Lowell Green Building Initiative

The “Lowell Green Building Initiative” issued a report called, The Benefits of Building Green: Recommendations for Green Programs and Incentives for the City of Lowell.  Included in this report are recommendations for establishing programs and incentives to encourage more sustainable and greener construction and redevelopment practices in Lowell. This initiative grew out of initial meetings between UMass Lowell (UML) administrators and the City of Lowell’s Division of Planning and Development (DPD) staff to identify potential research projects that would assist the City in implementing goals and objectives in the Master Plan.  As a result, UML’s Sustainable Urban Redevelopment Program at the Center for Family, Work and Community conducted research to learn about 21 cities that have established successful green building and sustainable development programs.  From this research, we identified several best practices that could benefit the City of Lowell.  In addition, we surveyed homeowners, building/development professionals and businesses to determine which incentives and programs they see as likely to work most effectively in Lowell.  This research effort has also been guided by an advisory committee composed of key community, city, and university stakeholders. 
Contact David_Turcotte.