Climate Action Plan Updates

Climate Action Plan Updates

Aug 19

Climate Action Plan is Live!

Posted on August 19, 2022 at 3:13 PM by Andrea Becerra


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The Climate Action Plan is live!

The Town of Acton’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) is here (in both English and Simplified Chinese). The CAP is the result of more than 20 community engagement activities and over a year of workshops, conversations, and analysis and provides a strategic framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building community resilience. The plan builds a roadmap for Acton, in 22 strategies and over 50 actions, to make informed decisions regarding where and how to achieve the largest and most cost-effective emissions reductions and guide Acton towards its goal of net-zero emissions by 2030. We are grateful to the community and Town staff for their active participation in the year-long process, and look forward to putting our goals and actions into hard work!
 

 
The Town also partnered with the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (ABRSD) to develop an Electrification Roadmap. The Roadmap outlines the capital, operational, and conversion costs for electrifying the top seven energy-consuming municipal and school buildings, which will help move ABRSD and the Town towards carbon neutrality. These buildings include the Public Safety Facility, Town Hall, Memorial Library, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, RJ Grey Junior High School, the Administration Building, and the Parker Damon Building.

Public comments were solicited when the final CAP draft was published on June 23rd. We compiled a list of the comments and responses to how each was addressed here. For a deeper review of the economic cost-benefit analysis of the CAP strategies you can read ERG's report here.

CAP in Action

This week marks the release of the CAP, but many of the strategies are already in motion!

Electric Vehicle users in Acton can soon count on Veterans Field to be a new site for Acton's first fast charging station
. The public lot is conveniently located right off of Main St. and Great Rd. and across the street from several locally-owned Acton businesses. Currently, there are 14 public charging ports in Acton for EV users to access Level 2 Chargers, which brings EVs to full battery in a few hours. The Veterans Field fast charger will allow most EV users to charge their vehicles in under an hour! Local businesses across the street from the charging station can expect the fast charger to bring in more customers, as they make use of the charging time to shop in the area. 


Businesses can also install their own EV charging stations in their public parking lots. In fact, businesses in Acton have many options to capitalize on green technology and become more sustainable. A recent segment on ActonTV from the Town Sustainability Department and Economic Development Office shared ways to “Green your biz,” such as adding solar panels to rooftops and opting up to the 100% renewable energy supply option, Acton Power Choice GREEN. EnergizeActon also hosted a Climate Café for business owners in July, where green businesses shared how they’ve made use of clean technology, from electric lawn mowers to sustainable packaging, to improve their businesses. 

Acton's Sustainability Director, Andrea Becerra, Acton's Economic Development Director, Julie Pierce Onos and Acton's Transportation and Mobility Fellow, Degen Larkin, talk about ways Acton's businesses can become more green on ActonTV. 


Residents are another big slice of the sustainability pie, and the Town of Acton has been working with Energize Acton to help bring clean energy to more homes. Residents looking to switch from gas, propane, or oil heating to the more sustainable electric heat pumps can receive free energy consultations from Abode, who help walk residents or businesses through the process (start here!). 



Renters and condo owners can also get in on the green wave. The Town of Acton is working with Housing and Climate Justice for Acton to create an EV charging station pilot program for residents in multi-family homes. EV users in multi-family homes face unique challenges when looking to install charging stations, such as finding available and accessible outlets to use, determining metering costs for electricity usage, and getting the permission of homeowners associations and landlords to add new chargers.
 



And we wouldn’t want to forget about solar! The Town of Acton is working to bring solar panels to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Public Safety Facility (PSF), and Nara Park to bring more clean energy to municipal operations. 

Potential location of a new solar canopy at the PSF. 



One of the key features of the Climate Action Plan is improving Acton’s resilience to extreme weather events and climate change. The Town of Acton River Street Dam, a defunct mill, poses a flood risk to the houses in the nearby neighborhood. The Town of Acton is working to transform the River Street Dam into a public park, removing the flood-prone components of the dam while preserving historical segments to create a memorial of the old mill.

Decommissioned River Street Dam, a flood-risk to Acton, will be transformed into a public park and historical site commemorating the mill it once powered.


Electrification Roadmap

Did you miss our virtual presentation of the Electrification Roadmap? The Roadmap is an assessment of the capital, operational, and conversion costs for electrifying our municipal and school buildings. To see the recording visit: https://bit.ly/3bQTNFv
 
And, in case you missed it, we celebrated the CAP process with community partners at the ActOn Climate Festival, which took place on Saturday, June 11th, at the NARA Park Amphitheater! Check out the ActonTV recap video here.

Yours in Climate Action Implementation, 

The Sustainability Office
Jun 23

The CAP Draft is Here!

Posted on June 23, 2022 at 10:09 AM by Andrea Becerra

We want your comments on the draft Climate Action Plan!

Continue Reading...

May 24

Capping off the Climate Action Plan

Posted on May 24, 2022 at 7:13 PM by Andrea Becerra

Capping off the Climate Action Plan

We are reaching the final phase of the climate action planning process! Our last workshop is on Wednesday, June 1st from 12:00-1:15PM. To register visit: https://bit.ly/CAPWorkshop4

At this workshop, you will have to opportunity to provide feedback on the cost-benefit assessment findings by the Eastern Research Group (ERG) that identify the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, costs, and benefits, including equity and resilience, of high-impact strategies from our Climate Action Plan Blueprint. We are excited to continue this work and finish off with a final Climate Action Plan in June! If you would like an early preview of the economic assessments click here — please let us know if you have any questions or comments by emailing sustainability@actonma.gov or calling the office at 978-929-6515.

Join us for an exciting celebration of the CAP process at the ActOn Climate Festival, happening Saturday, June 11th, 12:00-3:00PM at the NARA Park Amphitheater! There will be lawn games, food trucks, and sustainability resources to start putting our actions into work. Please let us know if you will need a shuttle to and from the event. If you or anyone you know will need a food voucher to eat free at the event please don't hesitate to contact us. You can reach the sustainability office at sustainability@actonma.gov or call the office at 978-929-6515. 


 

To look back at the entire CAP Blueprint process, which began in June 2021, visit the CAP Blog Page here. Are you subscribed to the Climate Action Plan newsletter? Please click here to subscribe or email sustainability@actonma.gov to be added to the email list.

Yours in Climate Action Planning,

The Sustainability Office 

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