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Our green building and our green policies are important!

  • 175 ultra new LED lights, using only five watts per fixture, have been installed in the lounge ceiling, and over all Beacon Grille tables.
  • 1,250 photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the 1,000-car parking garage provide solar power to common areas of the entire building.
  • Hot water for Beacon Grille will soon be preheated with glycol-filled solar panels on the roof, which operate year-round.
  • Many of Beacon Grille's kitchen appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens, are Energy Star rated.
  • Cooking grease is recycled and converted into green biodiesel fuel.
  • All glass bottles and aluminum cans are recycled.
  • Rainwater collected underground in a 7,000-gallon tank is used for occassionally watering trees and shrubs. No areas of lawn grass require underground sprinklers.
  • On-site MBTA bus stop, dedicated indoor and outdoor bicycle racks, and preferred parking for low-emission vehicles encourage eco-friendly transportation.
  • Continuous glass curtainwalls and ribbon windows provide generous sunlight throughout the day.
  • All of Beacon Grille's walk-in refrigerators have water-cooled compressors directly connected to the building's central heating system, helping to heat the entire building.
  • Recycled steel played a major role in the superstructure framework for the entire building.
  • Extreme attention to recycling principles led to the reprocessing of more than 1,000 tons each of scrap metals, wood, and plasterboard throughout the construction of TradeCenter 128.
  • HVAC units throughout the complex utilize the very latest technology to reduce the carbon footprint of this truly extraordinary, energy-saving building.
  • High performance tinted and reflective glass plays a major role in conserving power throughout the complex.

"We Buy Locally" Policy
Beacon Grille supports the local economy by patronizing locally owned and operated businesses whenever possible. In addition to buying locally, it also hires locally. Beacon Grille has a very strong policy of hiring people who live in Woburn or other nearby communities whenever possible.

 

Beacon Grille offers fresh, premium meats from Massachusetts-based Azuluna Brands. These all-natural, hormone-free cuts are hearty, full of flavor, and are the result of organic, sustainable farming methods. Azuluna's beef, pork, veal, and lamb allow Beacon Grille's patrons to make a healthier choice in meat while supporting local agriculture.

On-site Cogeneration of Electric and Thermal Energy
Although TradeCenter 128 was designed by Cummings Properties' own professional staff of architects, engineers, and LEED professionals as a model of green technology, Beacon Grille itself has one unique, very green component: all of Beacon Grille's large walk-in coolers and freezers have highly efficient water-cooled compressors, recycling most of the heat they give off, much of every year, with substantial savings in natural gas.

"Cogeneration," also known as Combined Heat and Power, is a recognized engineered solution to reduce energy costs. By using the heat that accompanies the production or use of electricity from fossil fuels, the cogenerated heat or electricity is "green power," generated as part of the system that can be as high as 70 percent efficient. This is twice the efficiency of electric production at many utility power plants.*

At TradeCenter 128, the heating and cooling is provided by several very large roof-top machines, consistent with the Gold level LEED standard.** Heated or cooled water is delivered from these roof-mounted chillers throughout the complex, forming a gigantic water source heat pump system.

Because all of these large walk-in coolers and freezers are equipped with water-cooled compressors, the heat they give off is simply transferred into the always circulating water. In summer, it is processed out through enormous cooling towers on the roof. In winter, however, that heat is still dissipated into the water, but is then used to help heat that water for all of the remaining portions of the complex.

This type of green technology will be really efficient only in situations where there is a simultaneous need for both electric and thermal energy. On the other hand, green power from the 1,250 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the main parking garage is immediately used as soon as it is generated to significantly reduce the complex's carbon footprint year-round.

*WSP Flack & Kurtz
**Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)

 
 
 
 
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Cummings Foundation • Institute for World Justice • New Horizons • TradeCenter 128 • Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine • Cummings Properties