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IN THIS ISSUE

PlugIN MetroWest: Take the survey!
Ringing in the New Year on the Cochituate Rail Trail
Geothermal update
McAuliffe 8th graders take on climate
Solar pays off for a Framingham church
Upcoming events | In the news

BRIEFS

plugIN MetroWest: Fill out the survey to help guide climate action!

What climate actions are you personally taking? What’s getting in the way? Energize Framingham is participating in a survey with Acton, Natick, Wayland, and the nonprofit MassEnergize to gain insight and inform the plugIN MetroWest climate action campaign. (Our own Aimee Powelka is Project Coordinator.)

Please take 5-8 minutes to complete the survey, called Creating Healthier Communities Together. You'll have the chance to:

• share your ideas and concerns about home energy technologies like heat pumps and solar

• inform climate actions in Framingham and MetroWest

• enter a drawing for a gift card.

Please share these links with your friends and relatives in Framingham!
English language version
Spanish language version
Portuguese language version

More to come on this effort!

Ringing in the New Year on the Cochituate Rail Trail

Back row: Larry Stoodt, Martin Moeller. Seated, L-R: Denise Zadina, Maria George, Aimee Powelka, two visitors, Dani Moeller.

Our thanks to Zippity Do Dog for donating hot cocoa for Energize Framingham at Framingham’s first New Year’s Eve on the Trails festival! The hot cocoa, firepit, and lemon-powered light (thanks to Maria George) attracted lots of great conversation and 18 new newsletter subscribers — welcome! 

Geothermal update

Eversource installed this turtle tunnel in June 2023 under a fence near the construction zone to allow turtles coming out of Gleason pond to lay eggs. It also provided a passage for other local wildlife. (Source: Eversource)

Eversource reports that as of year’s end, the main pipe installation — connecting the neighborhood in a loop — was complete, and service pipe installations to customer homes and businesses was about 70 percent complete. Bore field drilling is complete at the Concord Street fire station and remains to be completed in the Farley Lot and on Rose Kennedy Lane. Next steps include converting HVAC systems in all participating buildings and completing the foundation and retaining wall for the pump house in the back of Farley Lot. 

FEATURES

McAuliffe 8th graders ‘start local, think global’

At an end-of-year event in December, 8th graders at McAuliffe Charter School shared their explorations of climate change — a Learning Expedition that encompassed classes in science, math, social studies, English, and more. Through graphs, art, short presentations, and letters to Framingham government leaders, students expressed their vision of what we can do in Framingham to make change.

Student projects touched on Antarctic ice melting, wildfires, ocean warming, destruction of coral reefs, increased traffic in Framingham, and other climate concerns. Solutions proposed included tree planting, wind turbines, solar panels, bike lanes, free or low-cost electric vehicle chargers throughout the city, and plastics recycling.

Students also learned how to spur government action. That included participating in a Senate simulation and learning how bills are passed.  “We learned how to explain ourselves and persuade different audiences,” as one student put it.

Solar pays off for St. Andrews

St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Maple Street recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its rooftop solar panels being turned on. Since 2013, the panels have been meeting the congregation’s electricity needs, allowing their electric meter to run backwards, while furthering St. Andrews’ mission of care and stewardship of the environment.

“Running our meter backwards is fantastic for an organization that relies entirely on giving,” says Tom Buie, part of the church’s leadership team. “It helps offset our costs.”

St. Andrews only needs about a third of the power generated; the rest is made available for purchase by other local houses of worship. The rooftop panels performed so well that in 2014 the church received a Gold Medallion award from Interfaith Power & Light for reducing its carbon footprint by more than 40 percent.  

A parking lot solar ‘farm’

But the rooftop panels are not St. Andrews’ main solar installation. A new solar canopy in its parking lot, just installed, is six times larger, a virtual solar “farm.” Independent of the building, the canopy will go live shortly and supply electricity directly to the grid -– an expected 360,000+ kWh of clean solar energy annually for the next 20 years. It also provides St. Andrews with covered parking. 

Team Solar, whose CEO lives in Framingham, installed the canopy through a financial model designed specifically for nonprofits and small businesses. In this case, they’re covering the cost of repaving much of the church’s parking lot.  "We would have needed a capital campaign to fund a repaving project, so being able to do this as part of the solar project is a huge plus to the parish," says Buie.

The project is compensating St. Andrews for the use of its parking lot and is an additional source of revenue for the church. The array’s owner/operator, Plankton Energy, partners with industry leader Arcadia to sign up low-income customers in the greater Boston area to buy electricity from the project. Through a community solar arrangement, customers receive a discount to the prevailing utility rate and can participate in the clean energy economy without having to install solar panels.  “That’s another benefit we see,” Buie says.

Plankton specializes in serving schools, houses of worship, nonprofits, and small and medium companies. The St. Andrews parking lot project is the third project of its kind it has completed this year.

Buie offers this advice for other congregations considering solar:

• If you don’t have someone with expertise in construction management or contracting, ask for help from your membership. In St. Andrews’ case, a lawyer from the congregation reviewed the contract, while Buie, who works in the construction industry, reviewed the construction documents

• Before signing a contract, do your diligence: Conduct interviews and Google searches of solar providers. Check their references and ask them: Was the physical work done with care, did they handle themselves properly, were they cutting corners? What did they pay for their installation, and what benefit are they getting out of it?

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wed., Jan. 10, 6-7:30 p.m.:  Framingham Sustainability Committee meeting (online)

Wed., Jan. 17, 4-6 p.m. Jumpstart Native Seeds in January! (in person)
Wayland Town Building, Large Meeting Room, 41 Cochituate Road, Wayland. $10 fee

Wed., Jan. 17, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Understanding the Massachusetts MOR-EV Rebate for Electric Cars (online)
Hosted by Green Energy Consumers Alliance

Mon., Jan. 22, 6-7 p.m.: First Annual Seed Swap from Tasty Harvest and Framingham Public Library’s Seed Lending Library (in person)
McAuliffe Library cafe, Water Street, Framingham. Bring any seeds you would like to swap, and don't worry if you don't have any — you can still take some!

Tues., Jan. 23, 7-8:30 p.m.: Fission & Fusion - Can New-Generation Nuclear Technologies Help Fight Climate Change? (online)
Sponsored by MetroWest Climate Solutions

Thurs., Jan. 25, 7-8 p.m.: Conversation with Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer (online)

Thurs., Jan. 25, 7-8 p.m.: Save Money On An Electric Car: Rebates & Incentives (online)
Hosted by Green Energy Consumers Alliance

Thurs., Feb. 1, 6-8 p.m.: 350 Mass MetroWest Node Meeting (in person)
Sign up for location details.

Sat., Feb. 4, 2-5 p.m. Framingham Repair Cafe
Sponsored by Transition Framingham. Volunteers needed to sharpen knives and fix sewing machines.

REGISTER NOW!  Apr. 3, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mass Energize Community Climate Leaders Conference 2024
Brandeis University. Early-bird discount through Jan. 15!

Missed an event? Watch the recording

IN THE NEWS

Framingham

Why a Framingham scrap metal company will pay to settle an environmental complaint (Metrowest Daily News) 
The Framingham Salvage Company has agreed to pay $85,000 to settle allegations that it illegally discharged industrial stormwater into Beaver Dam Brook. Of this, $60,000 will go toward the Better Future Project, a Cambridge-based nonprofit, to benefit water quality in the Beaver Dam Brook watershed. 

There’s a battery underneath your feet, and utilities want to use it (Marketplace) 
Framingham’s geothermal project is highlighted.

Massachusetts

Cambridge, Brookline among seven Mass. communities OK’d for gas-ban pilot program (Boston Globe) 
Acton, Aquinnah, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lincoln and Lexington can now mandate that most construction or significant renovation projects within their borders abstain from oil and gas hookups. Arlington and Newton won “conditional” acceptance.

These Massachusetts cities are getting more electric school buses from an EPA grant (CBS News) 
Boston will get 50 buses; Worcester 15, and New Bedford and Fall River 10 each. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program will award $5 billion through 2026 for electric buses; $2 billion has been used so far.

Massachusetts Switches On Its First Large Offshore Wind Farm (New York Times)

Vineyard Wind, country’s first large-scale offshore wind project, is producing clean electricity (WBUR)

Massachusetts issues climate forestry report, ends tree-cutting 'pause.' Loggers want work to begin. (New England Public Media)
A committee of scientists assembled by the state issued a report on how to manage Massachusetts forests to address climate change. The Healey administration is asking the public to submit comments by Jan. 24.

Mass. outlines new strategy for getting customers and utilities off of natural gas  (WBUR)
Massachusetts Just Took a Big Step Away from Natural Gas. Which States Might Follow? (Inside Climate News) 
Amid the climate doom, a bright spot in Mass. (WBUR Cogniscenti) 
More on the landmark ruling making Massachusetts the first state to begin phasing out natural gas for residential heating:

Other articles of interest

10 climate tech innovations that give us hope for 2024 (Fast Company)
Check out #1 – our networked geothermal system!

Yellow school buses are going green with a $1 billion investment (Washington Post) 
EPA funding will allow school districts to purchase electric and low-emission buses, but it could be a bumpy transition for some districts

Why AI is a disaster for the climate (The Guardian) 

ABOUT US

Energize Framingham provides climate education, outreach, and advocacy to promote a healthy, equitable, and resilient community.

Editors: Nancy Fliesler and Aimee Powelka
Have a tip for us? Email [email protected]
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