Green Standards For Big Buildings Advance

Committee alders gave a unanimous thumbs up to a proposed zoning change designed to pave the way for a greener city.

The new rules would allow developers to build larger buildings in a relatively narrow section of the Rt. 34 corridor in exchange for constructing open public plazas and using higher sustainability standards.

The aldermanic Legislation Committee vetted the proposed changes, and unanimously recommended their approval, Thursday night during an online meeting held on Zoom.

“I’m really excited about this as a step in a good direction. We’re going to need to take more steps,” Westville Alder Adam Marchand said to city staff during the meeting. ​“You might even consider bigger increments and bolder steps.”

The proposed update to the BD‑3 Central Business / Mixed Use district now advances to the full Board of Alders for a final vote.

The zoning changes advanced to the full board a day after a separate aldermanic committee recommended approval of a proposed Development and Land Disposition Agreement (DLDA) for a new 10-story bioscience lab and office tower at the same time as 101 College Street. City staff have said that the development of 101 College requires the BD‑3 zoning changes in order to move forward. The plans for 101 College St. already include a public plaza and green building techniques.

City staffers explained Thursday why the alders might want to extend these rules beyond 101 College.

Deputy Director of Zoning Jenna Montesano said that one of the goals of the BD‑3 zoning district is to house biotechnology research centers that would need to be near the Yale School of Medicine and Union Station. These labs need more building space, she said.

“If we are going to grant an increase in [building size], it makes sense to consider the environmental impact of a larger building and also how it fits in the city,” said City Plan Director Aïcha Woods.

After questions from Marchand, Woods said that the end goal is to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings across the city.

Rather than setting these standards citywide immediately, city planners can learn what works by first incentivizing greener buildings in smaller sections of the city — such as the BD‑3 district.

“As we see how the incentives work, we can maybe move to requirements rather than incentives,” Woods said.

Developers would fill out a scorecard as part of their application to the city to be allowed to build bigger in the BD‑3 district.

Right now, developers can construct buildings with a floor area ratio (FAR) of six. This means that a building that covers the entire surface of a piece of property could be six stories tall, or could be taller if it were skinnier.

Each point on the environmental zoning scorecard would be worth a 0.2 increase in FAR, with a maximum increase to a total FAR of eight.

A developer could earn three points if they commit to generate 75 percent or more of the energy their building needs on-site through renewable sources.

If they plan to cover half of their roof space with a green roof that would use plants to catch rainwater, they could earn another point.

A 100 foot by 100 foot public plaza would earn four points.

A developer that did all of these things would multiply their eight points by 0.2 and would get a total FAR of 7.6.

Montesano explained that the size of these buildings means that their environmental commitments can make a much larger difference than those of smaller buildings. Even just a few green roofs would improve the city’s stormwater struggles, Montesano said.

The team that worked on the zoning update language had created a similar sustainability scorecard for the new Commercial Gateway District on Whalley Avenue. They looked to other cities that were implementing similar changes in their downtowns to figure out what the right calculus would be for larger buildings, Woods and Montesano said.

The scorecard also works for buildings that, unlike 101 College, already exist.

Montesano explained that a developer who wants to add a few floors to an existing building could add a green roof or pay once into a city fund. These dollars could then be used to build bioswales or other flood-prevention infrastructure.

Committee Chair and East Rock Alder Charles Decker said the tradeoff between building size and sustainability makes sense.

“What I want to avoid is a situation where there are suddenly big biotech buildings that feel completely alienating or gated to Hill residents, who are largely folks of color. I think a plaza is probably a good way to handle that,” Decker said.

Montesano added that the neighborhood business district directly to the south of the BD‑3 district will provide a cushion between Hill neighbors and the new buildings.

Decker said that the jobs and tax revenue from the bioscience buildings will be important to the city. Also important is making sure that residents can get hired for those jobs, Decker said. (The 101 College agreement does have several provisions related to this goal.)

The proposed changes ultimately received unanimous support from Decker, Marchand and the five other committee members present at Thursday night’s meeting.