Swampscott steps closer to going green

SWAMPSCOTT – The town is moving forward with steps to become a state designated Green Community.At a meeting earlier this week, selectmen voted unanimously to adopt an efficiency and procurement policy for town vehicles, which is one of the steps the town must take to become a Green Community.Renewable Energy Committee Chairman Tara Gallagher said the town has met the state requirements, which would make it eligible to apply for Green Communities grants.One of the requirements for the program was to establish an energy baseline inventory for all municipal energy use, which the town has already completed. Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said Johnson Controls conducted a comprehensive 90-day energy audit of town buildings and the town has made a commitment to reduce its energy usage by 20 percent over the next five years. Maylor said any capital improvements that would result in energy savings would be paid through a performance contract the town would enter into.Green Communities are also required to adopt a stretch energy code, which was done at Town Meeting this spring. The stretch energy code is an energy efficient building code, which applies to all new construction and renovations.One of the other steps required to become a Green Community is the adoption of an expedited application process for renewable and alternative energy generating facilities. The town also has to adopt local zoning bylaws that allow as-of-right siting of renewable and alternative energy research facilities, which means any zoning bylaw could not unreasonably regulate renewable and alternative energy generating facilities. The bulk of what needed to be done to meet those two requirements was accomplished at the annual Town Meeting.In the fall of 2009, the town, in a joint application with Salem, was awarded a planning assistance grant from The Green Communities Program at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER). The program was established to help municipalities implement energy saving measures to reduce their environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions.Gallagher said the committee would have to submit all materials to the DOER by May 14, stating it could meet all the requirements to become a Green Community and it would have until May 28 to submit a grant application for this round of funding.”We are furiously assembling the materials to submit for this first round of funding,” she said.The funds for the program are provided by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the Green Communities Division of the DOER, using money from the auction of carbon allowances, which provided 103 communities with $1.2 million in private energy consulting services.