Event Description

Western Massachusetts Green Consortium, Green Night
The Green Communities Act
February 10 at 5pm

Platform Sports Bar
125A Pleasant Street, Northampton, MA.

Join us at the Platform Sports Bar for an evening of networking, information sharing, food, drink and green learning. Bring a friend!

Our Topic this Month:
The Green Communities Act created a program unique to Massachusetts that progressively encourages, challenges, and enables cities and towns of all sizes to reduce energy use and increase renewable energy. Since the program started, 155 cities and towns throughout Massachusetts have risen to the challenge and became designated as Green Communities. Over $45 million dollars have been awarded as grant to these municipalities. Seven years since the law passed, we look at how the program is working, what municipalities participate and why, what challenges remain, and what role there might be for contractors and consultants to help communities catalyze rapid change toward a greener future. To meet the program’s requirements, a town must reduce energy use by 20% from a baseline within five years. To date, seven communities have succeeded in achieving this goal. Come learn how they did it!

Our Presenters:
Ben Weil - Extension Asst. Professor of Building Energy at UMass Amherst
Lauren Mattison - Research Fellow in the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Jim Barry - Western Mass Regional Coordinator, for the Department of Energy Resources, Green Communities Division.

Our Sponsor:
Many thanks to our February Green Night sponsor -- Greater Good Energy Solutions