Exploring Nature-Based Design at Our Substation in Massachusetts

The project aimed to deliver our company's highest priorities- delivering safe, reliable energy to our customers, addressing community needs, preventing impacts on the natural environment, and building climate change resilience.

The project team interviewed stakeholders, defined a methodology, and conducted a visioning workshop to identify a list of nature-based interventions. EMX's Ecosystem Intelligence Platform was used to quantify the benefits of each nature-based solution and compare it to the business-as-usual scenario. That, along with cost estimations, was utilised to select the eight recommended interventions. These techniques were then scoped into the substation rebuild design. Interventions used in the project include, but are not limited to:

• Bioswales, which are vegetated drainage channels to manage stormwater runoff, protecting the substation from stormwater and rainfall, filtering pollutants, creating biodiverse habitats, and enhancing the visual aesthetic of the site.
• Moss walls, gardens and canopies, which reduce noise- a key requirement given the substation's proximity to nearby businesses and community spaces.
• Rain gardens, which absorb water and minimise flooding, an issue that is front and centre when designing substations adjacent to waterways.
• Vegetated filter strips, which slow stormwater velocity and filter out sediment and other pollutants.
• Fire-resistant, ecologically rich patch habitats, which utilise several different habitats to protect from fire, act as a noise and visual buffer and sequester carbon.

Many of the interventions included in the site design also increase biodiversity and deliver carbon sequestration benefits. The substation rebuild will be completed over the next three years, and the learnings from this pilot will be used to scale up solutions for the broader Massachusetts and New York electric businesses. This project demonstrates that we can use nature-based solutions to make our assets more resilient to climate risks whilst promoting biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and community and employee benefits.

Cory Thompson, Lead Environmental Sustainability Manager, said about the project:

I am encouraged by the outcome of the nature-based solution pilot not only because it shows that adding innovative interventions like rain gardens will improve the health of the habitats surrounding our assets, but also that it proves that nature can help solve critical issues like extreme flooding. This is especially true when multiple nature-based interventions work together.