At New Ecology, we’ve spent over 25 years as sustainability consultants to a range of community development, affordable housing, non-profit, government, arts, education, and commercial projects.
We help owners and communities design and construct their buildings to be safer and more resilient to climate change, and to minimize their environmental impact. A multidisciplinary team of building scientists, housing, and community development professionals, we work alongside our partners to share our knowledge and best practices to accelerate action.
About Us
Our Purpose
New Ecology works where the climate and housing crises converge. We deliver building performance solutions that lower energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve health outcomes for low-income communities. Our work protects and preserves affordable housing, creates good jobs in the green economy, and builds community wealth in underserved neighborhoods.
New Ecology envisions a world where all people have access to affordable, healthy, resilient housing within connected and thriving communities.
Our Vision
New Ecology was founded in 1999. Since then, we have been a leader in sustainable, resilient green design, advising, testing, inspection, verification, and innovation in the field.
Focused on practical action, New Ecology has a long history of innovative, standard-setting practices that push the boundaries of the green building sector, which we then share with the public.
Our History
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New Ecology begins as a small nonprofit based in Massachusetts, focused on raising awareness of sustainable building practices.
In 2005, we co-authored the first ever report on the cost of greening affordable multifamily housing in the United States, filling a gap in market knowledge.
The organization hosts annual forums and educational opportunities, and over time begins to conduct green building charettes and other fee-for-service projects as a sustainability consultant.
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Rapidly evolving to meet the needs of a fast-changing sustainable building practices landscape, New Ecology develops a range of approaches to support actors in the multifamily affordable housing space, including the creation of an energy tracking and analytics software tool, WegoWise, managing early LEED certification projects, collaborating with state incentive programs, and more.
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New Ecology’s approach to green building services and existing building monitoring and services becomes more mature. The organization expands work to include resiliency audits and portfolio analyses, administration of state energy efficiency incentive programs, and ASHRAE Level II audits.
During this time, New Ecology expands beyond Boston to include offices in Baltimore, MD and Wilmington, DE.
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New Ecology leads the field to steward a significant increase in passive house and resiliency projects and develops a Zero Over Time planning protocol to decarbonize affordable multifamily buildings as part of planned capital events and deep energy retrofit scoping studies.
Additional programmatic activities begin regarding the “naturally” occurring affordable housing stock in the Mid-Atlantic region, an opportunity to create a new model for healthy and green housing that focuses on community health and wealth creation.
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With an energized approach to viewing New Ecology’s buildings work in a broader context of climate, community health, economic development, and equitable outcomes, the organization emphasizes expansion of project-based work; helping others develop their practice and enhance relevant policies and programs; and expanding the aperture of building-focused practice within a broader context of climate, community health, economic development, and equitable outcomes.