Lecture 4: Winthrop Center [Zhengzhen Tan]
[No video or lecture notes available]
Boston’s $1.3 billion Winthrop Center was conceived and constructed 2016–2021 in a market with increasing sustainability sentiment from regulators and from community and corporate tenants. The case is about two critical decisions: RFP and Design Development. Students will learn the following:
- How to approach quantitative and qualitative analysis in making high stake sustainability decisions.
- Execution risks associated with fast-evolving sustainability concepts; tradeoffs and challenges in bringing Passive House concepts to reality; what risk is involved and how to control that risk.
Readings
Winthrop Center case study (PDF)
Lecture 5: The Economics of Healthy Buildings [Juan Palacios]
Quantifying the impact of buildings on occupants’ health and performance of occupants:
- The impact of environmental hazards on human health and productivity
- The role of buildings in climate resilience strategies (adaptation)
The value of healthy buildings:
- How to account for investments in health? An accounting look into how to measure the impact of healthy building strategies on firms’ financial performance
- Healthy buildings in the post-COVID era
The role of technology and certification:
- Information as a public good: sensors, building certifications, and industry standards for healthy buildings
- The 425 Park Avenue case from an economic perspective
Readings
Allen, J.G. and J.D. Macomber (2020). Chapters 4 and 5 in Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity. Harvard University Press. ISBN: 9780674237971.
World Green Building Council (2016). Building the Business Case: Health, Wellbeing, and Productivity in Green Offices.
Lecture 6: 425 Park Ave [Zhengzhen Tan]
[No lecture notes available]
Understanding the science of healthy buildings and its value proposition in office sector
Analyzing financial returns of healthy building investment
Readings
Macomber, J., J. G. Allen, and E. Jones (2020).
A Tower for the People: 425 Park Avenue.
Case study, Harvard Business School.
Muldavin, S., C.R. Miers, and K. McMackin (2017). “Buildings Emerge as Drivers of Health and Profits” (PDF). Corporate Real Estate Journal 7(2): 177–193.
