Commonwealth Conversations: Energy Smarts

Organizing an Energy Committee in Your City or Town

Ginny Keesler

Intern for the Green Communities Division, Department of Energy Resources (DOER)

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Winchester “now identifies itself as a town that saves energy,” according to Energy Conservation Coordinator Susan McPhee.

Organizing an energy committee is a key step for cities and towns seeking to implement more effective clean energy and energy efficiency improvements. The energy management committee for this town of about 21,000 is a case in point. McPhee said that her town established the committee in 2005 because the energy portion of the municipal budget was “getting out of control.”

Winchester’s energy management committee includes 11 people – four staff (including McPhee) and seven volunteers from the community. The committee’s many initiatives have resulted in annual savings to the town of $643,000. These initiatives include a unit air conditioning policy, idling reduction policy, computer use savings measures, and an energy efficient building policy.

When I interviewed her, McPhee emphasized the importance of communication to the success of
the Winchester energy management committee. The committee, McPhee told me, has kept the Winchester community informed of energy initiatives through an annual “touch-base” with the other committees in Winchester, and through local TV and newspaper coverage. Quantifying energy savings in dollars, and sometimes characterizing those dollars in terms of teachers’ salaries, has proven an effective means to win public support for the work of the committee, according to McPhee.

For other Massachusetts cities and towns considering establishing an energy committee, DOER has several recommendations. First, ensure that the energy committee consists of both municipal officials and people outside of government. Integral team members may include: an experienced energy specialist or engineer; representatives of the facilities maintenance department, finance department, local utility, mayor’s office, Board of Selectmen, city/town council, and/or municipal manager’s office; interested citizens. Government members and energy specialists may provide essential information, expertise, and training. Individuals from outside of the government can contribute diverse perspectives and help the committee to engage the broader community.

Experimenting with the structure of an energy committee may enhance its effectiveness. For example, Winchester reduced the size of its committee, allowing it to function more effectively. Establishing an energy committee can help municipalities to realize their local clean energy potential. DOER’s Green Communities Division and its regional coordinators are here to help towns and cities take this important first step.

Massachusetts Clean Tech at the Top

Alicia Barton 

CEO and Executive Director at Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC)

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Add it to the list-- last week Massachusetts was ranked No. 2 in the nation for clean tech in Clean Edge Inc.’s 2013 Clean Tech Leadership Index, joining the numerous other accolades the state has been racking up in recognition of the enormous strides we have made in staking a claim towards global leadership in clean technology.

Getting there took the hard work and dedication of citizens, homeowners, businesses, academia, communities, environmentalists and regulators coming together to reach a common goal: leaving the next generation a cleaner energy future. Across the state, business owners put solar panels on their roofs, like this photo here of a homeowner in Hopkinton, who installed solar panels through the Solarize Mass program. Cities and towns committed to making municipal buildings more energy efficient. Investors put money into clean technology startups. Meanwhile, state, federal and local governments offered incentives and crafted policies to nurture this rapidly-growing industry.

It was this all-hands-on-deck approach that gave Massachusetts a perfect score in the public policy category, which scored states on transportation policies, building codes, climate change targets and renewable energy adoption rates. Massachusetts was also ranked No. 1 in capital category, which analyzed private venture capital investments and higher education and research.

But let’s not stop here, there’s more to be done. At MassCEC, we’re going to keep pushing forward with programs to assist residents, business and communities in continuing to grow the clean energy sector here in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Schools Honored for Energy, Sustainability Achievements

Samantha Randall

Intern, Department of Energy Resources (EEA)

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On Wednesday, June 5, the Massachusetts National Energy Education Development (NEED) Youth Awards ceremony was held in the State House. NEED was started more than 30 years ago and is a national project to promote an energy conscious and educated society by creating objective and engaging energy education programs. This year, seven schools, one district and one exceptional student were chosen from applications by Massachusetts schools and awarded for their efforts towards environmental sustainability and community outreach. I had the opportunity to attend as a DOER intern, where part of my work supports our clean energy education initiative. Being a recent college graduate, I was completely surprised by just how much these K-12 students actually knew and understood about energy.

Commissioner Mark Sylvia was the keynote speaker and opened the event by addressing how much the efforts and leadership taken by NEED students and teachers alike are becoming an increasingly important part of Massachusetts’ clean energy initiatives. The NEED curriculum ranges from themes like energy efficiency, to recycling and renewable energy.

That day, there were more than 100 students sitting in the Massachusetts State House for the NEED Youth Awards who had spent the year becoming energy literate. At one point during the award ceremony, each school was given a chance to have student representatives approach the podium and speak about their outreach projects. This is when I actually heard what the students had to say.

I was most impressed with the younger K-8 students’ knowledge. They were using words like solar photovoltaic, energy generation, kilowatt-hour, sustainability… These kids were learning topics in their primary education years that I hadn’t had the chance to start learning about until college − and most of them weren’t able to drive yet, let alone even see a PG-13 movie without an adult.

Commissioner Sylvia made a point during the event that I strongly agree with − “It’s so important for young people to understand the role energy plays in our lives; and it may be more important than trying to educate all the adults in Massachusetts.” If younger people learn about energy and environmental protection today, it will likely influence their actions and cultural values in years to come. And as I witnessed in the Massachusetts’ NEED Youth Awards − students become motivated to act upon an issue they understand when given the opportunity.

New Opportunities for K-12 Energy Education in Massachusetts

Florence Chen

Intern, Department of Energy Resources (DOER)

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Creating a “cleaner energy future for the Commonwealth” (DOER’s focus) and teaching engaging and relevant science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) material in the classroom may seem like two goals that require different strategies. However, DOER’s new energy education website (mass.gov/energy/energyeducation) may enable progress toward both.

The website is a tool for Massachusetts educators − perhaps you − to explore clean energy concepts as a way to bring math and science lessons together in a stimulating, engaging context. You can learn about examples of successful energy education programs in our schools, examples of student efforts that have won energy and environmental education awards, and evolving state and federal guidelines and standards that are creating a path to integrate science and energy education.

The website’s section on “Lessons You Can Use in Your Massachusetts Classroom” discusses ways to link science concepts to clean energy examples that can make lessons more interesting and more relevant. For instance, if you’re teaching about thermodynamics and heat energy, why not talk about solar thermal collectors as an application of these principles? This energy education page also connects to lessons – with sample lesson plans – that fit energy concepts to current Massachusetts standards for science education.

Many great energy education lesson plans are freely available online already; DOER hasn’t tried to reinvent that wheel. Our website shows you how easy it is to integrate these lessons into your science curriculum and match them to our state education standards. Through energy examples, your students will be able to learn about exciting, real-world applications of science.

As a DOER intern, I was able to create a large part of the content for this website. It quickly became clear that teachers have many demands on their time, so our DOER team tried to make this website practical and easy-to-use. Another insight from this experience is that a few motivated individuals really can make a difference and change the way a school system approaches sustainability. While researching content for the website, I was inspired again-and-again by stories of how innovative educators around Massachusetts are making clean energy and environmental awareness a part of their students’ lives.

Finally, my DOER colleagues are always looking for feedback and ways to improve the website, so please share your ideas with us at energy.education@state.ma.us.

Cities & Towns at the Forefront of Massachusetts Energy Leadership

Aimee Powelka

Member of the DOER Green Communities Division

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The word is out that Massachusetts is a national leader in clean energy.The Commonwealth has been number one in energy efficiency since 2011 and the state met the Governor's goal for 250 megawatts of installed solar electric (photovoltaic or "PV") capacity four years early. The lesser known story is that leadership at local levels -- in cities and towns -- has been central to that success.

As recently as 2009, only a small percentage of Massachusetts cities and towns were keeping an eye on municipal energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Fewer still were pursuing renewable energy. For example:

• Fifty-nine of Massachusetts' 351 municipalities participated in EPA's Community Energy Challenge to use efficiency improvements to reduce by 10 percent their "energy use intensity" (total energy consumed in one year divided by the total building floor space).
• A small portion tracked energy consumption through EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager system or other energy-tracking software tools.
• Residential solar was a rarity; in 2007 there were only 3 MWs of solar PV capacity installed statewide in all sectors.

Today, the municipal energy landscape is vastly different. Guidance and incentives from Patrick-Murray Administration policies and programs, together with the expanded Mass Save® programs, has energized municipal and school officials to take action. The results have been dramatic.

• 110 cities and towns, covering almost half the Commonwealth's population, went through a rigorous, five step process -- which includes adopting a formal 20 percent energy reduction plan -- to be designated as one of the "Green Communities," eligible for state grants and other programs. Further, over a third of municipalities have adopted the "Stretch Code," which requires new buildings -- public or private -- within a city or town to be 20 percent more efficient than required by the existing "base energy code."
• Sixty-eight percent of cities and towns, representing 80 percent of Massachusetts residents, now measure and benchmark energy consumption of municipal, school and regional entities' buildings within the municipality. Through MassEnergyInsight®, a no-cost, web-based tool offered through the Department of Energy Resources, it's now easier to make sound decisions and take actions to maximize energy efficiency.
• The power of local clean energy leadership inspired SolarizeMass®, a partnership between cities and towns, DOER and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, to increase adoption of solar electric power by home and business owners. In 2012, 748 residents and business owners in seventeen communities signed contracts to install over 4.8 MW of solar electricity. The number of small-scale solar electricity projects in each community will more than double as a direct result of the program. That success led to 2013 SolarizeMass, just launched.

Growing involvement in clean energy by cities, towns and schools is contributing to an ever-increasing portion of Massachusetts' march to a clean energy future.

Red Sox Pitch In to Combat Climate Change on Earth Day

Bram Claeys

Deputy Director of the Renewables Division, Department of Energy Resources

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As part of their plans to celebrate Earth Day and support clean energy, the Boston Red Sox purchased Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from this year’s Earth Day game. The RECs offset the carbon emissions from energy used at Fenway Park for the game, as well as fan, employee and team transportation. All told, the Red Sox will be offsetting 500 tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the annual emissions from 104 cars.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) was one of the first programs in the nation that required a certain percentage of the state's electricity to come from renewable energy.

Electricity suppliers meet their RPS obligations - a specific percentage each year - by acquiring a sufficient quantity of RECs. For each megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity, one serial-numbered electronic certificate is created. Certificates that represent renewable generation are coded accordingly and known as RECs. DOER calculates how much greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by one megawatt hour of clean energy generation, or one REC.

The Red Sox don’t have solar photovoltaic panels for electricity at Fenway, so the team calculated how much greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the Earth Day game, and then bought enough RECs to compensate for those emissions.

To support clean energy sources in New England, the Red Sox are purchasing their RECs from facilities in New England: 140 Massachusetts RECs from solar installations (at Falmouth Academy, North Coast Seafood, and Country Curtains) and 1,175 Maine RECs from hydropower installations. The Mass. RECs cover energy consumption within Fenway Park and the Maine RECs cover fan, employee, and team transportation emissions.

We’re thrilled that the Red Sox continue to hit it out of the park in their support for clean energy.

Agriculture — A Canary in the Coal Mine for Climate Change

Greg Watson

Commissioner, Department of Agricultural Resources

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An often overlooked culprit, the agricultural sector accounts for fourteen percent — or as much as twenty-five percent if you include agriculture-driven deforestation — of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, agriculture may be one of the greatest tools we have for mitigating climate change, and Massachusetts can lead that charge.

Since 2007, over 100 farms in the Commonwealth have installed renewable energy or implemented energy efficiency projects. For example, the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts installed an anaerobic digester that combines manure with commercial food waste to generate electricity and produce fertilizer that can be used to increase farm productivity. It’s a win-win-win-win situation: clean energy, reduced need for chemical fertilizers that generate greenhouse gases and runoff that pollutes our waterways, reduced pressure on landfills, and more productive soil.

As demand for locally grown food in Massachusetts increases, efforts to build a sustainable supply infrastructure are growing as well. It’s been estimated that the average distance food travels from the farm to your dinner plate is 1,500 miles. By shortening the distance between farm and consumer, we’re reducing the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by transporting food. Further, selling directly to the consumer at farmers’ markets, farm stands, and through CSA (community supported agriculture) shares, farmers get a bigger share of the profits than they would by going through wholesale markets.

Finally, interest in urban agriculture is exploding. Our cities have acres of vacant, flat rooftops that could be used for both rooftop farms and for greenhouses. In March, the first annual conference on urban agriculture, organized by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and held at Roxbury Community College, attracted 350 people – maximum capacity. Another 180 people wanted in.

We have a new generation of farmers in Massachusetts and across America — young people who understand there’s a promising future in agriculture, one in which farming plays a critical role in meeting the challenges of climate change. They are joining forces with and learning from our experienced farmers to ensure that agriculture will continue to play a pivotal role on Massachusetts’ physical, economic and environmental landscapes. I’m thrilled to be part of the solution.

(Adapted from Commissioner Watson’s WBUR’s Cognosenti submission.)

Massachusetts Oysters Go Solar

Gerry Palano

Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency Coordinator, Department of Agricultural Resources

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Briney, buttery and firm are some words that you might want to see describing the fare on an oyster house menu, but never solarized… until now.

Mattapoisett’s Robert Field of Copper Beech Farm, with the assistance of Roger Williams University Professor Dale Leavitt, has designed and constructed a creative off-the-grid solar electric (photovoltaic or “PV”) project for aquaculture use. His invention pairs a barge containing PV panels and battery storage with a conventional floating upwelling system (FLUPSY), a device that aquaculturalists use to force feed nutrient rich water to infant shellfish.

The invention has come to Massachusetts at just the right time. As aquaculture continues to expand here in the Commonwealth, aquaculturalists using traditional land-tied technology have often found themselves competing for space with other commercial and recreational uses of littoral waters. This new and improved FLUPSY, now free from a shore-based energy source, allows siting of shellfish nurseries in more remote, less controversial areas.

The PV system consists of six, off-the-shelf 245 watt solar panels mounted on an angled wooden rack, an electrical distribution box, a charge controller that regulates the current from solar panels to the battery bank, nine 12-volt batteries in a wooden storage compartment, a 1/3 horsepower DC motor, a belt and a shaft and propeller. The two floats are pinned together to form a nearly square, articulating platform with its corners chained to mushroom anchors and oriented to face the southern sunlight. The battery bank is sized to operate for 3 days plus without recharge from the panels. To date, the system has performed better than expected, providing more than enough energy to operate the FLUPSY.

         
The project was funded in part by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) Ag-Energy Grant, an annual competitive funding program aimed at financing agricultural energy projects that improve energy efficiency and incorporate alternative clean energy technologies on Massachusetts farms. MDAR’s staff looks forward to working with Field to further promote this technology concept to the entire aquaculture industry.

High School Students Get an Introduction to Clean Energy

Stephanie Mernick

Market Development and Support Division Co-op at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

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On Friday, Feb. 1, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) was fortunate enough to have Jocelyn, Vanessa and Haqika, three bright high school students from the Boston Public Schools, visit as part of the Boston Private Industry Council’s Job Shadow Day and learn about our role in the clean energy sector.

While the girls initially weren’t very familiar with the world of clean energy, they were eager to learn about all the exciting things Massachusetts is doing.

After an introduction to renewable energy by MassCEC CEO Alicia Barton, the students were given a tour around the office and spoke with employees in different departments. They were then able to dive into a few of the projects underway in our office, learning about our solar electricity and solar hot water programs run through MassCEC, as well as the work involved in telling the Massachusetts clean energy story to the public.

One hour into the tour, one student mentioned that while she didn’t know much about the field before, “renewable energy is an interesting topic and I want to keep learning more about it.” Another's take away was that “there are a lot of different departments that go into just one business” and she could see herself working in the clean energy sector.

Following an introduction to all of the initiatives at MassCEC, the students had the
opportunity to tour the Wind Technology Testing Center, where Executive Director Rahul Yarala gave a rundown on the growth of the offshore wind industry.

For students who were completely new to clean energy at the start of the day, they sure did know a lot more by the end. We were thrilled to have them visit so we could learn from them and share our mission with these bright young students, members of our next clean energy generation.

Photo Tour of MassCEC's Wind Technology Center

Rachel Schowalter

Multimedia Intern at Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC)

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On Dec. 11, I was given a tour of MassCEC’s Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, where engineers test wind turbine blades from all over the world. The center, which can handle blades up to 90 meters in length, is an impressive sight to see, making it a natural topic for a photo blog. I hope you enjoy these photos of the center in action!