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Tell Us About Your "Green Activities"

If you, your company, or your community is doing something to increase sustainability in our area, we would love to know about it. Please write us an e-mail and tell us what you are up to. We are also interested in receiving your "Green Newsletters".

Please send information and newsletters to: 
info@ecocollaborative.org




The Newburyport Energy Advisory Committee (EAC) studies, evaluates, and makes recommendations to the Mayor regarding energy conservation, energy efficiency, and/or conversion to greener energy sources. We are a group of energy professionals who have committed our time to make a difference in the community. The EAC assists the Mayor by identifying policy implications and cost savings derived from potential energy conservation, and investigating sustainable development measures and guidelines for local businesses and homeowners.

So many of the world’s troubles are directly related to available energy and consumption. Climate change, peak oil and economic instability are each driven largely by energy. Further, global populations are growing and per capita energy demands are rising. We believe we must act urgently to make changes NOW. We also believe that by taking dramatic action we can simultaneously reduce emissions, create jobs, eliminate dependency on foreign oil and become economically viable in the process. These actions require a synchronized and sustained commitment from our US government, city, businesses, and citizens in order to make the kind of difference needed to meet our challenges.


With Mayor John Moak’s support, the City has committed time and resources to be proactive in dealing with these issues. Besides endorsing the EAC, Newburyport has supported the installation of more bike racks, greener vehicles, government building energy audits, mixed stream recycling, membership into ICLEI (International Cities for Climate Protection) and participation in the Green Communities Act. The EAC is completing a town benchmark of energy usage and emissions by sector. All of these efforts, though helpful, pale in comparison to the power each citizen holds. Residents account for over 50% of the City’s power and transportation usage.

For our future to be assured, we need all citizens to act boldly – we assume you’ve already done the “easy” ways to become green. Now we must work together to move on and do what it really takes to improve the future of our children.

We are looking to each business and family to join your City in contributing to a plan with the overall goal of becoming a “Net Zero” energy City—that is, we’ll be a net producer of clean energy. This plan considers a 5% reduction in emissions and consumption every year from now until 2028.





How does a family go about planning for a
Net Zero city?

To begin, you need to become educated about where you fit into the cycle and what your options are. Generally speaking, each home has a 20-30 year cycle where a major renovation becomes due. Homes at this stage can employ a deep energy retrofit that can get them to net zero or very close. Other homes, can employ a simpler plan to compliment the deep retrofits. Transportation habits can alter as we change vehicles, drive smart to increase mileage or reduce our vehicle’s miles traveled.

A Few Helpful Sites:

http://www.energystar.gov/
Home and building benchmarking, tax credit info, and more

http://www.mass.gov/eea
Info on Massachusetts Net Zero Building Initiative

http://www.mass.gov/doer
Info on Massachusetts Energy Savings Initiatives

http://www.ipcc.ch/
UN site on Climate Change

http://www.ucsusa.org/about/
Climate Change

http://www.peakoil.net/about-peak-oil
Understanding Peak Oil

http://www.masstech.org/
Clean energy options for Mass

http://www.thinksmartthinkgreen.com/
Rebate options

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
US DOEs website on fuel efficiency

http://transitionus.org/index.php
Transition towns

Attend Meetings: Last Thursday of Every Month at the library – open to the public. Please check the website or The Daily News paper to confirm meeting times.



To contact the EAC, send an email to:
eacinfo@ecocollaborative.org