Submitted by the Greenfield Mayor’s office
Greenfield, MA – Mayor Roxann Wedegartner has announced that the City of Greenfield was recently
recognized with the Baker-Polito Administration’s “Leading by Example Award” for 2021. The award is to
acknowledge outstanding efforts by communities related to clean energy and the environment that reduce
associated energy costs, and is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
The 15th annual Leading by Example Awards Ceremony was held at UMass Lowell’s University Crossing on
December 9th
Greenfield earned the award because of a number of accomplishments including, reducing municipal-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 67.7% since 2008, and maintaining a more than 20% reduction in energy consumption across the
municipality for the past five years. These achievements are magnified by all municipal new construction
projects since 2016 being high performance buildings.
“Public sector leaders at the state and local level play a crucial role in contributing innovative approaches and
solutions that help our state meet its ambitious climate and clean energy goals,” said Governor Charlie Baker.
“The Leading by Example award ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate the good work of our state and
municipal leaders and the action they are taking to protect our environment, reduce costs and embrace forward looking solutions to our energy challenges.”
Other projects completed in 2021 include a 1.55 MW solar array on the City’s wellfield that will save approximately $63,000 annually on the City’s electricity bill. Replacing the failing Police Department HVAC system with a higher efficiency system paid for largely with Green Communities grant funds is saving approximately $9,000 in energy costs per year. The Police Department has also been actively switching their fleet over to hybrid cruisers, and the Energy Department will assist in securing grant funds for three new hybrid