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Committee votes to pursue LEED certification for West Bridgewater elementary project
Summary
Sustainability subcommittee recommended LEED certification and the School Building Committee voted to pursue LEED; members noted possible incremental MSBA reimbursement (roughly 3% plus 1% for indoor air quality) and the design team will integrate LEED deliverables into schematic design.
The West Bridgewater School Building Committee voted to pursue LEED certification for the proposed elementary school after a sustainability subcommittee briefing on codes, incentives and lifecycle considerations.
The subcommittee explained that while the town is not in a stretch energy code jurisdiction, the project can achieve additional state reimbursement by meeting higher energy and indoor‑air standards; presenters cited roughly a 3% MSBA reimbursement bump for meeting the specialized energy code and an additional 1% for choosing a higher indoor-air-quality pathway, subject to MSBA caps. The subcommittee recommended LEED over CHPS based on familiarity for contractors and administrative ease in the project team’s experience.
The committee approved the recommendation; the design team and sustainability subcommittee will now incorporate LEED targets and third‑party documentation into schematic‑design work and the project’s lifecycle-cost analysis. Staff said pursuing LEED will require town-level commitments to operations and maintenance policies the certification reviews, and that documentation will be prepared as part of the design contract.
Next procedural steps: the design team will translate LEED objectives into specific credits to pursue, integrate them into cost estimates and the MSBA submission where appropriate, and report back with a plan for documentation and timeline in schematic design.
