Green Living in East Boston by Griffin Lonergan

Hello, my name is Griffin Lonergan and I am a 16-year-old based in Boston. I am glad that I was able to participate in this contest and learn more about the architecture world and environmental impact that everyday life holds. Here is a link to my presentation which covers months of work and research on this project. There were many tough bits but even still I am proud of what I was able to produce. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1R8-KneEhC47vV9UncZPLRPRWGr3D8X1Om2n9OXKVTTk/edit?usp=sharing

I used Google Slides, TinkerCad, and Revit to create the designs presented here.

I want to provide affordable housing that helps keep habitants alive and healthy. I will do this by minimizing the impact of the nearby airport on habitants. One way in which we can do this is through green living. We will use different mechanics to help grow a stronger and healthier community.

This process is a long one and with every iteration intentional changes were made. This iterative process allowed me to keep on coming back to my design with a fresh perspective so I could make informed and thoughtful alterations. This design has many iterations and every design decision has a lot of thought behind it. I have been continuously evolving my ideas to create a strong end product.

This project has the potential to help a lot of people. The main goal, as I said before, is to help people in Eastie have cost effective and environmentally friendly housing projects. It is important to think about the cost of this, it will cost enough to make these projects safe and nice without making them too over the top expensive. Both state and private funding were considered for this project.

Why do people in east Boston need this housing? Boston housing can be very expensive.

Another important aspect to consider is location. I have researched many projects that recycle foundations of old buildings in order to decrease carbon emissions and overall construction costs. This project also considered refurbishing and reusing old and unused structures in order to decrease disruption in communities and decrease carbon emissions. There are many pros to this such as decreased energy consumption, minimizing the use of natural raw materials, and decreasing deforestation. That is why it is important that if these types of plots are available, we create affordable and environmentally friendly housing opportunities on top of them.

This seems like a better option than building everything from scratch however there are still some limiting factors such as demolition and historical impact of current structures. Despite this it is in our best interest to build on top of old plots.

My solution is scalable. This means that this design can be applied to many locations close to airports and other heavily air-polluted areas. This is not something specific but rather universally applicable to all communities in need. This versatile project allows for a further reach meaning more people around the world can get the help they need.

East Boston is a lovely community hindered by its proximity to the local airport. The airport produces a lot of unhealthy waste products such as ultrafine particulate matter, black carbon, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds that can lead to diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and neurological disorders

Here is an article on how the airport has affected the people of East Boston. Historically East Boston has been heavily affected by the presence of this airport. According to Center for Health Journalism, “jet engine emissions have similar effects to diesel fuel, putting people exposed to aircraft pollution at similar health risks to those who live by highway clusters, including cancer”. This article talks about instances in which community members have gotten different cancers from carbon emissions. Many studies are included that discuss this correlation between carbon emissions and certain types of cancer.

Quote Gallery

“When it comes to pollution, Wu has called for a “Green New Deal” in Boston. In 2020, as a city councilor, Wu released her own plan called “Planning for a Boston Green New Deal and Just Recovery,” aimed at creating a roadmap for a more sustainable and healthy city. The document, however, makes no mention of Logan Airport, despite it being among the city’s largest polluters — an omission that has sparked criticism.” - Although there is an effort to deal with the fallout there is no plan of hitting the root of the issue.

“In an email, Stacia Sheputa, director of communications for the Mayor’s Office of Environment, Energy, and Open Space, noted that the city recently awarded two Clean Air Grants totalling roughly $146,000 to organizations in East Boston, including Mothers Out Front and the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing. The intent behind those grants was to help deploy air quality sensors and filters at local businesses and community hubs.” - Once again there is a great amount of funding going into an ongoing environmental project to help the people of Eastie.

“East Boston has been an immigrant hub for centuries — first for Jewish and Irish communities in the 1800s, then mostly for Italian immigrants during Wood Island Park’s heyday. Now, the neighborhood is home to the largest Latino community in Boston. Hispanic and Latino residents comprise half of Eastie’s population.” - These are important communities who deserve help and care through affordable and environmentally friendly housing projects.

This housing project is for the people of East Boston. More specifically this project is for those who are at high risk of contracting these diseases caused by air pollution. This includes the elderly, the sick, and the genetically prone. This project is also meant to help those who cannot afford to move away from this health risk. This project is for people with low to moderate income so that they too have an opportunity at healthy living. It should not cost more to survive. Eastie is made up of many immigrant families that are already at many disadvantages, especially in today’s political climate. It is important that equitable opportunities are provided to aid in a healthy community.

This housing help work towards solving issues like global warming and affordable housing. The goal is to help those who are suffering with the effects of emissions and the resulting diseases. It is important to do all of this while keeping housing affordable and accessible. Here is a giant list of the emissions from airports and jet fuel and the risks of a close proximity to them:

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

-Asthma

-COPD

-Pneumonia

-Sleep apnea

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)

-Respiratory diseases

-Allergic reactions

-Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases

-Diabetes

-Premature death

-Asthma

-Worsened cough and wheezing

-Reduced lung function

-Increased asthma attacks

-Greater likelihood of emergency department and hospital admissions.

Water vapor

Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever: Caused by Legionella bacteria, which can spread through water systems and devices. The most common way to get sick is by breathing in mist containing Legionella.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Rare condition associated with spas or indoor pools that produce vapors or mists.

Other waterborne illnesses: These cause diarrhea, respiratory infections, and neurological symptoms.

Soot

-Chronic respiratory diseases

-Lung disorders

-Bronchitis

-Asthma

-Lung cancer

-Immediate respiratory irritation

-Exacerbation of symptoms in individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions.

Aerosols

-Respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

-Increased risk of lung cancer

-Heart disease

-Type 2 diabetes

-Neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease

As you can see there is a lot of risk of living near these types of places, that is why it was my goal going into this to make sure that those in need are taken care of and rendered safe from the various conditions mentioned.

Going into this project I knew that materials would be important. This meant materials that had a low carbon footprint and, in some cases, even relieved some carbon from the environment. This design includes materials such as lumber(oak) and moss brick. I also researched the cradle to grave lifecycle of certain materials and came to the conclusion that certain types of lumber would be really helpful. It is important when building something not to prioritize style and comfort too much at the risk of compromising environmental impact. I also theorized a potential partnership with local universities where we could make use of technologies that aid in vertical farming, rainwater collection, and composting. All these things are already really impactful and are just some steps towards a better environment. Even still I wanted to take it further and researched mechanical trees which are fancy machines that help pull CO2 out of the environment and store it for later use. This would be major for a project like this. Although it is pricey a partnership with local universities would bring these costs down and help us create a better community for the people of Eastie.

Here is one of my first sketches. This sketch includes many notes on impactful environmental technologies. I will include some of the footnotes so you can understand my though process:

-The slanted roof accounts for snow load with most of it falling off or being pushed off to the side.

-Another way to keep a good impact is using rainwater, which Boston has no lack of.

-Mirrored units with community space in between, helps build connection between neighbors.

-Lots of natural light for the greenhouse effect, helps plants grow.

-Using aeroponics to minimize weight on building. By decreasing the amount of water used for agriculture.

-Vertical farming, minimizing floor space so there is room for living while still taking advantage of natural light and allowing for growth.

As you can see there are a lot of specific design elements that come together to create an impactful design.

TinkerCAD design: Revit Drafts (2) : Revit Final

Thank you for reading my submission and listening to my ideas. This project has been months in the making and I am proud of what I have accomplished. Even if this project is hypothetical, I do hope that some of these ideas can be implemented so that we can have a better tomorrow. This design has seen many iterations and reinventions and I am sure that if there was more time there would be many more iterations.