Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Project

In response to a citizen petition, the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts is developing a roadmap to becoming a net zero energy community. The City retained Integral Group over the course of 2014 to advise City staff and a task force of key stakeholders and expert professionals to develop an action plan to meet the net zero target. The “Getting to Net Zero Task Force” is charged with developing a road map to net zero buildings citywide.

Integral Group is advising the task force by providing project management, facilitation, research, modeling and analysis and policy recommendations to the task force and Cambridge City staff. Ultimately, Integral will develop set of recommendations to the City, that will place them on the trajectory to being
a net zero community. A key focus is policy tools and standards that can be applied to achieve significant energy and GHG savings from new construction and existing buildings.

To support this objective, Integral Group compiled supporting data and research to aid in the development of a net zero strategy, in a series of primers as backgrounders. Research included the development of three primers: (1) best practices in net zero energy and energy efficiency policy – municipal case studies; (2) Cambridge building energy primer, a snapshot of Cambridge’s building stock including available data on energy use by building type and sector; and (3) a low carbon energy supply primer describing renewable and low carbon energy generation options that are feasible in Cambridge. The project deliverable will be a high level action plan laying out a set of strategies – including regulation, education, and incentives – to move Cambridge toward the net zero objective.