Greening Your Community: Leading by Example

This is the second workshop that CET has coordinated for community leaders in western Massachusetts. Intended for town officials, key staff, concerned citizens, and energy committee members, these workshops aim to provide ways to address rising energy costs and citizen concern about climate change. Community leaders from 25 Pioneer Valley towns attended our most recent workshop. There were presentations on available resources, and case studies on the challenges and successes that Amherst, Northampton and Wendell met with on the path to becoming greener communities. Presentations and handouts from the workshop are available here for download.

CET’s thanks go out to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Office in Hadley for donating space for the workshop, and to Whole Foods Market for the great coffee and pastries!

Agenda and presentations

• Agenda: Greening Your Community: Leading By Example
• Northampton’s Sustainability Steps
• Town of Amherst presentation

Press

• Daily Hampshire Gazette

Utility presentations

• National Grid
• Western Mass. Electric Co.
• Bay State Gas/GasNetworks

Forming energy committees

• How to form an energy committee
• Town Energy and Climate Action Guide
  A guide from the Sustainable Energy Resource Group

For support in forming a committee, please contact CET at 413-586-7350 x 26.

• ICLEI - Cities for Climate Protection Overview
• ICLEI - Cities for Climate Protection: Case examples

Resources

• Finding the Resources
  A CET presentation
• Municipal clean energy resources handout
• DOER municipal audit application
• Clean Energy Choice funds for community renewable energy projects
• EPA Community Energy Challenge
• CET’s services to cities and towns handout
• Speakers and resources

Green building

• Green features of Wendell Library
• LEED case study of the North Adams Public Library
  Prepared by students of Northeastern University School of Architecture, 2007