Going Green

As a company on the cutting edge of biotechnology, Genzyme wanted its new headquarters to reflect its corporate values: innovation, social responsibility.

The result is Genzyme Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one block from the Charles River in Kendall Square. Opened in the fall of 2003 on the site of a contaminated industrial "brownfield," the twelve-story facility is hailed as one of the most environmentally responsible office buildings in the United States.

David Fleming ’70, group senior vice president of Genzyme, worked on certain aspects of the building’s design and construction. He takes visitors through the light-filled atrium and up to the top floor, where he points out computer-driven panels in the roof which help moderate the temperature and send sunlight down through hanging, sculpture-like squares of glass and mirror.

Fleming also points to some of the eight hundred windows that open to fresh air and a few of the eighteen gardens located on various landings, often near the computer kiosks and coffee stations found on each floor.

Other features include:

• An energy-efficient system that uses waste steam from a nearby power plant to heat and cool the building;

• A "living" vegetative roof, which reduces storm runoff;

• Efficient water use, including dual flush toilets, waterless urinals, and sensors to reduce landscape watering;

• Recycled content in over 75 percent of all materials.

Genzyme expects its headquarters to earn the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, which sets standards for environmentally responsible construction.