Part of a series of reports that includes:
Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary;
Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report;
Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical Report;
Available at http://sites.bu.edu/cfb/OVERVIEW:
Boston is known for its historic iconic buildings, from the Paul Revere House in the North End, to City
Hall in Government Center, to the Old South Meeting House in Downtown Crossing, to the African
Meeting House on Beacon Hill, to 200 Clarendon (the Hancock Tower) in Back Bay, to Abbotsford in
Roxbury. In total, there are over 86,000 buildings that comprise more than 647 million square feet of
area. Most of these buildings will still be in use in 2050.
Floorspace (square footage) is almost evenly split between residential and non-residential uses, but
residential buildings account for nearly 80,000 (93 percent) of the 86,000 buildings. Boston’s buildings
are used for a diverse range of activities that include homes, offices, hospitals, factories, laboratories,
schools, public service, retail, hotels, restaurants, and convention space. Building type strongly
influences energy use; for example, restaurants, hospitals, and laboratories have high energy demands
compared to other commercial uses.
Boston’s building stock is characterized by thousands of turn-of-the-20th century homes and a postWorld War II building boom that expanded both residential buildings and commercial space. Boston is in
the midst of another boom in building construction that is transforming neighborhoods across the city. [TRUNCATED]Published versio
