Sustainable Design Consulting

The Green Engineer, LLP  

 

 

 

Chris Schaffner, P.E., LEED, is principal of The Green Engineer, LLP, a sustainable design consulting firm specializing in energy efficiency for the built environment. Chris has 18+ years of experience in the design of building systems with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T.

Representative LEED Certified projects include:

Doyle Conservation Center, Trustees of Reservations, Leominster, Massachusetts
Project Manager and Sustainable Design Consultant for the design of a new 15,000 sq ft office and teaching center. Features building integrated PV, ground coupled heat pumps and composting toilets. LEED Gold Certified Project.

Cambridge City Hall Annex, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mechanical engineer for the renovation of a 40,000 sq ft municipal office building. Design features include ground-source heat pumps and a building integrated photovoltaic array. LEED Gold Certified project.

St. Pauls School, Concord, NH
As an assistant to the architect, the Green Engineer came in to review, complete and submit the school’s LEED certification efforts which had been abandoned by a previous project manager. LEED Certified project.

Ongoing Sustainable Design Projects:

Brain and Cognitive Science Center, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sustainable Design Consultant for the design of a new neuroscience laboratory building. Design goals include a LEED Silver rating.

Weld Hill Facility, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
Sustainable design consulting, HVAC conceptual advice, and energy modeling for the design of a new 40,000 sq ft research facility, including greenhouses, growth chambers, wet labs, research gardens and office space. Design goals include a LEED Silver rating.

Stata Center, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lead mechanical engineer for the new computer science complex, a 400,000 sq ft, high-rise office, classroom and laboratory building. Building also features 700-car underground parking garage and new athletic facility. LEED pilot project designed to achieve a Silver rating.

Searle Building, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Sustainable design advice and LEED project management for the renovations of the principal chemistry laboratory building on campus.

Sidney Frank Hall, Brown University, Providence Rhode Island
Sustainable Design Consultant for the design of a new, 60,000 sq ft cognitive sciences laboratory building at the university. Design goals include a LEED Silver rating.

Utility Master Plan, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
Energy Analysis and project manager for campus utility master plan and replacement of a coal burning steam central plant. Scope included a study of plant options for both economic and environmental performance, as well as assistance in the selection of contractors

Blackstone Campus, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lead mechanical engineer for the renovation of 80,000 sq ft of industrial buildings into green office space for the university’s Utilities Operations. Design goals include a LEED Gold rating.

School of Pharmacy, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Sustainable Design Charrette Facilitation for 60,000 sf renovation project creating a new home for the UB School of Pharmacy

Women and Infant’s Hospital, Providence, RI
Acted as sustainable design expert for the new addition to the hospital, an expansion to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The Green Engineer also provided LEED documentation services and incorporated the hospital’s Green Guide for Health Care.

Ellipse Dormitory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Lead mechanical engineer for the design and construction of a new 225-bed undergraduate dormitory, including music practice rooms and the campus radio station. Project built to meet university sustainable design goals and includes use of a “valance” radiant heating and cooling system.

Washington Mills, Lawrence, Massachusetts
In collaboration with Utile, Inc., performed sustainable design consulting services for the Architectural Heritage Foundation on the Washington Mills Renovation Project in Lawrence. This historic mill will be renovated into loft style housing near a new multi-modal transportation facility. Our work included charrette facilitation, sustainable goal setting, LEED analysis, and analysis of third-party funding options.

Massachusetts Port Authority
Sustainable Design Consultant for MassPort on developer projects built on MassPort properties. Projects include the Core Block Retail Entertainment Complex, the Renaissance Hotel and the LEED Certified Manulife Office Building.

Macallen Building, Boston, Massachusetts
The Green Engineer performed sustainable design consulting services for Pappas Enterprises on the Macallen Building. This project seeks to be the first developer residential project in Boston to achieve LEED Certification. Our work included charrette facilitation, sustainable goal setting, LEED analysis, and coaching in the LEED documentation process.

Jose M. Lazaro Library, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Mechanical engineer and Sustainable Design Consultant for an 80,000 sq ft addition to existing library. Designed to be the first LEED registered building in Puerto Rico, seeking a Gold rating.

Newton North High School, Newton, Massachusetts
Sustainable Design Consultant and Energy Modeler for the design of a new $86 million High School for the City of Newton. Acted as facilitator between design team and public on issues related to sustainable design.

Centre-Wise-Lamartine Affordable Housing Project, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Sustainable Design Consultant and Energy modeling for the design of a new 30-unit mixed-use urban affordable housing project.

Koch Center, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Massachusetts
Project Manager for the design of a new 80,000 sq ft science building. Program features classrooms for math and science, wet lab areas, central atrium, auditorium and Planetarium. LEED Registered Project seeking a Gold rating.

Sloan School, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mechanical engineer for the design of a 400,000 sq ft academic building for MIT's business school. Project includes office, library and classroom spaces. Design goals include LEED Silver rating.

Leggatt McCall Prototype Office Building, Littleton, Massachusetts
Sustainable Design Consultant and underfloor air expert for low-rise 120,000 sq ft prototype, environmentally friendly speculative office building.

Telfair Museum, Savannah, Georgia
Mechanical engineer for the newest building of the Telfair Museum, the oldest art museum in the South. Project responsibilities, in collaboration with Moshe Safdie Architects, included construction administration.

Smack Mellon Studios, Brooklyn, New York
Pro-bono consulting engineer for the renovation of historic power plant on East River, transforming a brick shell into studios and gallery space for leading non-profit arts association.

Liberty Mutual, Dover, New Hampshire
LEED coaching for project team on new 300,000 sq ft office building.

Fall River District Court, Fall River, Massachusetts
Sustainable Design Consultant for a new 300,000 sq ft urban courthouse, serving the Massachusetts State Court system. Project is seeking to be LEED “Certifiable”.

University of Vermont Commons, Burlington, Vermont
Mechanical engineer for university’s new student center.

Department of Architecture, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
LEED mechanical engineer for renovation of departmental office and studio space. Project featured first use of displacement ventilation at MIT.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California
Member of the mechanical engineering team for home of the LA Philharmonic.

Charlestown Armory Renovation, Charlestown, MA
Adaptive re-use project, converting existing armory to 30 loft-style apartments; provided sustainable design consulting to architect/developer team seeking Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approval.

Terrace Street Lofts, Boston, MA
Developer seeking Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approval to build this 175-unit artist loft complex required sustainable design consulting to pursue LEED certification on this new 145,000 s.f. project in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

Durham County Human Services Complex, Durham, NC
With the Rocky Mountain Institute, a member of the charrette team for this new 200,00 s.f. county capital office building seeking LEED silver rating. The Green Engineer also provided MEP concept design advice so the facility could incorporate a raised floor system and provided energy modelling services to ensure the project attained projected efficiencies.

Atrium School, Watertown, MA
Provided sustainable design advice and energy modelling for renovation of K-6 school facility, originally a book storage warehouse. This renovation incorporated sustainable design principles on a limited budget.

First Parish Church, Cohasset, MA
Proformed pro-bono forensic work to solve problems with a malfunctioning gas condensing boiler system.

New Graduate Student Residence, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Provided sustainable design consulting and energy modelling services for a new 520-bed graduate student residence, in collaboration with William Rawn Architects. The project is scheduled for completion in fall, 2008.

Sasaki Associates Energy Master Plan, Watertown, MA
Pursuing LEED EB for their existing complex of historic mill facility where 300 are employees, participated in company charrette looking at their existing system, and how to upgrade and improve it. As energy master planning consultant also contributed to developing the firm’s in-house ‘green lab’ new alternatives in sustainable practice are tested and explored.

MIT Sailing Pavilion, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Provided sustainable design consulting for the renovation of this historic and repeatedly modified structure on the Charles River.

Eaglebrook School, Deerfield, MA,
Performed an energy master plan for this private 6th-9th grade boarding school in western Massachusetts seeking to upgrade its facility, improve efficiencies and contemplate incorporating wind energy and biomass fuel in the future.

Creekside Commons, Chelsea, MA
Performed photovoltaic study to enable housing developer to pursue Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) funding to defray the cost of solar panels for the large multi-unit complex.

Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
Project Engineer for the replacement of an existing boiler system with new heat recovery boilers used for museum humidity control. Southern California Edison demonstration project.

Fraser Terrace Pavillion, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Project Engineer for the design and construction of a new dining facility in a existing museum courtyard.