“A Jenga tower… a stack of books… a game of Tetris…” are some of the reactions to the look of the latest addition to Boston’s skyline, but this oddly shaped building is hiding a range of smart, efficient, and sustainable elements that have allowed it to achieve its Net Zero buildings status. Opening to students recently, Boston University’s (BU) new Center for Computing & Data Sciences is 19 stories tall and 345,000-square-foot, making it the University’s tallest building and the largest 100% fossil-fuel-free building in the city. BU president claimed that the iconic structure has been created as “a conversation starter” and beyond the bold aesthetic, the building’s green features trigger a range of discussions around net-zero energy buildings. The $305 million building is the result of a competition held in 2012 in which a long list of about 50 firms was whittled down to five competitors and was won by Toronto-based KPMB. Every net […]