NAHANT — Things aren’t just looking brighter on the island, but greener as well.
The town has been awarded a $195,457 Green Communities grant from the Baker-Polito administration, which will be used to convert all lighting in municipal buildings to the more environmentally-friendly LED lighting.
Nahant was one of 59 communities across Massachusetts to be awarded funding through the Green Communities program last week. Nearly $8 million was awarded to these municipalities based on their commitment to providing clean and alternative energy sources.
In addition to implementing LED lighting in town buildings, the funds will also be used for the weatherization of those buildings, which is aimed at reducing energy costs by increasing the energy efficiency in the structure, Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said. He added that it is extremely important to invest in measures to help protect the planet.
“The Green Communities program allows us to not only invest in green-energy projects, (but) it (also) produces financial savings for the town and also allows for us to accomplish our energy-production goals,” said Barletta.
The town has a five-year, energy-reduction goal, which will supplement the commonwealth’s target of bringing energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. Last year, the town converted its street lights to LED lighting, which is already providing benefits to the community, Barletta said.
“Between these two projects, we are reducing our carbon emissions significantly and we are saving a ton of money on an annual basis,” he said.
Once completed, these Green Communities grant-supported projects will result in $1.1 million in savings and will leverage more than $1.6 million in utility incentives throughout the state, according to the Baker-Polito administration.
Other benefits include a total energy savings of 45,000 MMBTus — a unit traditionally used to measure heat content or energy value — which translates to the amount of energy consumed by more than 350 Massachusetts households annually. The projects are also estimated to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 3,249 metric tons, which is roughly equal to taking more than 838 cars off the road, the Baker-Polito administration said.
“The commonwealth continues to lead the nation in climate and clean-energy policies with programs like Green Communities, which provides innovative and cost-effective solutions for cities and towns,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “The efforts of … communities receiving grant awards today are instrumental as we work to meet the commonwealth’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.”
