Opus Newton

Project Overview

Newton, MA –

SES provided commissioning services for Opus Newton, a 351,000 square foot addition to the 2Life Newton Campus. This impressive new construction project pursued both LEED® V4.1 BD+C Gold Certifiability and Passive House (PHIUS) certification, utilizing EPA ENERGY STAR for Multifamily New Construction (MFNC) guidelines. Commissioning served as a critical prerequisite for both certifications, ensuring all building systems were designed, installed, and functioned according to the Owner’s project requirements and design intent.

The newly constructed building consists of 172 senior living apartment units and over 30,000 square feet of common space for residents. Connected to the existing Coleman House apartment complex via an indoor connector, the building features an aerobics studio, fitness center, and spa, creating a comprehensive wellness environment for residents. The substantial scale of this project, combined with its ambitious sustainability goals, required comprehensive commissioning to verify proper system operation and energy efficiency throughout the facility.

SES’s commissioning scope included comprehensive testing of the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems serving the building. This included verification of common space equipment performance and a representative sampling of apartment heat pumps to confirm system operation and energy efficiency compliance. Additionally, SES tested the common space lighting controls and both domestic hot water generation systems—one serving the common spaces and another dedicated to the dwelling units—ensuring all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems operated efficiently and reliably to support the building’s sustainability objectives.