Green Communities is a state-level funding program for towns and cities to receive funds to make energy efficiency improvements to municipal buildings in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen economies. The Green Communities Act of 2008 (S.B. 2768), recognized by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), has been instrumental to the state’s success relative to energy efficiency. For the past five consecutive years, Massachusetts has been named the most energy efficient state in the United States, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The bill was supported by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), which helps deploy cost-effective energy efficiency solutions and supports local clean energy companies across the state. The following will examine the requirements, explain the application process, and detail benefits of the program.
Requirement Criteria
According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, there are five main criteria that are required to become a Green Community. To qualify for this designation and start the application process, the city or town must:
- Provide specific and practical locations for renewable/alternative energy generation, research and development, or manufacturing facilities.
- Adopt an expedited application and permit process for energy facilities. This process must take less than one year from start to finish.
- Establish an energy use baseline and develop a plan to reduce energy use by 20% within five years.
- Purchase only fuel-efficient vehicles.
- Set requirements to minimize life-cycle energy costs for new construction.
Many communities organize energy or environmental committees to analyze methods of reducing energy consumption and help reach the above criteria to start the process of applying to become a Green Community.
Application Process
The application process starts with reviewing and complying with the above criteria, then submitting an application to the DOER’s Green Communities Division. Once the Division has reviewed their application, they would inform the municipality of the amount of their custom grant award, ranging from $50,000 to $250,000, depending on many different variables. The city or town would then submit a project proposal within that budget, reviewed by the DOER. Once a community is designated as a Green Community, it can apply for grants to receive funding for a wide variety of energy efficiency or renewable energy projects.
Benefits
The benefits of the Green Community Program extend far beyond individual households or businesses, reaching out to entire cities and towns. It is crucial that community leaders take advantage of these benefits to save its residents significant amounts of money and provide a cleaner and safer environment. More benefits of becoming a Green Community include reducing energy consumption, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and providing a cleaner and safer environment, just to name a few.
Cities or towns who chose to participate in the Green Community Program can save tens of thousands of dollars in annual energy costs, expect significantly shorter payback periods, and can embark on more energy projects, due to grants from the state.
Our Work With Green Communities Participants
In Massachusetts, 136 towns and cities have already become designated with the Green Communities. Prism Energy Services has helped more than 30 of those cities and towns qualify for the Green Communities designation. Here’s what some people have to say about our work.
Susan Rothermich, School Business Administrator for the Sutton Public Schools:
“I have been working for over ten years on energy conservation for Sutton Public Schools. Prism Energy Services has been a great partner in developing a pipeline of projects that has reduced energy use for the district. This has decreased our utility costs and enabled the town of Sutton to earn the Green Community designation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Now we qualify for grants to continue our energy efficiency projects.”
Lisa Sullivan, Executive Assistant for the Town of Bridgewater:
“Prism has provided comprehensive administrative and technical assistance for Bridgewater’s Green Community program. Their timely and effective support has allowed us to upgrade antiquated equipment while reducing our energy use and expenditures. Prism interfaces with the municipality and the utility to maximize incentives and energy savings and achieve the best return for the grant and community investment.”
If you would like to find out more about how to qualify your city or town for Green Communities, contact us on our website at www.prismenergyservices.com. For more Green Communities success stories, check out the Department of Energy and Environmental Affair’s Faces of Green Communities website.