Land Use Planning & Zoning
Green Communities Technical Assistance
Photo credit: Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics
Project Overview
The Green Communities Act has provided communities in the Commonwealth with increased opportunities to become more sustainable and lower their impact on the environment and dependency on non-renewable resources. The Green Communities Program provides cities and towns in the Commonwealth with the opportunity to achieve designation as a “Green Community” by meeting a set of five criteria that have been outline by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER). These criteria consist of the following requirements: (1) a town must provide for as-of-right siting (i.e. development may proceed without the need for a special permit or other discretionary approval) of renewable energy generating facilities, renewable or alternative energy research and development (R&D) facilities, or renewable or alternative energy manufacturing facilities in designated locations; (2) a town must adopt an expedited application and permitting process under which renewable or alternative energy facilities may be sited within the municipality; (3) a town must establish an energy use baseline inventory for municipal buildings, vehicles, street and traffic lighting, and put in place a comprehensive program designed to reduce this baseline by 20% within five years of initial participation in the program; (4) the town must enact a policy to purchase only fuel-efficient vehicles for municipal use, whenever such vehicles are commercially available and practicable; and (5) the town must require all new residential construction of more than 3,000 square feet and all new commercial and industrial real estate construction to minimize the life-cycle cost of the facility by utilizing energy efficiency, water conservation and other renewable or alternative energy technologies.
Once a community is a designated “Green Community” there are several economic and environmental benefits which are available and may include but are not limited to the following: reduced energy consumption and decreased greenhouse gas emissions, recognition as a sustainability leader in the Commonwealth, and various financial incentives which include access to state grants only available to designated Green Communities.
Current Activities
While there are many communities which have fulfilled some of the criteria, there are currently no designated Green Communities to date. Communities seeking to become a Green Community can develop an Action Plan, outlining the steps that will be taken over the course of a year to meet all five of the criteria. In recognition of many of the challenges associated with this effort, the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) created the Green Communities Technical Assistance Program, and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) was contracted to provide technical planning assistance services to the towns seeking this designation in the region. In total, 16 towns applied for technical assistance in Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region. Half (8) of these communities submitted individual applications, while the remaining eight communities joined together to form a regional application for the North Quabbin Region. Participating individual communities include Bernardston, Buckland, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Montague, Rowe, and Sunderland, while the North Quabbin Region is comprised of the communities of Athol, Erving, Orange, New Salem, Phillipston, Royalston, Shutesbury, and Wendell.
FRCOG will assist each community in developing and submitting their Action Plans to DOER as well as aid with the development of the Regional Action Plan for the North Quabbin Region. The FRCOG has just begun planning assistance for Phase II communities after successfully helping Phase I communities with their plans and recently learned that they had the first Action Plan to be submitted and approved by DOER. The Action Plans for all participating communities will be finalized in 2010.
Future Plans
Work with each of the participating towns is scheduled to occur in three phases with a target completion date of June 2010. The FRCOG has completed the first phase of Action Plans for the towns of Athol, Erving, Montague, Orange, and Rowe and is presenting draft Action Plans to Phase II communities. Additionally, FRCOG organized two workshops aimed at educating participating towns about the new Massachusetts Building Code Appendix (a.k.a. “Stretch Code”) which were held on January 14 and January 21 in the communities of Orange and Greenfield, respectively. Materials are available from the Greenfield Stretch Code workshop and include the following:
Additionally, a video of the Stretch Code Presentation is also available from the FRCOG and can be requested by contacting Gretchen Johnson. The FRCOG will continue to work to secure funding to assist towns with implementation activities contained in each of the Action Plans and continue to provide technical assistance on related matters, as feasible.
This page was last updated on 02/22/2010 .