For Immediate Release

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 978-841-9948
Email: john@jgpr.net

Town of Maynard Achieves Green Communities Energy Reduction Goal

Energy Consumption Reduced by 22 Percent

MAYNARD — Town Administrator Kevin Sweet is pleased to announce that the Town of Maynard has met its Green Communities Energy Reduction Goal by decreasing the community’s overall energy consumption by 22 percent.

“Meeting our energy reduction goal is a tremendous milestone for the Town of Maynard as an energy leader in the Commonwealth,” Town Administrator Sweet said. “As the original author of our Energy Reduction Plan, I have been able to see these plans come to fruition firsthand, and I could not be more proud of the tireless efforts by the Town to continue investing in energy upgrades and reducing our carbon footprint.”

Maynard originally became a Green Community in December 2011. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Green Communities Division provides technical assistance and financial support for municipal initiatives to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy in public buildings, facilities and schools.

There are five criteria to be a Green Community. Meeting these criteria qualifies towns for funding to increase their efforts. They are:

• Provide as-of-right siting in designated locations for renewable/alternative energy generation, research & development, or manufacturing facilities.
• Adopt an expedited application and permit process for as-of-right energy facilities.
• Establish an energy use baseline and develop a plan to reduce energy use by twenty percent within five years.
• Purchase only fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Set requirements to minimize life-cycle energy costs for new construction; one way to meet these requirements is to adopt the new Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) Stretch Code.

“The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to working collaboratively with our municipal partners to achieve our shared goals of reduced energy costs, usage, and emissions,” said Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson. “Maynard’s impressive accomplishment is a testament to the foresight of their citizens and local leaders and we look forward to continuing to work with the town to build upon their clean energy progress.”

With funding through the Green Communities Designation and Grant Program, Maynard has implemented energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to further reduce its energy costs and improve the local environment such as lighting and heating upgrades, weatherization of town buildings and schools, and installing four charging stations for electric vehicles.

To complete these projects, the Town received two major grants from the DOER Green Communities Division between 2011 and 2014, and another in 2016 which was the largest competitive grant awarded to a municipality by the DOER to date.

About the Green Communities Designation and Grant Program:

Under the Green Communities Act, DOER’s Green Communities Designation and Grant Program can provide up to $20 million annually to qualified cities and towns. The goal of the Designation Grant Program is support communities’ investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that further the clean energy goals determined by the designated communities.

The Commonwealth’s 185 Green Communities range from the Berkshires to Cape Cod and are home to 64 percent of Massachusetts’ population in municipalities as large as Boston and as small as Rowe. Under the Green Communities Act, cities and towns must meet five criteria to be designated a Green Community and receive funding, including reducing municipal energy consumption by 20 percent over five years.

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