WS Development to rid greenhouse gas emissions from its New England centers

A Massachusetts real estate developer has big plans for a carbon-free footprint.

WS Development announced a seven-year power agreement with NRG Energy that will reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 120 million pounds (equivalent to approximately 146 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle).

NRG derives energy from natural gas generation, coal generation, oil generation, nuclear generation, wind generation, utility-scale generation, and distributed solar generation.

The partnership includes eight buildings in Boston’s Seaport District and 35 of WS Development’s New England properties, including Legacy Place in Dedham and The Street in Chestnut Hill where the WS headquarters is located.

One Boston Wharf Road, a 707,000-sq.-ft. building currently under construction in the Seaport whose office component is fully leased to Amazon.com as part of the company’s Boston Tech Hub, will be the city’s largest net-zero carbon office building.

Additional buildings within WS’s Seaport development powered by renewable electricity from NRG include 400 Summer Street, the future global headquarters of Foundation Medicine, 111 Harbor Way, and the One Seaport retail complex.

“We are proud to contribute to a more sustainable and verdant future for our region and our planet with this major commitment to renewably generated power,” said WS senior VP Yanni Tsipis, who leads the Boston Seaport and Fenway projects.

“This commitment speaks directly to our team’s carbon neutrality goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our portfolio so our residents, retailers, and researchers can share in our commitment to a carbon-free footprint,” Tsipis said. “Our goals of reducing CO2 emissions 50% by 2025 and achieving net zero by 2050 are tangible and inspiring.”