City of Boston Awards TSNE Grant for Green Building Feasibility Studies

Mayor Thomas M. Menino awarded a Green Building Feasibility Study grant to Third Sector New England for 2004. TSNE was one of only two recipients -- along with the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation -- of a wide field of applicants for the grants. The study grant helped TSNE’s development project team better consider green building opportunities during the project's development.

According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which administers the grants, the award is intended to help a development project expand its standard feasibility study and incorporate green building technology analyses. By providing this funding, the city and the BRA are helping organizations like TSNE to facilitate the exploration of green solutions and consider sustainable technologies. Additionally, the information gained about sustainable development from the project will add value to future building projects in Greater Boston.

Creating Healthy Environments

According to TSNE Executive Director Jonathan Spack, the BRA grant helped generate new ideas for the NonProfit Center in the area of sustainable design. The city’s support helped TSNE create a healthy work environment for Boston’s nonprofit community and then share what it learned about green design with other nonprofit, government and business projects within the area.

“This is an exciting, tangible step forward for our city as we continue to make strides in our efforts to promote green building initiatives in Boston,” Mayor Menino says of the project. “We are thinking boldly about energy efficiency, conservation, smart growth and job creation. We understand that the future of development lies with a new approach to building and we see the opportunities to create new businesses and new jobs while building a better, healthier more sustainable Boston.”

The grant program has been made possible by $100,000 in funding from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).

Read the Boston Globe Editorial.