ACTON — Town Manager John S. Mangiaratti and Sustainability Director Andrea Becerra are pleased to announce that the development of the Climate Action Plan and the Electrification Roadmap is nearing completion.
The Climate Action Plan, which is expected to be officially complete by July,is the product of more than a year of workshops, conversations, and analysis.
It includes a list of 22 strategies and over 50 actions to curb community-wide greenhouse gas emissions during the next five to 10 years, with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030.
The actions listed in this document represent broad input and ideas from Acton’s community, including municipal staff and residents, captured through surveys, at workshops, the CAP Open House, and via emails and phone calls.
One key strategy to eliminate emissions from heating is to convert fuel oil heating systems to electrical heating systems in residential and commercial buildings. It was found that residential, commercial and manufacturing buildings emissions from heating with fossil fuels make up 25.74% of emissions in Acton.
To view the most recent version of the Climate Action Plan, which is open to public comment, please click here.
“The Climate Action Plan is a living document, and one that we’ll continue to build on together, as we strive to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, as directed by our town’s Climate Emergency Declaration passed at Town Meeting in 2020,” Director Becerra said.
Additionally, the Town of Acton partnered with the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District to develop an Electrification Roadmap. The Electrification Roadmap outlines the capital, operational, and conversion costs for electrifying the top seven energy-consuming municipal and school buildings, which will help move ABRSD and the Town towards carbon neutrality.
These buildings include the Public Safety Facility, Town Hall, Memorial Library, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, RJ Grey Junior High School, the Administration Building, and the Parker Damon Building.
To view the final Electrification Roadmap, which was published on June 27, please click here.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the Town of Acton on analyzing how to transition our key
public buildings to a low carbon future,” said Kate Crosby, ABRSD Energy Manager.
“Clean electricity and electrifying our buildings is an essential step in meeting our state’s zero emission goals.”
Both the Climate Action Plan and the Electrification Roadmap projects were supported by a generous grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program. The
Climate Action Plan also received funding from the Community Compact Program
and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council Technical Assistance Program.
“We are so excited to finally bring these projects to fruition. They were truly a community-wide effort and we thank everyone who was involved and offered their perspective,” Town Manager Mangiaratti said. “These projects will help position our Town toward a more sustainable and healthy future.”
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