Oh. Uh, and now I will hand the meeting over to Chair Bite. All right. Good morning or sorry, good afternoon. Good afternoon everyone. Um, I am calling this public meeting to order at 4:38 p.m. in accordance with the
building emissions reduction and disclosure ordinance regulations adopted pursuant to the building emissions reduction and disclosure ordinance Boston city code um, ordinances section 7-2.2. The Berto review board will hold a virtual public meeting at 4:30 p.m. on
October 4th to review the following topics in regards to the reduction of greenhouse gases from building energy production and consumption so as to promote the public health and welfare of Boston residents. In accordance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts executive order suspending certain provisions of
the open meeting law, we are conducting this public meeting online to ensure public access to the deliberations with the bur review board. The public may access this call through telephone and video conferencing. Members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide public comment. To
do so, please raise your hand or type in the chat in the application via the Zoom meet meeting platform. If you're calling in and cannot use the platform, you can raise your hand by pressing star9 and your questions staff or or email your questions to staff via email um at
bertoreview board.gov. For the record, I'm Jessica Boatright, chair of the board, and I will now conduct a roll call of board members. Board members, please say your name in the order that they appear on the slide. Stephen Ellis,
it's on Farooqi Adamore. Great. Um, and now staff will introduce themselves. Hannah Payne, director of carbon neutrality. Diana Vasquez, Berto board manager.
Ziggy Chen, Berto board assistant. Great. Um, all right. So, here's the agenda for today's meeting. We're going to start with a vote for two pathway one building portfolio applications. Then we will switch to our public hearing where we will start with Harvard University's hearing for its building
portfolio. Afterwards, we'll have a discussion and vote on the equitable emissions investment fund awards for the 2025 application cycle. Then we will approve the meeting minutes from the last meeting and hear administrative updates. Finally, we will adjourn the
meeting. So, we're going to move on I think I believe in the order um that we had things originally scheduled. Just looking for not a confirmation. Okay. Um,
so, um, as chair, I want to recuse I need to recuse myself from the agenda item that is Newestra CDC's application. So, I'm going to appoint Steven Ellis to serve as chair prom and preside over this application while I'm recusing
myself. Um, are there any objections from other board members regarding board member Ellis's appointment? All right, I am going to hand the meeting over to Stephen.
Thank you, Chair B. Right. Sorry, I was all right. Go ahead, Diana. We have TUS Medical Center going first, which I think Oh, that's that's what I was sorry, that's what I was asking. Or did we switch it? Okay, never mind. I'm back.
Point Stephen um after our test discussion. Sounds good. All right. So, um I will turn the um turn over to the environment department for staff comments.
Hi, Chair. I'll I'll do uh TUS Medical Center. So, uh TUS Medical Center was submitted through pathway one and was for five buildings in the neighborhoods of Chinatown and downtown. um the applicant met all eligibility eligibility criteria
and the application was deemed complete and these are the standard conditions that apply to all um pathway one applications. So their uh building use types are healthcare office and technology and science. Again those five buildings and
these are the addresses for those buildings. Um three of those buildings are the primary use type of healthcare, one of office and one of technology and science. So all those together gives them their uh blended emissions standard
of 15.1, 9.7, 7.2, 4.8, 2.3 and zero. And for staff comments, um the application was deemed um incomplete after initial review. Four buildings had a pending revision status for 2024 reporting year and then one building had
a different GFA or building use that was than what was previously reported to Bur on their application. The city team worked um closely with the applicant to resolve the pending revision issues and the updated GFA for that building. So all buildings are now in compliance for reporting and third party verification
and and all uh information provided was verified to be accurate to the best of staff's knowledge and thank you chair. Thank you. Um before I ask each board member if they have any questions or comments I want to give an opportunity
for any representative of this application to introduce themselves for the record. Hey, good afternoon. My name is Matthew Keith with Bridge Energy Services. We're tough tough medical cent's energy consulting partner that supported in the
application. Great. Thank you. Anyone else? I'm also joined by my colleague Rebecca Tumi. Um, we had shared the invitation with members of TUS Tus Medical Center, but I I don't see anybody in attendance
at the moment from TUS. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Um, all right. And I will now pass it around to the board members to ask any questions. Um
just a reminder that um that that staff has you know brought this because they feel that that it's satisfied the requirements for um for pathway one and uh but of course we want to make time for any questions that board members have. Um I'm going to pass on this one
and pass it off to start with board member Ellis. Thank you chair. Uh so Matthew and Rebecca, thank you for joining us today. Uh just a quick question regarding how these buildings are connected or how they're set up on their energy system and to give you context depending on
your answer I have a question about the office building being included in your portfolio. So can you give us a general understanding of how how the buildings are powered is it a campus level or coming from a steam meter and so on and so forth. And if you're speaking Matthew you are muted.
I I just I just unmuted. Thanks for the question. Um, ultimately that was the crux of of what um took us so long to get through the early part of the application process.
These buildings um receive a mixture of electricity, gas, steam and water. Uh some of the buildings and parcels have their own independent meters and other buildings actually
share accounts and share meters. And ultimately with the reporting was we had taken four out of these five buildings and rolled them into uh a separate campus
application just because you know the actual usage off of some of these accounts can't be ascertained. You know how much steam is going to one building versus another because it's a shared account. Um so ultimately this building
application is a combination of one standalone building and the remaining campus application which was approved. Got it. Um Zigg do you mind going back to the slide with the blended admissions please?
Thank you. So main reason I was asking is simply for the matter that I I do worry for you all about your blended admission given that the office unit itself of the building is bringing down your overall blended admission standard. And so I just wanted some sort of
confirmation that you feel like this will best work for your needs at TUS. Um more so um from what I'm hearing it sounds like potentially the office is also part of that mix of buildings that are on a shared meter so to speak. Is that correct?
Yeah, we we're confident that the that the overall building portfolio application is beneficial to their long-term reporting obligations. Ultimately, the the square footage associated with the office
spaces is much smaller than the medical and lab spaces. So um you know I think ultimately the the ease of having a consolidated portfolio and a single emissions target the the simplicity is
um valuable to TUS. Yeah. Thank you Matthew. I appreciate your response. I'll turn it back over to you chair. Thank you board member Farooqi. Thank you. Um Matthew and Rebecca. Thank you for being here. Um, what challenges
do you anticipate that TUS Medical Center will have to go through in terms of their compliance long term here? Well, in the immediate in the immediate future, um, they figure to be underneath the overall building
portfolio threshold if approved. And assuming that their current usage and consumption stays consistent going forward, we're not anticipating that they'll exceed the
um that building portfolio threshold until 2035. So, they've got a little bit of time before they have to evaluate um strategies to
reduce their non-electric emissions. Fortunately, they don't use very much natural gas. It's primarily steam. And obviously, they've been in discussions with with Vicinity about the products that they have and you know, the ways to reduce the emissions for steam
purchases. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Um, and then, uh, second, in terms of, uh, the construction and renovations that may be associated with compliance here, um, are you able to share any more information
about any, um, contractor, uh, hiring policies that TUS Medical Center may have or any collective bargaining agreements that they may have uh, relevant to this? Yeah, and I I may ultimately need to follow up with you to get you some more
substantial information, but you know, given our experience with other clients going through this process earlier in the year, I figured that you would ask about that. They did give us a, you know, a statement on their equitable hiring practices. Generally speaking,
you know, they have programs within local schools to create um career pathways. they've got um wellpublished and you know transparent career development goals you know in order to
have all of their employees have that opportunity for career advancement. So, uh, well, like I said, they they gave us a, you know, a brief statement which I I'm happy to email to you separately and and the rest of the board members, but if you're looking for something a little
more comprehensive, then uh I'm happy to put you in touch with my contact from um from TMC. Excellent. Thanks so much. Yeah, I'm happy to take a look at the statement that you have and um that concludes my question. So, thank you and I'll turn it
back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you, board member Latimore. Uh, yes, thank you. Um, board member Farerooqi asked the questions that I was interested in. So, yes, I would very much be interested in seeing that
uhformational piece that you mentioned. Uh, so thank you for sending it to the board. I have no other questions or comments. Of course. Thank you, board member Sovel. Right. I'm guessing I saw
board member Sevel. I'm guessing I'm here. I'm sorry. I'm on my phone. I'm usually on a on a bigger screen. Um, and I apologize for that. Um, I the only question I had to ask basically was what what's going to change between now
and 2035. I I understand you said that if you have to do a re-evaluation, you may have that you may have to do a re-evaluation. I'm just hoping that at that point in time you would have been able to
start reducing instead of worrying about having to do a drastic change. That's That's where I got You kind of lost me. That's That was the question I had. You had mentioned 2035.
I'm sorry, board member Stoville. I I guess I don't um I don't fully follow the the statement that I had made earlier. I had said if TMC's electric usage, steam usage and gas usage stays
the same year over year, um 2035 is the first year that their current usage profile would exceed the building portfolio target. So I I don't know that there are substantial
changes needed um until then. when if there are you would come back and revisit and try to I mean at this point in time you know I mean this is what I see um personally I just would think at that point in time when you
reach that at 20 in 2035 there would be enough new technology to keep you from going over that threshold that's that's what I was wondering why why you throwing out that that particular date that's
I I understand ultimately compliance in 2035 or should they go over sooner would not be an issue. Um you know whether they pursue um you know a a New England ISO solar
PPA whether they purchase Rex or or one of the other approved compliance mechanisms for electric emissions. um you know they would be able to execute on that. I think the reason that they haven't necessarily done it yet is
it's a little bit difficult to forecast and and contract something like that 10 years in advance. So at least for the next 5 years from 2025 to 2029 they they appear to be safely below the threshold.
2030 is the first year that they get close to the threshold. Obviously, that's the first time that it drops down. So, I think as we get closer to 2030, there will be an evaluation of has TMC's usage profile changed over the
last 5 years, do we expect that they'll be over or or under that threshold? And obviously if if they're anticipating that they're going to be over, then uh I'm sure they'll start working on one of those compliance mechanisms
um to make sure that their electric emissions is below the threshold. I hope that answers your question. Yes, it does. And and thank you very much. That that was exactly what I was listening I was looking for. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much.
My pleasure. Thank you. Are there any remaining questions uh from the board members? Motion to approve TU Medical Cent's application. Second.
Great. Great. Um uh on the motion to approve TU Medical Cent's application with standard conditions, um I'm just going to go around and take roll call of the vote. In favor, opposed or abstain. I vote in favor. Board member Ellis
in favor. Board member Farooqi in favor. Board member Latimore in favor. Board member Sovel in favor. Great. Uh the eyes have it. The motion passes. Tus Medical C Center's building
portfolio has been approved. Per the regulation. The environment department will send a copy of the written decision letter within 7 days. Now uh I'm going to recuse myself and um
and hand and appoint Steven Ellis to serve as chair prom and preside over the next application while I'm recused. Are there any objections from other board members regarding the appointment? All right, I will hand it over to Stephen.
Thank you. We will now hear some information about a building portfolio application. Oh, excuse me. Um, yes. Uh, the Newestra community development corporation building portfolio application. So, Ziggy,
thank you chair. There so uh there CDC was also submitted through pathway one and this includes 20 buildings and neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester and Matapan. the applicant met all eligibility criteria and the application was incomplete and the same
standard conditions that apply uh to all pathway ones are below. So this is the first part of their buildings and their B IDs and the addresses and this is second part. Um so the building uses were multifamily
retail and storage. All buildings had a primary building use type of multifamily but um since they have some of uh some GFA uh to retail and storage that's why their blended emissions is not um completely like the multif family. So
there by the admission standard is 4.3 2.5 1.9 1.1 and 6. And for staff comments um this application is also deemed incomplete about after initial review. One building had missing reporting data for the years
of 2022 and 2023. And then 10 buildings had a GFA or building use that did not match what was previously reported to Berto in their application. The city worked with the applicant's previous reporter to get the missing reported data and the applicant and the city work together to resolve the GFA discrepancies. All buildings now are in
compliance for reporting and verification and all the information is accurate to the best of staff knowledge. Um and the staff recommends approving with standard conditions. Thank you chair. Thank you Ziggy. Before I ask each board member if they have any questions, I
want to give an opportunity for any representative of this application to introduce themselves for the record. Hi, this is Readisha and I'm representing Nestra COP. I was their energy consultant for making this application.
Welcome Ready. Anyone else? Okay. Um, so now I will turn it over to questions. Uh, I I will start and um, one thing I just want to confirm with the staff. Uh, I'm I was looking at their application packet and Ziggy, can you go back to the slide on their
emissions uh, the blended emission standard just want to call out that what I'm seeing in their um, in their file, the blended emissions differs than what's on the slide here. Um, so maybe as we go through other questions if you can just
confirm. I did hear you say some updates to the GFA. However, I'm seeing the blended emissions being matching the the multifamily housing inside of that folder. So, um if you can just confirm that so that we all are all squared away. Um I won't wait for you to answer
that right now, but after we go through a round with the boards, I I look forward to hearing your response. All right. So, I'll actually go in reverse order and start with uh board member Stobell. Do you have any questions? Um, no. I'm just trying to figure out why the like you you said something
about the three families. They just look like they almost stayed the same. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong. Okay. Thank you, Bo Stoville. Board member Latimore. Uh the only question I have is if the representative Ry could um clarify which
which of the properties is is storage used for storage and and what can you give any detail on that storage use like you know how many square feet and just where it is and yes sick.
So the storage use is more like a maintenance shop that we have on site. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's why it is classified as a storage use. Is it within one of the um buildings, one of the affordable housing developments? One of the housing buildings. Oh, so it's a maintenance shop. Got it.
Thank you. No other questions. Thank you, board member Latimore. Board member F. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ry, for the uh work on this. Um what compliance challenges do you anticipate the applicant will face on this long term? Um so going forward I think currently we
are looking to do retrofits on site. So we're looking for funding. We are looking at lean uh app program as well as for a new construction we are looking to meet lead standards. So higher construction cost but that's something that we are looking to work through
light and refinancing opportunities. Okay. Excellent. Um and to the extent that you know um can you share any plans that the um applicant has in engaging with their tenants about Boston Community Choice electricity uh as time
goes on in this um that is something that I will have to get back on. I am not aware of that. Currently they are actively working on upgrading the lighting fixtures and upgrading the boiler system but regarding the resident engagement I will
get back on that. Sounds great. Okay. Uh thank you so much. No further questions. I'll yield back to the chair. Thank you board member Fuki. Uh we'll now turn it over to the city um if they've had a moment to take a look at the the materials that were provided.
Yeah, Chair Ellis, you're correct. Um I'm sorry miss mistake. Yeah, but they should have a blended emission um that's directly as meth family. So 4.1, 2.4, 1.8, 1.1 and 6. Okay. So the slide um as stand uh is
just going to be updated to 4.1 and basically all those numbers that you just mentioned. All right. Thank you very much. Um and ready, do you foresee any issues? I don't think there's any issues here. It's a rather straightforward application in my opinion, but with that blended emission being lowered back to basically the
multifamily level, um do you foresee any issues uh with your application? No, I think that is fine. Okay. Thank you very much. With that being said, um is there a motion to approve Newestra CDC's application with um standard conditions?
So moved. Is there a second? Second. On the motion to approve uh New West CDC's application with standard conditions, I will say that I vote in favor. How do you vote? Board member Fuki in favor. Board member Latimore
in favor. And board member Stoell in favor. Uh the motion passes. Uh New West CDC building portfolio has been approved. Per the regulations, the environment department will send a copy of the written decision letter within 7 days.
Thank you, Ry, for joining us today. Thank you. Will the environment department invite Chair Bolt Wright back to the meeting? Yes, I inviting her now. Uh thank you uh board member Ellis for pointing out our slide. We will make that correction
before posting. No problem. I I just I'm I'm having too much materials open all the time for some reason, but it is what it is. Um yes and we just message chair but right to join back.
Um perhaps while she is rejoining I can continue it if you if it'll be easier for you. I think so. So maybe until she joins back. Not a problem. We will now switch to our
public hearing. I am calling this public hearing to order at 5:04 p.m. I'll hand it to the environment department for a quick review. Awesome. Thank you. Uh just a quick review and reminder of where we are with
Harvard's application. Um so Harvard submitted a building portfolio application via pathway 2. Uh and then the review board voted to have a hearing at a public meeting on August 11th. Uh and just as a reminder again of what the pathway 2 requirements are. So if your
building portfolio triggers the need to apply via pathway 2, you are required to submit maps visualizing your building portfolio with different uh relevant environmental justice layers. you're required to include a narrative describing sort of the initial thinking
around building decarbonization um and sort of Berto compliance by the owner. Uh and then finally there's a commitment to submit an emission standard compliance plan within 2 years of the portfolio's approval and provide an annual progress report on on that set
on said plan. Um and things that are included in the plan, you know, are any updates of the maps that are submitted. Uh narrative descriptions of how you plan to prioritize the different um benefits that are associated with Berto compliance. Uh and a narrative description of any sort of compliance
efforts that are expected to happen over the next uh two cycles or you know over the next 10 years. Uh so just as a reminder, I know we have a lot of different pathways that require a lot of different things. So this is what's required under pathway 2. Uh and I think I saw chair botright rejoin.
Hi. Awesome. Um great. So that was it for me. Uh and then I'll hand it back to chair boat to introduce our applicant today. Great. Great. Um so I uh I'll now hand
the floor over to representatives um from Harvard University. if you could introduce yourselves and start the presentation. I'll start breast. I'm Heather Henrikson. I'm Harvard University's chief sustainability officer. Um I'm also the managing director of our office
for sustainability. Just going to put this on. Hopefully that will improve you being able to hear me. Um I'm also joined two colleagues who will introduce themselves um when they begin to speak as well.
Can you hear me? Good. Great. Um, and I think actually Ziggy, you can help me advance the slides. So, we'll start with the next. This is our outline for today to talk about our action to date, our building portfolio in this application
and then how we're making progress on our climate objectives. Next slide, please. So, you can keep going. So just a just a brief overview to say that we do have a universitywide
sustainability action plan. It is our vision and framework um you know and has all of our goals and it is really organized around four major priorities. How we power, how we build, how we operate and how we lead. So I will touch
on these um briefly. Next slide. So what does a sustainability action plan mean? Um to make it a little bit hopefully clear, these are some highlights. It really breaks down in particular to our goals, which we'll talk a bunch about related to our
climate goals. Um and it also has our policies. We have policies around or standards around building around um cleaning, landscaping, IT and the like. Basically all our operational priorities
and then also collaborations. So deep collaborations with our faculty and students and then also um with partners across the university for our zero waste goals and electrical veh um vehicle electrification and resilience as some
examples. Next slide. So these are climate action goals. They were set at the beginning of February um or yeah in February 2018. They are to be fossil fuel free. to zero fossil fuels in our our buildings or our vehicle
fleet by 2050 and then neutral by 2026 as a bridging strategy to meet those goals. We also have two targets um most important for today I think the embodied carbon reduction in our capital projects but also food emissions reduction
targets as well. Next slide. So, how are we doing? Um, since our 2006 base year, we're 32% completely reduced in our greenhouse gas emissions and it would be 40% um if we didn't factor in
growth. So, of course, we are factoring in our growth um but wanted to show you the amount of emissions reductions that have happened since 2006. Next slide. Uh we announced at the end of last uh
calendar year a brand new uh consortium for climate solutions. It's a first of its kind renewable energy collaboration that was led by Harvard, MIT, Mass General Bighgam and Power Options. Um it really was to provide brand new large
utility scale virtual power purchasing um agreements that typically wouldn't be available to individual buyers um and certainly not to the nonprofits that are also um eight major nonprofits who are benefiting from this uh project. It's
actually two largecale um utility grade renewable energy projects, one solar, one wind. It's equivalent to about 130,000 homes electricity annually. Um about a million metric tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions. And uh for
Harvard, when you combine that with our New England renewable purchases, it's it is effectively 100% of our purchased electricity is coming from these VPPAS. Next slide.
We also have um growing amount of solar volt photovoltaics or PV that's why everyone says PV um about 2.8 megawws in Boston and more coming as you'll see in 2026.
Next slide. We I I touched on the fact that we have had sustainable building standards since 2009 very shortly after our office was created and we have continuously upgraded these standards over time. They
started to be lead gold in in 2009 and our largest update actually happened last year. It is to be living building challenge core certified um for major projects and it also included expanded priorities which we'll talk about from Harvard's healthier building academy.
Next slide please. Um just as a a a sort of scorecard um these building standards have really helped us achieve um certifications in in holistic certifications. So we have 40 lead certifications so far and 70% of
those in Boston are gold or platinum level certifications. Next slide. So these new standards um again that I mentioned are targeting the very ambitious living building challenge core certification and Harvard Healthier
Building Academy. Just to explain these are very holistic requirements. They are performance-based and they're net positive. So not just reductions but doing sort of better regenerative um goals. And I think one of the distinctions about it is you can see
under the living building challenge these these 10 imperatives um energy and carbon reduction, healthier and interior environments, responsible you know universal access, um responsible water use. You have to
achieve targets in each one of these 10. It's not a pick as you go menu of I'll do some but not others. You have to do things in each of the 10 and it is um even a bit beyond the energy code um in the state of Massachusetts. So they're
quite aggressive targets in each of the 10 imperatives. On top of that we also have um some requirements that we've really worked with our faculty on around health. So healthier materials from building materials without toxic chemicals in
them. Um better indoor air quality, access to daylight, things like this. So those are our new standards. Next slide. Um and then uh I'll just mention the fact that we I think you're familiar,
but we did conduct a tree inventory in Boston. Um we have over 2500 trees and representing a 100 species and and we have since 2013 actually increased our
trees by 700 a 28% increase. Um and this con the our planning efforts are consistent with the goals of the Boston urban forest plan. Um and Harvard has implemented a long-term strategy for the management of its tree resources. We're
actually currently working with the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab to conduct a tree canopy analysis of the Alustin campus. And this analysis will provide a benchmark for understanding changes to the tree canopy and offer maps, data, and metrics on
which to base future goals and policy initiatives related to canopy coverage. With that, um, I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, Peter Joseph Kelly for the next few slides. Thank you. Hi everyone, my name is Peter Kelly
Joseph. I'm a senior program manager of clean air compliance programs in Harvard Environmental Health and Safety. I'm going to provide an overview of Harvard's proposed portfolio and answer any questions your view review board may have. Ziggy, next slide, please. All right. As an overview, Harbor owns
buildings in three Boston neighborhoods, Alustin, Longwood, and the Fenway, and Jamaica Plane. Next slide, please. All right. This slide shows all Harvard's own buildings in Alustin. Next slide, please. This slide shows
Harvard's buildings in the proposed Berdo portfolio. Um, buildings not included in a portfolio are excluded due to Berto regulatory guidance, including above ground parking garages. Uh, some buildings are smaller than Berto size threshold,
new construction that will be included in future uh, portfolio adjustments. Next slide, please. This is a similar slide for Harvard's own buildings in Longwood in the Fenway. Next slide, please.
Uh, and this slide shows the proposed portfolio and in Longwood Fenway excludes two buildings from the proposed portfolio. Next slide, please. And finally, this slide shows Harvard's buildings in Jamaica plane and these are
primarily at the Arnold Arboritum. Next slide, please. And the excluded buildings as well. I'm going to turn the presentation back over to Heather to discuss how Harvard is making progress now. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. So, I was just uh
before Peter stepped in talking about our building standards. Next slide, please. So, now I'm going to talk to you about how these standards come to life because these brand new projects that are um starting to open this fall in Boston are actually following these
standards. So the Rubenstein um David Rubenstein Treehouse Conference Center is pursuing these these standards of living building challenge corps and Harvard Healthier Building Academy. Um this is Harvard's first mass timber building. Um it has zero fossil fuels on
site including an all electric commercial kitchen which is a first for us and low energy design. Um it has a rooftop solar PV system as well um that you can't see here but is there um and also back to the embodied carbon um you
know steel and and concrete as I believe you know are the most energyintensive building materials. So here we replace that with the mass timber and also a healthier low embodied carbon concrete. So we are targeting about a 60%
reduction in embodied carbon in this project with the mass timber and the structural concrete. And again the structural concrete what makes it a healthier low embodied carbon um concrete is it uses a a recycled ground
glass pelin to replace the cement that of course is the really the carbonintensive part of concrete. And we believe that this is the first in Massachusetts um in structural elements to be used of this ground glass pollin
low embodied carbon concrete. So that's a little bit on that project. Next one please. Uh this is 100 south campus drive and it is going to provide 276 new units of housing for Harvard and Harvard
affiliates. Um the project has actually already achieved passive house institute design certification in 2024. It is targeting in addition to do living building challenge corps and then Harvard's healthier building academy goals. It too will have zero fossil
fuels in the building um connecting to Harvard's low temperature hot water district energy facility and very low energy use intensity. Um so um this is this is one example here.
The other thing I would just add um um the project is also reducing embodied carbon through a lighter facade system with less material that has also reduced the structural and foundation materials need for support. So really trying to
address carbon embody carbon in all of these projects. Next slide please. Right next door is the um Goell Center for Creativity and Performance, which is going to be the new home of the American Reparatory Theater coming next year.
Again, pursuing Harvard's building standards. Um it is an 85,000t performing arts center. Again, zero fossil fuels in the building. Also will connect to Harvard's low temperature hot water system. And you know, for a performing arts center, we're told it
has a very energy, very low energy use intensity, kind of breaking records. Um, and the key strategy in the building is it's actually designed for natural ventilation when conditions allow. And it has a very efficient building
envelope. Um, again, reduced embodied carbon with the use of cross- laminated mass timber in this structure, as you can very well see. um or if you're going down Harvard um North Harvard Street, you can see it now. Um and there is also
reclaimed brick that is on the inside that is lowering the embodied carbon in this project. Next slide, please. So, lest you think we're only focused on the new buildings, um here's a great example of existing buildings. Um and we
are doing um major gotten renovations on two very large um dorms um as well as an office building over at HBS. And these projects are not only hitting u striving to hit lead and living
building challenge but the replacing windows with highly efficient glazing increasing the wall insulation for a higher performance envelope coupled with low temperature hot water systems design for low energy and a fossil fuel-free
future. So they are really trying to cut the energy even further and be ready for um low temperature hot water. Next slide. Um, also wanted to just touch on um the our medical school um campus.
Um, our historic quad, which you can see there, um, is actually going through a multi-phase building envelope project that's nearing its end. Of the five buildings that are involved, three have completed the restorations of their
marble facades. Um, Golden is under construction now and Armenise is in design. But not only have they taken great care to repair and fortify the facade, they really um are also replacing the windows with triple
glazing and adding insulation to really make the buildings more energy efficient as well as safe. So that is a big and they are I would say the medical school's also um been has a multi-year strategy where they are continuing to do
just more um energy efficiency, heat recovery. They have it on a loop. It is you know a big priority here and across um our campuses in Boston. Next slide. So I think I was asked last time and we
did I have touched a little bit on our district energy facility which is located in Austin. It is a low lowerc carbon climate resilient system completed in 2019. Um it produces low temperature hot water
um chilled water and electricity. It also has a 1.3 milliongal thermal storage tank for storing chilled water. And what that means is it allows chilled water to be produced and stored during
off- peak hours when electricity is less polluting. It can then be used that that electricity during peak energy use times which reduces the grid load. So this is an efficiency measure that is built into
um this project. Um, they also, as a side note, won a people's choice award from the Boston Society Architects last uh or earlier this year rather. So, next slide. Um, our electric shuttle buses, you've
probably seen them around in vehicles. Um, a third of our shuttle buses are now all electric. The first ones rolled out in 2021. Um, in the last few years, Harvard has also uh purchased over 10 new EVs uh
including mail trucks, box trucks, vans, parking vehicles, and utility vehicles. We also have 55 level two EV charging stations. And about 2,300 people um are riding our electric shuttle buses each
week. Um, these EV buses travel around almost 14,000 miles per year and they're 73% more efficient than the diesel buses. Next slide. Uh, I also wanted to just make sure to
touch again on our sort of twopronged decarbonization strategy for buildings. Um, one, we are really seizing opportunities in all of our current projects. So that means when we're replacing energy equipment or systems, um, you know, we're we're working to
decarbonize those or andor use lower temperature hot water. And we're also continuing, as I've mentioned multiple times, to prioritize opportunities for energy efficiency and energy recovery as well as decarbonization.
Um, we also, as I've mentioned, are studying our longer term planning for decarbonization, and we're very, very focused, of course, longer term meaning not that long, 2035s, of how do we hit our targets. Um, for instance, in
Boston, we're studying first our district energy options in Alustin with the district energy facility already, a lowcarbon, low temperature hot water system. And we are looking at um very very aggressive um looks at our
buildings to change the energy of supply away from fossil fuels and as I mentioned to identify additional energy recovery opportunities as well. Next slide. Um I will just mention that we're very
proud member of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission. Um Harvard actually was a founding chair of the higher ed working group and chaired that for 10 years. Now BEu has that honor with Northeastern. Um and I think you know the hired working group is really leveraging
our capacity to not only work together but also to reach out and work with other sectors um the hospitals, the commercial re the commercial buildings as well in support of the city meeting its climate goals. were participating in subgroups like the Boston like the
Boston's grade modernization and other things. So I will stop there and then pass it to my colleague Chris English. Thanks Heather. Uh for the record Chris English I work in Harvard's public affairs office. Uh if you want to go to
the next slide please. Um so I wanted to take a moment to follow up on the board's questions um from our public meeting in August. uh there was a desire from the ward to learn more about our community engagement efforts uh within environmental justice communities. Um so
the majority over 95% of Harvard's um buildings in our Berto portfolio um is an environmental justice population. So accordingly all actions that we undertake to reduce emissions have direct environmental and public health
benefits to these populations. Uh we try to build community engagement into the fabric of our work. Um for all of our development projects, we go through at the state and local level, we work with the community. Um we voluntarily commit to using the city's
language access protocol. Um ensuring that our information is provided in the primary languages spoken in our neighborhood. um you know fact sheets and projects specific information in English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese. Um and I think important to
the work of this board uh all of our development projects feature a sustainability um component in our latest imped sustainability chapter um that governs our future development moving forward. Uh, also important to note, uh, over 200
acres of our land in Alustin is currently vacant of people. Uh but with the Austin multimmoal project's focus on reconnecting communities, we have an incredible opportunity to not only address environmental justice concerns now, but the opportunity to plan for and
develop for the people that will live and work in Beacon Parkyard um in the future as it gets built out. Um beyond our regulatory processes, we try to engage with the community in other ways. Um the Harvard Ed portal is a good
example of how we create space for local community to come together. Uh this arts programming, youth mentoring, career support, digital learning, uh community lectures, business workshops, uh and and beyond are all offered to our local
residents as a way of connecting Harvard to our neighbors. Um, my office even holds monthly coffee hours in Austin, uh, as a way of giving our neighbors an opportunity to talk directly to the university about our ongoing work and a
space to discuss their concerns. Um, you want to go to the next slide, please. Uh, at our public meeting in August, you also asked about recurring themes that we've heard from the community through public feedback and comment. Um, a good
example of the feedback that we've gotten um are the comments we received during our recent IMP process. Um, so over the course of more than a year of review and engagement with the neighborhood um and the city, we heard several themes of importance to our
neighbors. Just included them on the slide there. Um, I can go into more detail if you like, but um, also wanted to leave time. So u finally the board asked about more information for a MWBE contracting
policies. Uh at this time the university does not have a specific MWBE contracting policy for capital improvement projects. Um but we uh currently comply with all of the applicable federal, state, and local regulations um including the Boston
residents jobs policy. Um thanks for your time. Happy to take questions. Thank you. Um, thanks for um for all the information and um and for adding in that uh response at the end to some of
the discussion from last time. Um, so I'll now ask the board if there are any questions or comments that they'd like to discuss. Before we start, I should note that if we are entertaining special conditions today, we will
have to Am I in the right spot? Right. We'll have to um continue this application to a following hearing in order to review and discuss the special conditions with the applicant. Um or we may requ make requests for the applicant for items we would like to see in their emission standards compliance plan when
it is submitted in two years. As a reminder, requests for emission standards compliance plans are not considered special conditions. Um, so before I go around um with questions, I I would just ask that um that when the
compliance plan is submitted, we will want to see um performance against Boston resident jobs policy um and your um engagement of MBE and WBE owned firms um as well as sort of an update on the
community engagement piece as part of the narrative. and I will pass it on to board member Ellis. Thank you. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt. Um I think we had a staff comments that I can I can quickly
You're right. I just I just like ran right over the staff comments. I apologize. I knew I skipped something. No worries. I didn't want to. You were on a good flow, so I didn't want to interrupt, but I wanted to put myself first. So now you've heard the chair comments. Now we can do staff comments. No problem. Very quickly, just some
staff comments. So staff reviewed the original application and deemed the initial application incomplete uh due to some questions around the campus configuration. Uh we worked very closely with the Harvard team to ensure that we had the most accurate um sort of setup
in campus setup within Energy Star portfolio manager which is the software that we use in addition to the Berto reporting form. Um and so that is all completed uh and up to date to the best of staff's knowledge. Uh, thank you, Peter, because we we work very closely
with Peter on that specifically. Um, and and just as a reminder, yeah, the board voted to hold this hearing on August 11th. Um, and staff recommend approving with standard uh conditions. Um and if there are any special requests, it sounds like we already heard one from
the chair sort of highlighting uh MB MBWE uh utilization plans with um capital planning and any updates on community engagement uh trends or patterns. Great. Thank you.
Uh so now uh taking all that in consideration I will um ask board members if there are additional questions or comments and we'll start with board member Ellis. Thank you chair and thank you Heather Peter and Chris for your presentation today. Um I I'll just add Diana that I
also heard uh Chair Bolt Wright mention their where they're at with the the Boston's uh job policy as well to to the uh the emission standard compliance plan when the time comes. Um I I think I I appreciate the presentation and and answering the questions. Um last time I
believe when we discussed and maybe Heather can confirm this. Um it does seem like Harvard has already met their first threshold and and are already I see Heather nodding. Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Um and and it seems that uh you are very much on your path to you know meeting the compliance associated
with the blended emissions compliance plan. Um, one thing that I'm curious about is uh the the additional buildings that are being added. So, I'm assuming that these buildings will need to be added to the building portfolio in the future. Sort of looking to Peter here. Um, and you've already made plans for
that and and can see that you'll still be able to meet your emissions compliance plan given the net zero components of your buildings thus far. Is that correct? Yep. the uh I can say the Berto staff has been very diligent in providing guidance um in the Berto guidance material about adding new buildings and
all the associated regulations. So seems like a straightforward process and we look forward to doing it. Okay. Thank you very much. I I don't think I have any other um questions. Again, I appreciate the responses and and the presentation. So I'll turn it
back over to you, Chair. Thank you um board member Farooqi. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, thank you, Heather, Peter, and Chris for all the work on this. I think it answers a lot of the questions we had last time around. So, I also appreciate specifically, you know, all of the
measures that are outside the scope of this ordinance, but reduce the building temperatures and thereby the electrical load for air conditioning, which is really helpful. So, you know, trees and body carbon, really, really good stuff. So, thank you. Um, I know we spoke last time about the medical area total energy plant. I know a few of the buildings in
HMS and Chan are uh purchasing energy from that plant. Um are you able to share any more information about conversations you may have had either with NG the plant operator or with other MATE customers about how that uh
decarbonization of the plant can move forward. Chris, do you want me to start or Great. Um, yes. So, I think everyone's aware that our Longwood campus, our medical school, our school public health, and our dental medical school,
um, all have a long-term contract with MATP through 2015. Um, so we Harvard are definitely committed to meeting our B our Berto goals and are, as I said, explore our options across our entire portfolio in order to
hit those targets. Thank you, Stephen, for um uh reminding me to say yes, we have met the 2025 targets already. Um you know, we are are in um I think zeroing in well on 2030 and are really
focused on 2035. Um I think everyone knows we don't own the MAT plant. It is privately owned. We are its customers. Um, and so I think, you know, we're our approval of this application is a critical step to us meeting these long-term goals. Um, and
that is, you know, and as I said, I think we're looking at a myriad of options both at the district energy build um, systems that we do own and operate as well as all of our buildings in order to hit these targets. Excellent. Thank you. Um do you uh are
there any other compliance challenges that you anticipate beyond MATP as you reach 2050? 2050 is a very different question than 2035. Let's start with 2035. Yeah. Um I I think you know we are we are deep
in it. We are right now, as I said, doing these very comprehensive engineering studies um both in our buildings and um you know, very seriously looking at them um not you know for additional energy efficiency, heat recovery and to truly decarbonize
them every piece of equipment in in the buildings. So we are committed to and very focused on that right now. And as I said, we are very much looking at um the district energy facility in Alustin, which is already low temperature hot
water. And so um you know uh that technology um lends itself to to decarbonization um in in somewhat easier manner. So we are looking at that this summer. I don't know if I shared last time, but we did
do um some test wells uh looking at ground source um geothermal opportunities. You know, we don't have a lot of um space in much of our campus which is very urban, but where we do in Alustin, that is exactly what we are
looking at. We have done some of those test wells and are doing that analysis now. So, you know, I think that's what you'll see from us um you know, in in our plan. um and our compliance plan, we are we're focused on getting these studies done and and having those plans for the
hitting the 2035 targets. Okay. Excellent. Thanks. Um and lastly, I'll just uh voice my support for the uh requests that Cherright made for the emissions compliance plan in two years. Uh but appreciate you sharing more information about the uh contractor and workforce standards that you have at
least right now. Um and with that, no further questions. I'll yield back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you, um, board member Latimore. Thank you. Yes, it was a very thorough presentation. I appreciated it. And I also echo, um, what, um, board member
Farooqi just said about what Chair Boat Wright said and so I'm also looking forward to thoseformational pieces. Um, so, thanks for the, uh, presentation. I just have a couple of um broader questions about um when I read the original application, it talked about
the consortium. I assume that's consortium for climate solutions. Um and uh Heather, you talked about they showed that they it was um Harvard, MIT, I think it was Mass, General Bighgam if I'm not mistaken, and three
three cultural nonprofits. I wondered who are those three cultural nonprofits. Just curious about that. I do. Uh well, one I know it is um WGBH. Um I believe hang on I just give me a
sec. I have it here. Um it is Beth Israel Ley. uh Boston Children's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, um the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the Museum of Fine Arts, I think I already mentioned WGBH, and then
also Tus University joined us for um a piece of it as well. Thank you. And um you also mentioned in the living building um challenges core the core imperatives for the living building challenges. One was inclusion, an inclusion imperative. I wonder if you
could say more about that and how and if that relates to how adjacent EJ communities and stakeholders and residents um are educated and engaged in art sustainability work. Yeah. I mean I think um our application
in Boston where 95% of our neighborhoods are EJ. So I would say it's really our whole overarching strategy is to is is to be focused on that. Um the living building challenge
does have a just label certification which is included in this and so we are meeting those requirements. Um, you know, we do source a lot of materials locally um and and from um you know,
where where there are opportunities from um women and minority owned businesses. And you know, they basically have just really allows we we require not only um we require people that work with us like the architects or designers or
contractors, someone um needs to actually have that certification. And so I think that's an extension of those folks that work with us are also um working to meet that high standard um in working with us. So it's
focused on policies for employees. Um they have to do an assessment of their own company. So it's quite if you look online I think you can see um and we're also happy to very much to provide what that just label certification sort of
entails of um folks that work with us. Now, I would very much appreciate getting more information about that just label and maybe perhaps add that to what the chair requested because it definitely relates. So, I appreciate that. Um, I also when reading your
original application, I think I saw a green revolving fund available and I wondered if that fund was available. It was it just an internal Harvard fund or is there is it broader than that? It is an internal Harvard fund. Yes, it
is um really helped drive innovation on campus and energy efficiency, heat recovery, um PV. Um it's been a very helpful tool um which the president um and senior leadership have invested in um and I
think it's you we've done hundreds of projects on campus um and it really has cut our um emissions and energy costs as well. So it is a it's it's been a great tool. Um it is currently very much
focused on um electrification and supporting electrification projects. Um, of course those, you know, even one large electrification project could wipe out actually the fund, but it is, you know, it's it's helping and it is
really, you know, cuts that delta between replacing a fossil fuel boiler with a fossil fuel boiler versus electrifying that boiler at the time I'm getting those fossil fuels out. So, we're we're very grateful um that we
have that tool and it's being used um across our campus. Thank you. No other questions. Thank you. Thank you. Um board member. Yes. Uh thank you. I just wanted to echo
um what our chair was saying and that's both right. Uh, also I would uh I was just interested in how the uh study comes out for the geothermal. That sounded kind of
interesting. I hope you guys share that with us. Um, and that's pretty much all I have to say, but again, I want to echo what Chair Bo called to your attention. Thank you.
Um, are there any additional uh comments or questions from the board? All right. Um, we'll now open the meeting to public comment. As a reminder to members of the public to provide public comment, you can um raise your hand using the Zoom function or type in
the chat um in the Zoom application. If you're calling in and cannot use Zoom, you can also um raise your hand by pressing star9 um or send your comments to staff via email at bertore review board atboston.gov. Um and a reminder
that um that this is a a comment uh sort of a comment session. Um so if you have you have thoughts if you could share them in that format that would be great. Are there any comments?
All right. Um Oh, Alison uh Bolton. Hi. Um this is Allison Ptonis from Mission Hill. Um can you hear me? Okay. Yes. Oh, okay. Thank you. Um my question
is uh revolving around the medical school campus and um the contract with the MateP plant and whether Harvard University as a primary customer uh can influence um the uh
decarbonization process there with the plant and use their power as a primary customer to do that. Um, I would hope that would be an ongoing effort. Thank you.
Thank you. Um, uh, so we'll we'll take that um as a comment for the applicant to sort of take into consideration. Are there any additional comments? Okay. Um
great. So um if there's any further discussion or comments um from the board, please let me know. Um otherwise um if there is a motion regarding approving this application um
we can entertain that now. Motion to approve. Great. Uh board member Furky. Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I just wanted to I I appreciate Miss Ponos's question and and just wanted to make space if the applicant had any response to that
immediately. Um I would turn it over to them. Not at this time. Okay, great. Thank you. Great. Um, so we have a motion on the floor to approve with um with standard
conditions. I'll I'll second the motion. Um, and um and so um on the and after we Oh, I was
thinking after we take the vote, it would be great to have staff repeat sort of the things that we want included in the um in the report back in two years. Does that work? Okay, great. Okay. Um, well, all right. Sorry. Could I actually just make a brief recommendation? I know we heard um
a few things for the report back, but I think the piece that Gail you were asking about about living building challenge, I might recommend that we have that just be an email follow-up since it's fairly generic information about living building challenge rather
than waiting for the emission standard compliance plan for that. So, that's my recommendation of a friendly amendment. Okay. Um, is the Harvard team okay with um just sending some follow-up
information about living building challenge? Great. Well, it was it was specific to the just um piece that um Heather mentioned, not not broad. It wasn't broad about the you know, living build. It was very specific and it related to some of their what I
as I understood it related to some of what Chair Boat Wright talked about which is kind of the the standards that they try to um have everyone they do business kind of understand and and and speak to if I understood that correctly maybe I didn't but I so I think it's
important that it's not just the general kind of piece it's very specific in my opinion to the question that goes to um that aligns with what Chair Bolt right spoke to. So, whatever way is dealt with, I just want to make sure that we we get it and that it's clear what it is
that that we're looking for. Okay. All right. So, now I'm going to do a roll call on the vote and then I'll ask Diana to just read back the the additional um followup and reporting
things that we've asked for. Um, so, uh, when I call your name, let me know how you vote. In favor, opposed or abstain. I vote in favor. Is board member Ellis on the phone, guys. I'm here.
How do you vote? In favor. Great. Uh, board member Fergie in favor. Board member Latim in favor. Board member Stell
in favor. All right, the eyes have it. The motion passes. Um, Harvard University's building portfolio has been approved. For the regulations, the environment department will send a copy of the written decision letter within 7 days.
And I'm going to ask Diana to just read back um the additional reporting requests that we've made. Great. Thank you, chair. So, I've written down that the review board is requesting that Harvard include in their admission standard compliance uh
standard admission standard compliance plan uh that will be submitted in two years to highlight uh any updates or um policy regarding MBWE utilization. Uh any updates are highlighting use of the
Boston jobs policy. uh updates or highlights in trends uh related to community engagement with neighbors. Um and then I believe there that is sort of covering the piece of the um justice
criteria in the living buildings challenge that um that board member Latimore mentioned. Is that I feel like that is everything I got but I want to reflect that and see if the board has any addendums to that. Are there any addendums? It sounds right
to me. Okay, great. All right. Um, thank you so much for the presentation and um and for participating and answering all of our questions. Uh, we are now going to move on to our
next agenda item, which is a discussion vote about the equitable emissions investment fund awards. And I will pass it over to Diana. Great. Thank you, chair, and thank you, board, review board. I know we put a lot in this agenda today. Um, so I will try
to keep us keep us moving along. Uh, so just as a quick review, uh, for this year, we received 22 applications in total. On September 8th, the review board uh, voted on inviting six finalists to present to the board. On September 29th, those six finalists then
did present on their proposed projects. um it answered some questions from from review board members. Uh and on the next slide we should see uh a reminder of who those six finalists were. So they were Urban Edge uh Housing Corporation, Roxberry Tenants of Harvard, Alustin
Brighton Community Development Corporation, Boston Medical Center, Marville House Apartments, and Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester. uh since their presentation, we reached out to each of the applicants just to give them an opportunity to update their uh budget
spreadsheet. Some of those applicants when presented when they were presenting um had voiced that some of their like financial budgets had shifted and changed and so we asked all of them to provide us their most updated financial information. Uh and then following that
we shared with each of the board members that update and asked each of the board members to send us their uh individual funding recommendation. Uh based on that uh staff is recommending the following on the next slide.
Uh the staff is proposing that the board vote to award Alson Brighton Community Development Corporation uh $250,000 their full amount. uh award Boston Medical Center $227,000 less than the amount that originally requested but still a significant
portion of it. Uh Roxberry Tenants of Harvard uh $150,000 their full amount requested and then Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester $123,000 um slightly less than what they requested but still a good chunk of it. Uh so total $750,000 which is what the
review board voted on uh what the review board voted to approve or approved uh to release for this year's application round. Uh we thought this was like a good mixture of different types of projects. So some projects really having
a deep energy retrofits. Other projects uh investing in renewable energy and and reducing uh patients or or folks's uh utility costs, their electric bill electric bill costs. Uh other bu other projects having a more mechanical
upgrade type of work in the building. Uh and we thought that was like a really nice mix. Uh this also helps uh just based on some of the interest from last year. This helps ensure that some most of the projects that are being worked on uh include buildings that are subject to Berto. So helping those who are subject
to Berto to also comply with the ordinance. Um so yeah that's that's our proposal and um I'm happy to take any board questions or or help help you know with discussion. Um thank you Diana. Um, I will now ask each board member if they have any
questions or comments. And um, I want to echo the staff's recognition of of all the work that um that both board and and really staff have put into getting us to this place right now. Um I I know for myself this feels challenging
because there were a lot of really good applications and a lot of people um with great ideas about how to further the goals of the emissions fund. I appreciate that um in in sort of spreading the funds in this way we get
to fulfill a couple of objectives that I think we set out as a board. Um, one is to sort of spread um focus on Berto buildings, spread out a little bit um between housing projects and non-housing projects and and stretch the dollars to
um to hit four projects. So, um there are it's it's really hard to to get it down to four, but I think that the the sort of slate represents a lot of the objectives that we were talking about. So, um, so appreciate the work to get
here and I will hand it over to board member Ellis for any questions or comments. Yeah, thank you, chair. Can you hear me well? Yep. Okay. Um, I echo pretty much everything that you said and um, appreciate the environment staff for, you know, in
consideration of the the finances. you know, looking at those two locations, the Boys and Girls Clubs and and and BMC, and getting at least 90% of their requested amount is something that I think is valuable and and making sure that we're distributing this. Um, I will
say it was also not easy. um deciding between all of the applicants and in the process of trying to figure out like how do we make sure that we're approving different projects that are a mix of um you know energy and emission reduction projects and opportunity to to learn um
from our community uh projects that are happening uh on a broad scale. One question that I have for the city is um regarding specifically the BMC and the Boys and Girls Club. I know traditionally we like to reach out to those applicants to ask them if they
would be comfortable um or if there's any issue regarding the amount that we're recommending and I want to know if there's been any responses to that that we should be aware of. Uh yes, good question. We did reach out to both of those applicants sort of in
preparation uh and asked if they would still be interested if they received less than what they requested. Uh they both uh responded yes that they would still be interested. um in receiving the award even if it was less than what they originally requested.
Okay. Thank you, Diana. I have no further questions. I I'm comfortable with the the mix and pool of uh uh potential applicants that we have here today. Matthew, thank you. Thanks, um board member Farooqi.
Thank you. I also want to thank the many staff in city hall for all the work on this and all of the applicants for submitting these very lengthy applications. I know this takes a lot of work. So I appreciate everyone putting forward these really wonderful projects and um I also want to voice my support as well for the some of the finalists um
that I also was very impressed with the Allster Brighton CDC um Boston Medical Center as well. I would be ordinarily hesitant to fund an institution through this, but I know that this program really does directly benefit a lot of residents who otherwise would not be able to be served. Uh, so it's a great
program and um and I appreciate, you know, Urban Edge as well for their mention of their uh the benefits to labor and workforce, which was not a common thing across all these applicants, but uh they and also Brighton CDC are doing some good work on that front. So, I appreciate that a lot
and uh um look forward to um voting on these. Thank you. And I'll yield back to the chair. Thank you. Um board member Latimore. Yeah, I also um agree with all the comments about the u the work that went
into this at both the city level and the board level as well as the applicants. Lots of you know diligence and work. I did wonder how the city's recommendation related to the board scoring of the four. I mean, there were so many good applications. I just wondered, we all
scored four for four, right? I mean, we all we all not scored, but just gave our four re uh recommendations. So, just wondered, you know, how aligned I didn't hear that as one of the factors. I understand there were many factors and I appreciate all those factors that uh you
mentioned, Diana. Just wondering how the final recommendations from the city align with the four four recom four four recommendations from each of the board members. Yes. Uh happy to chime in. I would say it's pretty aligned with what we heard
from board members with the sort of caveat that there were three board members uh who did recommend funding Urban Edge. So, it sort of kind of came down to um I would say BMC and Urban Edge. Um
and I just just to be transparent with the board um Urban Edg's project proposal uh were not in buildings that were subject to Berto. So, smaller basically they were just smaller buildings. Um so and there was I think just slightly more
it seemed like there was slightly more interest in the uh power to the people. Uh that being said uh the city felt very similar as the board that the work that urban edge is doing is really really valuable and um so that was honestly the
sort of I think what ended up being the deciding factor because there there was a lot of interest from the board as well for Urban Edge. Um that being said, if it felt if the board tonight felt very strongly, you know, have we can have that discussion of course tonight. Um if
it felt they felt differently from what was the staff proposal. Thank you. And I also was trying to recall of the city's recommendations how many of those were um reliant on the you know meeting the deadline for the solar
for the tax credit, the federal tax credit if any. I can't recall um when I saw the recommendations. Yeah, Boston Medical Center and Boston Medical Center is related uh they're going to implement or install a solar PV which is dependent on the solar tax
credit. Uh and then also Brighton CDC also has a solar uh Okay, thank you. No more questions. Thank you board member. I just want to thank the uh staff for
all the hard work and um I just wanted to also mention that I was so glad that we were able to split one of the um awards in half instead of giving it to this three
recipients and I am someone who is for the people. I was so glad to see that the Boys and Girls Club received the money and some of the other things that some of the
other organizations I'm glad that everybody that I pretty much voted for got their awards. So, I'm just grateful and thank you all for allowing me to take
part. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Um, are there any further questions or discussion from the board? All right. Oh, uh, board member Ellis, sorry, I was having a hard time finding
a mute button. Um I'm just this is not in pertaining to this uh particular cycle right now but I'm hoping you know for a little help from the city um in the next cycle if it's possible to sort of get a sense from board members you know what we would like to prioritize I
you know given that I've been on the board since the inception along with a few others I do worry about the perception of how we're sort of uh thinking about workforce development and funding workforce development and So, I I'm just hoping that maybe in the next
cycle we can be able to do I don't know, some type of survey that the city can send to us that we can maybe um just get a better sense of like what we want to focus on because I think this year with so many new board members, it it sort of was a bit of a learning curve for us to all get a sense of where we want to
focus on. Nonetheless, we do have a diversity of projects, but just wanted to put that out there. Thank you. Thank you, board member Ellis. Any additional board comments? All right. Uh we will now open the
meeting to public comment. As a reminder, members of the public to provide public comment, you can raise your hand or type it in the chat. Um if you're calling in, you can raise your hand by pressing star9 or email your comments to staff at bertoreview board
at boston.gov. Are there any comments? Okay. Um, great. And, um, thanks also to Allison for the comment, um, in the chat. Uh, is there a motion to approve the city's proposal as is? So, move. Motion to second.
Uh, great. Thank you. Um, so on the motion to approve the city's proposal as is, I'm going to do a roll call to find out everyone votes. Um, in favor or opposed, I vote in favor. Board member Ellis in favor. Board member Ferki
in favor. Board member Latimore in favor. Board member Stell in favor. Uh, the eyes have it. The motion passes. the equitable emissions investment fund
awards for 2025 have been decided. Um I think we um we have tried to express our gratitude to the staff um and uh uh Diana's party um to um for all the work
that went into this. But um as a few board members said, I also want to echo just we had a lot of really strong applications this year. Um, as as usual, it's really great to see Boston really leading in terms of um, innovation and commitment to carbon reduction and um,
it is frustrating to have a limited amount of funds, but uh, hopefully we will see some of these applicants in in future cycles. Um, and really want to thank all the applicants for the time they put into their applications. Board member Latimore.
Oh, you need to unmute. Thank you. I would like to also um say that should we have more opportunities as a review board for training, I think that um in addition to what member Ellis said about what are we most interested in, I think, you know, using it these I
mean this is my first time because I had to recuse myself from the first round of equitable emission fund applications. So training using these last two cycles perhaps as a tool for us to not only assess what we're interested in but also
to maybe train us on you know uh what we learn from this and how we can you know improve our our review of these applications. I don't you know so I would just put that on the table if if there are training opportunities. I think we've gone through two cycles and
I think for me it would be helpful to kind of you know revisit kind of how we looked at these applications. I think it was a good process of just trying to figure out there was like everyone said so many good applications and so many factors. Is there anything that we can
learn about how to you know do this in the future? That's all. Thank you. Thank you. Um that that is a great point and um supported by board member Ellis in chat as well. Um
sorry chair. Uh I think that makes sense. I heard sort of two things. I just want to make sure I capture it. Um one sort of focusing on maybe before next year's application cycle getting a sense from from review board members. Is there a specific um area that we want to
focus on for next year? Perhaps maybe like workforce development it sounds like could be an interest. Um and then in addition to that, a meeting some agenda time dedicated to reviewing the the equitable emissions investment fund sort of application process and maybe serve that as a training um for board
members, maybe answer some questions. Um anything else? I see board I would slightly amend that that piece the second piece. Diana, I was hoping that it would be a training like we've had before, not necessarily part of a a public meeting or, you know, review
board meeting, but a review board training, uh, where we take these applications and we're able to kind of maybe get trained on, you know, how we approach them, what the, you know, just different ways of thinking about how we make decisions on the applications in a
training format as opposed to as part of a review board agenda. Got it. Okay, that is helpful. More like a technical training. Yes. Yeah. And just to if I can ask a follow-up question, I think um are you asking like
uh like a technical training like how to evaluate like emissions reductions or like the technical proposals or actually like just how to think about how to compare them as you're evaluating? I think I was thinking maybe a little of
both, you know, like to some extent I'm still trying to myself understand like okay, what am I looking at when I see those standard emissions numbers? Then I also feel like there are so many factors. I'm sure with the last with the first round that I recuse myself from of
of applications and then obviously for me and sounds like others this round there were so many different factors, so many great applications. Is there anything we could think about? Are there any lessons learned? Are there any approaches that we can take from a best practices for reviewing these and
technical as well as just general best practices for reviewing these really good applications. So that's I I hope that that helps kind of figure it out. The training I think would be helpful. Yeah, that's helpful.
Great. Uh board member FKY. Yes, thanks. I uh support the uh statement as my colleagues made and I would also uh add that particularly if we are wanting to focus more on the labor and workforce piece, it may be
helpful to have that be a focus of the training or one of the focuses of the training to better understand so that we can all broaden our knowledge of you know the different types of standards and policies that applicants bring to us um both for the fund as well as for the
portfolio applications. So, I'm happy to follow up about that as we get closer to next year. Thanks. Thank you, board member Ellis. Yes. Um, just wanting to round out a portion of what I was saying in in connection to board member Latimore. It
it's sort of thinking about like does this budget actually make sense? you know, we all have very different expertise where I'm looking at things from an admissions and a unit standpoint and and so I know Diana, you've been helpful to respond to my question from the financial standpoint. And so I think
what board member Latimore is getting at is a holistic sort of technical understanding. If I could even reframe it as well, I know the city also sort of provided their own recommendation. I'm very curious as to how you got to those recommendations that you provided us um
for us to consider. So, just wanted to add that additional context from my end um in support of what board was saying. Great. Thank you. Um, all right. Assuming no other comments, uh, we will move on to our
fourth item, which is, uh, to approve the previous meeting's minutes, um, from September 29th. Are there any questions or comments on the minutes? Motion to approve. Is there a second? Second.
Great. Um on the motion to approve the meeting minutes, board members may vote in favor, oppose or abstain. Um the board members who are not in attendance and should abstain uh due to absence are um well counselor Kleta Zapata but um board member Fury. Um so those in favor
um please either unmute and say I or raise a hand. I Great. I think that's all of our um eligible votes. So the eyes have it. The minutes have been approved and I will
hand it over to Ziggy for administrative updates. Thank you, chair. Uh firstly, the Berto team has received one new um submission for hardship compliance plan and another resubmission and we're currently checking them for completeness and
hopefully will be sent to the board soon. Also on September 26th, the Berto team hosted uh a webinar on building portfolios and individual compliance schedules. And the recording and and slide deck is now up on the Berto website under um previous events.
Also, I just want to give one more last reminder about Berto Fest um which will connect billion owners with different experts in theization. Again, the event is free and will be on uh Thursday, October 23rd from 12:00 to 6:00 at RS Humanity and Southeast. And the reg the
registration link can be found at boston.gov-fest. And then also looking at our timeline, uh we just want to give a an update about what's going to happen on October 27th. Um the cities can provide an update and adopted um bur regulations and well as well as an update on the
building the compensation advisor program which um the review board allocated $500,000 from the fund last year to be used towards that program. So, one of our colleagues is going to come and um just give an update about how that program is doing and then the next review board meeting is October 27th.
Thank you. I think Hannah, yes, I have one other um update which is um wanted to share with you all that um Boston has been selected as a finalist for the Bloomberg Philanthropies local
um climate leaders awards um for our work on Berto and the Equitable Emissions Investment Fund. So, congratulations to all of you. Um this is I'll put a link in the chat. This is really exciting. We're actually the only North American city to be a finalist in any of the categories. Um so just wanted
to share that and thank you all for the hard work that you do on making Berto um really a leader in um centering community in building decarbonization and focusing on equity with our equitable emissions investment fund. So,
I know you all put in a lot of work um and just wanted to make sure you know that others in the climate space around the world are looking to Boston and and recognize the the hard work that we're doing to really um push the envelope on this. So, I'll I'll report back if we
are in fact winners of this award. What is the timeline on the um it is uh it will be announced at uh the C40 um like climate mayor summit um on November 4th.
Cool. Yeah. Um well, that is a tremendous honor and um and so much appreciation for the staff and the city and this administration and Mayor Woo for her leadership on this and everything that you've all done to get us here. So,
we'll all cross our fingers. Um we'll cross them again at our next meeting and then and then we'll uh and then it'll be the fourth, I suppose. Yes. I I wish it came with like a big um uh sack of cash also, but I think it is just a recognition award.
That's okay. Um all right, so let's end on a high note. Um Ziggy, can I also just ask you Ziggy resent me the um social media kit on the Berto Fest. If you probably good like
let's make sure all the board members have that um so that we can all share it. um and maybe see each other in person um at Bertofest. So, is there a motion to adjourn the meeting? So, moved. Second. I will. Okay, great. Uh board member
Fuki, beat me to the punch in seconding it. Um please uh raise your hand or unmute to uh vote um on the motion to adjourn the meeting. Board members in favor say I. So, one, two, three. I
Great. The eyes have it. The motion passes. This meeting is adjourned at 6:18 p.m. We had a really big agenda today and um really great conversation and also um ending a few minutes early. So, thank you everybody. Good night. Bye.
Thank you. Take care.