The publicly-funded Massachusetts Maritime Academy provides accessible, quality education to veterans, reservists, National Guard, and Merchant Marine. Located on an exposed peninsula on Buzzards Bay on the Cape Cod Canal, the institution has expanded to prepare graduates for marine biology and engineering, and the broader environmental, business, industrial and engineering interests of the Commonwealth and the nation.

Campus Planning Drivers

While the Academy remains committed to the tradition, values, and aspirations of the mariner’s profession, the vision for the campus’s future includes expanded academic offerings, a more diverse faculty and student population, and strategic enrollment growth to 1,800 students. Along with increasing enrollment, the campus faces challenges of sustainability and resiliency given a changing climate. The resulting campus master plan articulates a vision for a revitalized academic core, an enhanced campus life experience, connected and renewed landscapes that reflect local ecology, and a balanced approach to mobility and circulation. Acknowledging that priorities and opportunities evolve over time, this plan offers a flexible framework for decision making that can adapt as circumstances change. 

The increased enrollment requires construction of a new science laboratory building, residence hall, new field house, and the renovation with additions for a classroom building and dining hall. The revised landscape plan calls for the upgrading of the pedestrian spine with added tree canopy and seating, and enhanced biodiversity with native plants that can improve resilience, while storing and sequestering carbon in plants and soils. 

The Decarbonization Plan

The decarbonization study came at a critical moment in the Commonwealth’s path toward carbon neutrality, following Executive Order 594, “Leading by Example: Decarbonizing and Minimizing Environmental Impacts of State Government,” requiring State buildings to reduce fossil fuels by 95% by 2050 from a 2004 baseline. As a public institution, Mass Maritime’s facilities are included in the state building portfolio that must reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The study integrates decarbonization of building systems with the Campus Master Plan. Sasaki developed sustainability planning objectives, beginning with evaluation of current energy use and carbon footprint as well as proposed future energy demands, followed by an assessment of energy infrastructure required to meet campus needs. The study included an evaluation of campus resiliency, development of practical implementation strategies for decarbonization, and the integration of the proposed implementation strategies. Sasaki’s phased plan includes extensive energy upgrades in existing buildings, sustainability targets for new construction, a microgrid of geothermal to replace gas systems on campus, and maximizing onsite energy generation.

To determine the optimal combination of technologies to achieve carbon neutrality, several renewable energy and decarbonization technologies were evaluated. Ground and air source heat pumps, solar thermal, solar PV, and on-site electrical storage incorporated into the campus plan.

A new Energy Transfer Loop will link each new capital improvement project to be built in phases. Geowells located beneath the campus open spaces include the parking lot and athletic fields, gradually expanding through phased implementation as buildings are converted with heat pumps, radiant heating and cooling, and separate ventilation systems, to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels.

Sustainability Guidelines for New Construction and Existing Buildings

Guidelines based on early-phase energy modeling were developed for each new building to ensure that future building projects maintain the Commonwealth and the Academy’s decarbonization goals. These included passive strategies, envelope standards, and energy performance. Prescriptive targets were added for window/wall ratio, air sealing, energy recovery, Dedicated Outside Air Systems (DOAS),and rooftop PV. 

To reduce carbon emissions over the next 30 years, the study proposes small- and large-scale retrofits to existing buildings that reduce energy use, converting to all-electric systems, and increasing capacity for on site energy generation. In the short term, measures include retro-commissioning, demand control ventilation (DCV) to reduce conditioning, energy recovery retrofitting, lighting upgrades, and control optimization. Long term measures include major mechanical system renovations, replacement, and envelope upgrades.

Embodied Carbon Reductions 

With further goals to reduce embodied carbon from campus materials, the decarbonization study used the Carbon Conscience app, developed by Sasaki, to estimate the potential for carbon emissions, carbon storage, and carbon sequestration for design alternatives of proposed building and landscape projects. The tool allowed the design team to compare the benefits of different design options, land uses, structural systems, and materials.

Improving Resilience to Sea Level Rise, Storm Surges, and Extreme Heat

In addition to phased deep energy retrofits, the project addresses the long-term programmatic, sustainability and resilience challenges, which are intimately connected to the Academy’s identity and regional context as a coastal campus highly vulnerable to flooding. Key recommendations to ensure resilience and sustainability include elevating critical building infrastructure (such as boiler rooms and switchgear), reinforcing the coastal edge, implementing wet and dry floodproofing, incorporating flood resistant landscapes, and optimizing tree planting to prevent soil erosion and flood plain shifting.

This project is a breakthrough in addressing the long-term programmatic, sustainability and resilience challenges of the Academy while intentionally connecting to the institution’s programs, identity, and its sense of place. Weaving together the master plan and decarbonization study ensures that future campus projects connect to broader climate goals. It demonstrates how a campus can grow while eliminating reliance on fossil fuels, and ultimately, it serves as a pilot for the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance’s (DCAMM) vision for decarbonization of the Commonwealth’s many campuses.