If you could get a big tax refund from Massachusetts to pay for projects that would save you money for decades, why wouldn’t you? On May 11, Deerfield residents can give our town the chance to do just that by voting to become a Climate Leader community.

Our neighbors in Ashfield, Buckland and Shutesbury are way ahead of Deerfield, having all taken the initiative to become Climate Leaders. Ashfield has received an $870,872 Climate Leader grant from the state to install solar arrays at its wastewater treatment plant and highway garage. These solar arrays are projected to save the town nearly $100,000 in annual electricity costs, or about $2 million over the next 20 years.

Deerfield has travelled this path before. In 2011, voters decided to join the Green Community program by adopting the Stretch Building Code, which now covers 90 percent of Massachusetts residents. We also had to adopt a fuel-efficient municipal vehicle policy.

Since then, Deerfield has received more than $600,000 in Green Community grants to promote energy efficiency, and we have achieved annual cost savings of $100,000 by cutting municipal electricity consumption and eliminating rental fees paid to Eversource for street light equipment. We are currently seeking a $250,000 Green Communities grant to install a new Building Management System at Frontier Regional School, which will deliver an additional $21,500 in annual energy savings.

To qualify as a Climate Leader community and become eligible for up to $1.15 million in state energy efficiency grants, two steps remain — and these will sound familiar.

First, Deerfield must adopt the Specialized Energy Code, which builds on the Stretch Building Code we currently follow as a Green Community. The Specialized Code applies only to new construction. It does not affect any existing home or building; it does not add new requirements for renovations or additions; it does not ban any fuel type — oil, propane and gas remain options; it does not require homeowners to change anything about their current property; it does not raise taxes or create new fees; it does not affect farm buildings built for animals or production purposes.

Second, we must adopt the Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) First Policy, the state’s newest fuel-efficient vehicle policy. Under the policy, whenever a zero-emission vehicle adapted for municipal use is commercially available and practicable, the town must prioritize buying one when replacing a less-fuel-efficient fleet vehicle.

Decisions about whether a ZEV is practicable remain local. The Deerfield Police Chief, for example, would decide whether a battery electric vehicle (BEV) meets all the department’s needs. Currently, our chief favors hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) over BEVs, and both are qualifying options under the ZEV policy. All our cruisers are HEVs.

In 2011, some people claimed adopting the Stretch Code would curtail housing production and deter commercial development. Similar fears are being expressed today about adopting the Specialized Energy Code.

Here’s what Building Department records reveal about what actually happened. In the decade before the Stretch Code was adopted, an average of 6.9 housing units were built each year. Since 2011, Deerfield has averaged 7.7 new units a year.

And what about commercial development? In 2018, Pilot Precision Products built its factory on Merrigan Way (at the former site of the Oxford Foods pickle plant), and in 2023 Nupro broke ground on its 19,000-square-foot facility on the same site.

The record is clear. There is no evidence that adopting the Stretch Code and becoming a Green Community affected the pace of residential or commercial development in Deerfield over the past 15 years. And there is no evidence to support current fears that becoming a Climate Leader will harm Deerfield in the future.

When asked whether overall construction costs are rising, Adin Maynard, a Certified Home Energy Rating System specialist and chair of the Williamsburg Energy Committee, said: “Absolutely, but energy codes are a tiny fraction of that increase. Lumber, labor, insurance … and land costs have all surged. Let’s not scapegoat the building envelope while ignoring the forces that actually dominate the cost equation.”

So why should Deerfield follow Ashfield’s lead and become a Climate Leader? “For small towns, it’s not about climate or if you believe in this or that,” Maynard said. “It’s all about the dollars.”

Tim Hilchey is a member of the Deerfield Selectboard.