BOSTON — Massachusetts Audubon Society and the City of Boston, with support from the George Robert White Fund, held a “green building charrette” on Earth Day for the Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. The Center will include an educational building and nature trails on 67 acres of the Old Boston State Hospital site in Mattapan. Audubon wants to create a building “that itself teaches about environmental sustainability through design and construction and its relation to the site.”

Architects, designers, engineers and community activists from the region addressed a wide range of possibilities on April 24th for the Center, including zero-waste design, indoor-outdoor rooms, and a revival of the site as a working farm. Center Director David Queeley was interested in sparking as many ideas as possible to inform Audubon’s program and upcoming selection of a design team. Organizers would like to see the Center become a magnet for 25,000 Boston children who attend school within a two-mile radius of the site.

The White Fund and Mass Audubon envision a fully accessible structure of 7,500 square feet that showcases the variety and scope of recyclable/composting building materials, energy efficient systems and water conservation technology. The White Fund has committed over $2 million to the design and construction costs of the building.

The charrette was part of an ongoing series of events supported by the City of Boston toward raising awareness about environmentally sustainable building. The event included a presentation by David Orr, Chair, Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College and Andrea d’Amato, Chief of Environmental Services for the City of Boston.

For more information about the Boston Nature Center, contact David Queeley at 617-983-8500 or dqueeley@massaudubon.org . For more information about the City of Boston’s environmental programs, contact Brad Swing at brad.swing@ci.boston.ma.us .