed off-street parking spaces
shall be constructed with appropriate conduits and space for transformers and switch gear
to allow for future installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for a minimum
of fifty (50) percent of the total off-street parking spaces, but not more than the total of
the newly constructed parking spaces.
ii. A parking lot with twenty-five (25) or more newly constructed off-street parking
spaces shall install Level 2 (or higher) electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in a
minimum of four (4) percent of the total off-street parking spaces, but not more than the
total of the newly constructed parking spaces.
Rick DeAngelis said Boston Properties is comfortable with this as a compromise but deferred to
Ben Myers. Ben explained that he believes the required levels overestimate demand well into the
future, and regrets the amount of PVC (which is toxic during production) that will be required,
but does not object. Some discussion followed about the need to size the conduit appropriately
for the higher capacity chargers that might someday be installed. The committee then voted
unanimously to recommend this language to the Planning Board.
Article 45. Todd noted the changes in the dimensional control tables and then turned to Section
7.5.4. The key changes recommended by the building team are to require LEED Gold instead of
Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of March 9, 2021
2.
Silver in section 1c, and to use the hybrid approach developed by Mark Sandeen and Ben Myers
in section 1d.
Considerable discussion followed on the question of whether LEED Silver or Gold should be the
standard. Ben pointed out that it will be impossible to achieve credits under Location and
Transportation that a comparable building in Kendall Square or Somerville could achieve,
merely because of the nature of the neighborhood, and developers shouldn’t be penalized for
circumstances beyond their control. Some members of the committee felt it was important to
push developers to achieve higher standards. Others pointed out that LEED is an imperfect
reflection of Lexington’s priorities, and incorporating more of Lexington’s high performance
checklist would be desirable.
(At this point both Charlie Wyman and Rick DeAngelis left the meeting, and Todd Rhodes
stepped in to complete the minutes.)
After further discussion, consensus emerged on the basic principle that developers should not be
penalized for the unavailability of credits in two specific categories: Surrounding Density and
Diverse Uses, and Access to Quality Transit, and additional discussion led to the proposal to
recommend the following language to the Planning Board, which was adopted by unanimous
vote:
c) Buildings over 65 feet shall be designed to meet the requirements necessary to
demonstrate certifiability at the Gold Level using the LEED v4 for Building Design and
Construction: Core and Shell Checklist, as outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Failure to meet LEED Gold Level requirements based on the inability to achieve
Location and Transportation credits for “Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses” and
“Access to Quality Transit” shall not be a reason to limit the building’s height.
d) Buildings over 65 feet shall utilize an all-electric HVAC system or utilize an HVAC
system using electric heat pumps as the primary heating system with a minimum electric
heat pump heating capacity of 15 Btu/hour per gross square foot or equal to the design
heating load, whichever is lower. Heating capacity above the 15 Btu/hour per gross
square foot is not restricted to electric heat pumps. For buildings with electric heat pumps
and other heating sources, the building systems shall be configured, and the controls shall
be programmed such that normal operation prioritizes reliance on the electric heat pumps
to serve all building heating loads, before using other heating systems to supplement.
Systems not related to building heating, such as emergency backup power generators,
humidification, and process equipment are excluded from these requirements.
Todd Rhodes offered to summarize the results and send them to the Planning Department and
Planning Board for consideration at their hearing scheduled for Wednesday, March 10.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlie Wyman and Todd Rhodes