Gilbane to manage retrofit of the Fraunhofer CSE R&B structure

The new Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, with construction managed by Gilbane Building Co., involves a retrofit that will transform the historic, 100-year-old building at 5 Channel Center in Boston into a building technology showcase for clean energy technologies and research.

The Center will serve as the Fraunhofer’s new headquarters, housing advanced research labs and staff. In addition to pre-construction and construction management services for the renovation of the building’s core and shell, Gilbane will provide Fraunhofer with specialized knowledge and expertise related to the construction of energy efficient buildings.

Fraunhofer is also using $2.7 million in energy efficient building products donated by nearly 40 companies, ranging from building material manufacturing giants like Dow Corning Corp. to Massachusetts start-up companies. CSE researchers will evaluate the reliability and effectiveness of the technologies incorporated into the building, helping technology developers prove out their products with building-integrated and other applied research.

The facility is being designed by DiMella Shaffer with BR+A as engineers. Renovations will begin in July and are scheduled to be complete by the end of this year. The Center will target LEED Platinum.

We offer the following recommendations in the hope that they will help step up the pace of high-performance building reconstruction in the U.S. and Canada. We consulted many experts for advice, but these recommendations are solely the responsibility of the editors of Building Design+Construction. We welcome your comments. Please send them to Robert Cassidy, Editorial Director: rcassidy@sgcmail.com.