Two of Cambridge's top priorities — supporting biotech companies and being green — are in a tug-of-war as the city mulls tougher emissions standards for new construction.
A city task force has been meeting for nearly a year to come up with a way for new buildings in Cambridge to be "net zero" to significantly reduce emissions. But some of the most energy-intensive buildings in Cambridge are biotech labs, which require a significant amount of specialized infrastructure, including high-powered ventilation systems to deal with any potentially hazardous gases.
"We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment," said Susanne Rasmussen, director of environmental and transportation planning for Cambridge and co-chairwoman of the task force. "The actions we take could have much broader impact than in our own community."
Joe McGuire, vice-president of development for Alexandria Real Estate Equities, one of the largest developers of lab space in Cambridge and also a member of the task force, said, "There are less than a handful of cases where a lab can be made net zero. (Labs) could be five or six times more expensive (to power) than an office building."
He said his own company makes energy efficiency a priority, but developing a net-zero emissions lab in Cambridge would be nearly impossible.
Because Cambridge is so densely packed, particularly in Kendall Square where most labs sit, there is less room for renewable energy infrastructure, such as solar panels.
McGuire estimates roughly half of Cambridge's commercial office space is taken up by laboratories, a far greater percentage than anywhere else in the world.
"It's impossible with technology that's currently available to build a 200k-square-foot lab building that's net zero," said Peter Abair, director of economic development for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
McGuire said increased costs to developers will be passed on to companies, some of which may start to look outside of Cambridge if the cost gets too high.
"I'm concerned that what Cambridge does is so aggressive that it makes other communities more attractive," he said.
The task force is anticipating that there will be significant technological breakthroughs in the coming years for renewable energy.
Under current plans, which have not been finalized, the task force would require new lab space to have net-zero emissions by 2030.
"We recognize that laboratory buildings have unique circumstances that make them at least right now have a higher energy consumption," Rasmussen said.
The task force plans to reevaluate the timeline and other regulations every five years.
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