GreenerU and partners win a BE+ green building showcase award

The Levinson Heat Recovery Project introduces an innovative retrofit to one of Boston’s largest affordable housing communities, installing roof-mounted heat pumps and exhaust recovery units on Levinson Tower that capture low-grade thermal energy from kitchen and bathroom exhaust stacks. This recovered heat is transferred to the building’s make-up air unit, reducing the overall heating load and immediately cutting site greenhouse gas emissions. 

The project will provide immediate reduction in site greenhouse gas emissions, improve BERDO compliance position for Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, improve thermal and environmental quality for residents, and support the local clean technology economy. It models one way of finding opportunities for significant energy and emissions reduction through comprehensive planning and creative engineering design.

According to the judges of the 2025 BE+ Green Building Showcase, “The renovation at Levinson is designed to improve the health of low-income residents, reduce heating costs, and capture wasted heat while providing significant decarbonization and compatibility with a future ground source heat pump. The jury was also impressed at the number of stakeholders engaged in the process. We need this kind of creativity and work at scale!”

This project also recently won a $150,000 grant from the Equitable Emissions Investment Fund, which aims to reduce building emissions and prioritizes environmental justice populations and communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution.

Thanks, also, to Roxbury Tenants of Harvard, Elevated Design, Inc., Peter Munkenbeck, Trinity Management, and Building Evolution Corp.

Click photo to view full poster.

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