Location: Tufts University, Medford, MA

Completed: Fall 2018

 

 

The new Tufts University Campus Energy Plant represents the culmination of years of study regarding the future development of the campus, and the plant embodies a concerted effort by the university to minimize the impact of campus operations upon the environment.  Chillers, boilers, campus electrical switchgear, and cogeneration are all integrated into one complex to ensure that the plant will be able to accommodate current demand as well as future growth, while significantly reducing energy use.

 

The site of the plant is located on a steep hill between Boston Avenue and the main quadrangle, while also abutting a proposed Green line station across Boston Avenue.  The design was conceived as a land form which appears to be an outgrowth of the hill. On the uphill (west) side of the CEP, the building is amost entirely buried in the landscape, and a green roof gives some continuity with the adjacent green spaces, while also demonstrating the plant's commitment to sustainability.  Masonry facades on the north and south appear to grow out of the landscape, while the east facade facing Boston Avenue is entirely transparent and reveals the inner workings of the plant to pedestrians on Boston Avenue.  The color coded equimpent inside the plant reinforces this intent, working with informational screens outside the plant to illustrate energy use on the main campus.