ORANGE — Orange and Shelburne are among the seven western Massachusetts towns to receive a “Green Community” state designation, along with grant money to be used for energy efficiency and moving toward renewable energy.
Orange received a grant of $159,840 and Shelburne’s grant is for $132,595. Collectively, the towns of Chester, Cummington, Hinsdale, Orange, Royalston, Shelburne, and Southampton picked up $948,200 in grants.
According to Land Use Planner Alyssa Larose of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, the grant money can be used on various projects, such as energy audits, recycling efforts, or renovations to reduce energy consumption in town-owned buildings and schools.
Pat Larson, a member of Orange’s Energy Committee, said the town came up with an energy-efficiency strategy to apply for the grant. Consulting with Guardian Energy, Larson said the town was able to identify the five buildings using the most energy: Town Hall, Fisher Hill School, Dexter Park School, the wastewater treatment plant and the Armory.
The Town Hall and Fisher Hill School were chosen as the first two buildings to focus on — about $50,000 of the grant money will go toward weatherizing the Town Hall and updating the boiler heating system at Fisher Hill School. However, Larson emphasized that those projects are only the beginning of a five-year process of reducing the town’s energy usage by 20 percent.
“We’ll still have $100,000 to spend on other projects,” Larson said. “Then we can go back later on, because there are more things we can do to conserve energy, use less and save the town some money.”
Future projects Larson mentioned might be new HVAC systems for the Town Hall and Orange Armory, and audits on other town buildings, including the police station and Wheeler Memorial Library.
The Town Hall and Fisher Hill School projects will probably start this summer after contracts with the state and Guardian Energy are finalized, Larson said.
“I am really pleased that Shelburne voters decided to take on the challenge of meeting the Green Communities designation goal of making a 20 percent reduction in municipal energy use over the next five years,” said Selectboard Chairman Andrew Baker. According to Baker, Shelburne is working with Nick Hill, an energy consultant hired with the help of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, to produce an ASHRAE level audit of the town buildings. ASHRAE stands for the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers. This audit is required so that the Green Community grant can be used to improve energy efficiencies in town buildings
“We will wait for his report to decide as a Board on how to prioritize the projects and grant funds,” Baker said. “However, preliminary indications, based on high oil consumption, point to replacing the Cowell gym heating system as one of the high priority projects that may produce the greatest immediate energy savings. Since the Cowell gym also has two large stacks that vent hot air, causing a lot of heat loss and energy use, pursuing energy efficiency measures in the Cowell may also be a high priority.”
According to the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER), at least 200 towns and cities have earned their Green Community designations. About 72 percent of all Massachusetts residents are now living in Green Communities.
The Green Communities program is a model for how state and local governments can work together to implement responsible energy policies that best serve the people of Massachusetts,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “By participating in the Green Communities program, these towns have additional resources to reduce their carbon footprints, secure energy savings and invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy.”