Your latest local news on sustainability and climate change action

IN THIS ISSUE

The Opt-in Stretch Code: A stretch for Framingham?
Composting household waste at Eastleigh Farm
Climate People: A Framingham-based business
Candidates Climate Forum and other upcoming events
In the news

The Opt-in Stretch Code: A stretch for Framingham?

On June 14, the City Council Environment and Sustainability Subcommittee began to explore the possibility of Framingham adopting the new Municipal Opt-in Specialized Stretch Code, sometimes called the Net Zero code. This new Massachusetts building code is designed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as required by the Massachusetts Climate Act of 2021.

Feedback from the administration at the Subcommittee meeting was skeptical, but more discussions are to come.

Building codes explained (in part)

Massachusetts has three levels of building codes:

• The Base Code

• The Stretch Code, adopted by some 300 of 351 Massachusetts cities and towns, including Framingham. It was issued in 2009 and updated in January 2023,

• The Opt-in Specialized Stretch Code, finalized by the state in December 2022.

While it doesn’t ban fossil fuels in new buildings, the Opt-In Code adds more requirements to achieve net zero emissions. These apply to new buildings and significant renovations and include:

• Stricter energy efficiency requirements

• Higher insulation standards

• Pre-wiring for electric heating, cooling, hot water, and appliances

• Solar requirements for some buildings using fossil fuels.

Here’s a summary of the Opt-in Stretch Code from the DOER (skip to page 9).

Adopting the Opt-in code would require a vote by the City Council; if voted in, it would become effective after a transition period of six months or more. As of May 24, 17 communities have adopted the Opt-in Stretch Code: starting with Brookline and Watertown and followed by Acton, Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Maynard, Newton, Sherborn, Somerville, Stow, Truro, Wellesley, and Wellfleet. Adoption was effective July 1 in Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, and Watertown; in the rest it will be effective January 1, 2024.

The home stretch? Not yet…

At the June 14 City Council subcommittee meeting, Mike Tusino, Chief Operating Officer, Office of the Mayor and Framingham Building Commissioner Fred Bray anticipated pushback from the construction and real estate industries. The Opt-in Code is “a little over the top, and some of it is a lot over the top,” Tusino said.

Larry Stoodt, co-chair of the Framingham Sustainability Committee and a member of Energize Framingham, offered a counterpoint. “As we continue to emit greenhouse gasses into the air, we’re creating a problem that’s expensive at levels that we’re not even discussing,” he said. “My request is to stop building obsolete buildings.”

Subcommittee Chair Janet Leombruno, who is also on the board of commissioners for the Framingham Housing Authority, said the city must balance “being green” with dealing with the affordable housing crisis. “​​The goal is to get builders to increase housing affordability,” she said. “This is one of those things that sounds great, then you look inside it and it’s ‘yikes.’”

Savings for residents

But are cost issues being overstated? Actual cost data from net zero buildings in Massachusetts indicate that 85 percent of “net zero ready” buildings (designed for net zero emissions, but without renewable systems installed yet) had less than a 1 percent increase in construction cost. In the past, new efficient building codes have added a modest upfront cost, but once built they have provided residents with long-lasting savings on their energy bills.

There’s no doubt that the details of the Opt-in Stretch Code can be somewhat confusing. At the meeting, Framingham Sustainability Coordinator Shawn Luz noted there may be misunderstandings. “I think this is a longer process to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” he said.

One thing that’s clear is that the stakes are high: The Ham’er recently reported that about 1,000 new housing units are on the docket for Framingham.

Next steps

Councilor Noval Alexander suggested contacting other cities and towns that have adopted the Opt-in Code. Commissioner Bray offered to “dig into that.”

Next steps will likely include City Council hearings to get input from the construction/real estate communities and residents. The Framingham Sustainability Committee plans to host a stretch code expert at one of its upcoming meetings. Energize Framingham also plans to be part of the process, and we will bring you more details as things develop.

Related: Green zoning for Framingham? It’s complicated (July/August 2022)

Composting household waste at Eastleigh Farm

by Diana Porter

Above: Katy Riley explains the composting operation at Eastleigh Farm.

Our members had a fun, informative trip to the Black Earth Composting (BEC) facility at Framingham’s Eastleigh Farm. Katy Riley manages the four-acre site, one of three in Massachusetts, and led the June 17 tour. We hope to host another tour this fall if there’s enough interest.

Composting turns leftover food, vegetable trimmings, eggshells, and other organic waste into rich compost for use in gardening. We think it could be a climate-friendly “disposal” method for much of the city’s trash, avoiding methane emissions at landfills.

The Framingham site is currently running at capacity, with five trucks a day bringing waste from about 1,250 homes plus waste from cafeterias and restaurants, leaves, bedding from horse farms, and more. Katy and her team optimize the moisture levels and chemistry of the compost pile by mixing the waste with hay and leaves and using a bed of wood chips to filter excess water.

Staff turn the piles periodically to aerate them and sort for any small bits of plastic and stickers that make it through the process. There is also one special canine employee who does a great job at pest control. Solar panels provide the power the operation needs. After eight to 12 months, the final product is tested to ensure it’s healthy and clean.

Composting on this large scale allows piles to get much hotter and allows BEC to compost items like bones that don't break down in a backyard compost pile or composter. As interest in food composting grows, BEC is on the lookout for land where they can site more facilities.

Schooling the city in composting

Composting at the citywide level can potentially divert as much as 30 to 40 percent of residential waste from landfills. Aside from its environmental benefits, we believe citywide composting will reduce Framingham’s trash disposal costs, especially as landfill space becomes more scarce.

Toward that end, we’re developing a business case to present to the DPW, City Council, and Mayor, as well as a letter-writing campaign for residents to show their interest. If you’d like to express your support of municipal composting, see here for instructions and a sample letter you can customize.

We’re also continuing to focus on composting pilots at Framingham schools. More to come in the fall.

For information on signing up for curbside composting with BEC, visit our website. Sign up with us to save $5 and BEC will also contribute $5 for a community garden bed.

FEATURE: Climate People: A Framingham-based business

By Eliza Rubel

Putting solar panels on his Framingham home ten years ago is what first sparked Brendan Anderson’s interest in sustainability. After learning more about climate change, Anderson decided to use his experience in job recruiting to extend his climate impact beyond personal lifestyle changes. After his search for a climate-focused recruiting firm in the Boston area proved unsuccessful, Anderson founded Climate People in 2020.

Climate People places job seekers in positions with Boston-based and nationwide climate tech companies in the three categories: greenhouse gas mitigation, climate adaptation, and carbon sequestration. A typical job seeker working with Climate People is an experienced professional, but Anderson estimates that about half have experience in climate jobs, while half are new to the industry. Those without previous climate experience are generally successful in finding climate jobs, either at new companies with a first-of-its-kind technology or in supporting roles at established companies.

Climate justice and a positive mindset

Anderson and his team also work towards climate justice and equity as founding members of Browning the Green Space, a coalition of climate companies that bring contracts to Black and Brown business owners. Anderson feels this work is crucial because low-income Black and Brown communities are on the front line in dealing with climate change, they must be directly involved with climate solutions. Reflecting this dedication to climate justice, 51 percent of clients successfully placed in climate jobs identify as women or BIPOC.

Anderson encourages everyone to understand that the solutions for climate change already exist – it is up to every one of us to educate ourselves about them. In keeping with this positive mindset, Anderson recommends websites Pique Action for good climate news and Climate Town for positive and entertaining climate content, and most importantly, avoiding the dreaded “doomscrolling.”

Learn more about Climate People at their website, or by emailing [email protected]

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wed., July 12, 7 p.m.: Plastics and The Future of Our Planet (free webinar)
A conversation with environmental leader and author, Bill McKibben, and Pullitzer prize-winning journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert, moderated by Beyond Plastics president and former U.S. EPA regional administrator, Judith Enck. 

Mon., July 17th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: A Community of Gardeners: Film and discussion
McAuliffe Branch Library, Framingham. The film explores the role of seven urban community gardens as fresh food sources, outdoor classrooms, places of healing, links to immigrants’ native countries, social centers, and oases of beauty and calm. Hear from members of several community gardens in Framingham after the film. Co-sponsored by the Framingham Seed Lending Library and Transition Framingham.

Tues., July 18, 7-8 p.m. Energize Framingham summer meet & greet!
At Public Lands in Shopper’s World, Framingham. Join us for refreshments and casual conversation. We will help you find answers to your questions on climate, composting, and sustainability in Framingham.

Wed., July 19 & July 26, 7 p.m., Framingham Sustainability Committee meetings. Check the City Public Meeting Calendar for location, Zoom link, and agenda.

Sat., Aug. 26, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 15th Annual Framingham Vegetable Gardens Tour, details and meeting place to come.
Sponsored by Transition Framingham. This year will focus on gardens south of Route 9. If you have a home vegetable garden you’d like to be included, contact Mary Memmott (email [email protected]m, call/text 508-202-2229).

IN THE NEWS

Framingham

A first-of-its-kind heating system is being built in a Framingham neighborhood (Metrowest Daily News)

The country’s first gas utility-run networked geothermal heating and cooling system breaks ground in Mass.(WBUR)

Massachusetts

A Giant Wind Farm Is Taking Root Off Massachusetts (New York Times)
Vineyard Wind construction begins: In the coming months, 62 turbines up to 850 feet high, with blades about 350 feet long, will be planted on the seabed 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard.

Urban gardens: A 'disrupter' in Worcester that fights climate change (Worcester Telegram)
Areas with urban gardens have been found to be 10 degrees color than areas that don't have them. Urban gardeners are profiled and tips are shared.

Opt-in (Net Zero) Stretch building code

Boston City Council votes to adopt new climate-friendly state building code (Boston Globe)

Acton man builds futuristic and environmentally friendly dream home (WBZ)
"This house uses about 70 percent less energy than a typical home that's built to the building code," said the architect.

New building codes to fight climate change could make Massachusetts homes even more expensive (WBZ)
The Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Mass. paid MIT and Wentworth Institute of Technology to study the stretch codes’ impact on housing affordability and concluded they could price out some homebuyers. The Massachusetts Climate Action Network offers a counterpoint.

Green bank

Healey announces a new green bank to fund climate-friendly affordable housing (Boston Globe)

Healey announces new 'green bank' to help pay for eco-friendly housing projects (WBUR)
A new state bank — the nation’s first, according to the Healey Administration — will provide loans and “innovative deal structures” to make affordable housing more climate-friendly.

Regional

Biden administration approves largest US offshore wind farm off New Jersey coast (USA Today)
Ocean Wind 1 joins the Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts and the South Fork Wind project in New York, both now under construction.

It’s hard to build transmission lines in the Northeast, so 8 states are asking the feds for help (WBUR)
According to a letter from Maria Robinson, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office (formerly Framingham state rep), the DOE is interested in working with New England, New York, and New Jersey to enhance the electrical grid to accommodate renewables like wind and solar and to allow regional sharing of electricity.

NH’s first ban on food waste becomes law in win for composting (Boston Globe)

Why this NYC apartment complex will use a giant underground heat pump (Canary Media)

General reading

The Renewable Revolution (RMI)
This report details the rapid fall in cost of renewable energy technologies and makes the case that demand for fossil fuels has already peaked.

Americans are throwing out half their household recyclables. Here’s why (The Hill)
Confusion about what can be recycled and mistrust in the process are to blame.

Snapshots From a Clean Energy Future (Mother Jones)
Across America, microgrids are changing the power dynamic. San Jose, CA, the Navajo Nation, JFK International Airport, and Hot Springs, NC, are featured.

ABOUT US

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

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