By Avery Bleichfeld, The Bay State Banner Staff Writer, July 18, 2024
"...These boxes — each about as large an industrial-sized refrigerator — mark a first for the city and state and make the Kenzi at Bartlett Station, a 50-unit development for older adults, the first building taller than four stories in the city that is all-electric — even when the power goes out.
In addition to electric heat pumps to heat and cool rooms and a design intended to prioritize energy efficiency, a rooftop solar array hooked up to a battery energy storage system — those two cabinets in the little room off the first floor — is set to provide the power for the emergency systems instead.
In developing the building, which is owned by Preservation of Affordable Housing and was designed by the DREAM Collaborative, staff had to work with the city to determine how the system would work in the space and what protocols would need to be followed.
“There’s no code that dictates this in the state of Massachusetts,” said Julie Klump, vice president of design and building performance at Preservation of Affordable Housing.
The process for getting the system approved included about nine months of meetings with the Boston Fire Department and the city’s Inspectional Services Department to iron out the details.
Similar use of the technology is limited, if it exists at all in the United States. Klump said the Kenzi marks the first use of a battery energy storage system in the city and the state."...
see full article Roxbury affordable housing development goes fully electric — even when the power goes out - The Bay State Banner