Somerville Stretch Code Analysis
Somerville, MA
The City of Somerville, in support of its commitment to Net Zero Carbon Negative by 2050, sought a consultant team to support the City in incorporating Massachusetts’ new Specialized Stretch Energy Code into the City’s zoning and land use codes, including assessing the potential impact, anticipating any difficulties, and proposing strategies to address challenges. Linnean dug into building data in order to determine the scope of the impact in terms of property quantities and types of properties impacted, and identified potential confusion or conflicts with the codes as written.
Additionally, Linnean collaborated with City of Somerville staff to develop materials to support the administration of these new codes. Linnean’s work helped to clarify and streamline the adoption of the code language in order for the City to take bold action toward climate mitigation goals.