Ashland, a Green Community

Ashland became a state-designated Green Community in 2012 and had to meet five criteria: create an action plan to reduce municipal energy by 20 percent, adopt a fuel-efficient vehicle policy, pass the building STRETCH code, create as-of-right zone for solar in industrial areas of town, and create a baseline report for tracking municipal energy use. Being a Green Community also makes Ashland eligible for additional grants.
In 2013-14, the Sustainability Committee launched the Ashland Solar Challenge, offering residents discounted bulk pricing.
Phillip Williams, then the town’s energy manager (2014-16), oversaw the replacement of the street lights with LED lights; the installation of electric care charging stations, a Soofa charging bench at the Kid’s Spot (donated by Needham Bank), heat timers at the Department of Public Works; and the addition of three Nissan Leafs to the town fleet, to name a few of the energy-saving projects.
The Howe Street solar farm is also part of the town’s green efforts. It has not yet generated any electricity since the final approvals on the power connection are pending.
Other energy-saving projects have been done. “Although the solar panels at the high school and middle school do not count towards our green community energy reduction, they do reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and save the town money,” Marshquist explained.