Springfield receives 'Green Community' status


(left to right) State Sen. Stephen Buoniconti, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles and State Rep. Angelo Puppolo attended the press conference at which Springfield's status as a "Green Community" was announced. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs

Oct. 11, 2010

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD -- Springfield and Holyoke were two of the seven communities in Western Massachusetts to be awarded Green Communities status a designation only 35 municipalities in the state received from the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) earlier this year.

Mayors and other officials from the seven communities gathered at the Sixteen Acres Library on Oct. 5, a site chosen because that building will be the recipient of a new energy management system to reduce energy consumption.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said the Legislature had set up very strict standards for communities to meet for the "Green Communities" program and the fact that so many Western Massachusetts communities were granted that status "speaks to the leadership of the towns and cities and the commitment to the agenda."

One of those standards is for each municipality to reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent within five years.

DOER Commissioner Phil Guidice said he believes Massachusetts is on the way to being "the most energy efficient state" in the nation.

Guidice noted that one of the steps some communities are taking -- installing devices to decrease the power used by vending machines when buildings are not in use -- might seem small, but "wringing out energy waste will pay dividends."

Springfield was awarded $988,102 in grant funding through the program and Holyoke received $321,211.

The funding received by Holyoke will be used to convert exterior parking lot lights to new low-energy light-emitting diodes (LED) bulbs at 12 public schools; convert traditional lights in traffic and street lights to LED lights; and to better insulate City Hall.

The conversion from traditional light bulbs to LED bulbs is expected to save Holyoke $42,000 annually in electric costs. Those areas that are being converted will serve as pilot projects, with the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department gauging the results. Eventually the city would like to convert all of its traffic and streetlights to the LED bulbs.

Holyoke Mayor Elaine Pluta commended the collaboration between city departments that led to the city's certification as a "Green Community" and noted the city generates 65 percent of the electricity it consumes through the hydroelectric plant on the Connecticut River.

Pluta said, "The city needs to take advantage of all opportunities available."

In Springfield, the funding will be used to replace inferior boilers at the Mary Lynch and Freedman Elementary Schools and at the Fire Repair Building; for the installation of vending machine misers at the Freedman and Brunton Elementary Schools and the Fire Repair Building; and for energy management systems at the Mary Lynch, Brunton and Zanetti schools, the Fire Repair Building and the Sixteen Acres Branch Library.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno stated, "The city of Springfield will continue to explore all opportunities to go 'green.' I am appreciative of the state recog-nizing the work Springfield is accomplishing and look forward to continuing to reduce energy consumption and to look for alternative fuel sources. The end result will be a healthier city and an improved quality of life in the Pioneer Valley. I would also like to extend an invitation to any community in the Commonwealth to tour our buildings and see first hand what green projects we have accomplished."

The other Western Massachusetts communities that earned the designation included Belchertown, which received $160,917; Easthampton, which received $174,985; Lenox, which received $134,766; Northampton, which received $198,500; and Pittsfield, which received $256,632.

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