Sustainable Melrose

Green Community Designation

Melrose was in the first class of designated Green Communities by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources in 2010. There were 35 municipalities in year one and today there are 286 Green Communities in the Commonwealth.

Green Community designation made Melrose eligible for grant funding over the last ten years for a number of energy efficiency projects aimed at reducing municipal energy use. It also provided Melrose with initial funding to hire a part-time Energy Efficiency Manager, now the full-time Sustainability Manager, to coordinate the projects and seek out more grants and opportunities to save energy, reduce vehicle fleet fuel use, and increase renewable energy projects in Melrose. 

Highlights from 10+ Years as a Green Community:

  • Overall municipal energy use has decreased by 18% from baseline fiscal year 2009 to 2020 which includes buildings, streetlights, vehicles, and water/sewer facilities.
  • Melrose has received almost $4 million in grants, utility incentives, and technical assistance towards energy projects, vehicle purchases, and infrastructure upgrades.
  • Completed projects to date include a new insulated high school roof, LED streetlights everywhere, HVAC upgrades at Melrose High School, City Hall, the Police and Fire stations, and several elementary schools, and comprehensive building envelope improvements at all facilities.
  • The Energy Use Index, or EUI, for the Melrose High School and Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School facilities, which represent 40% of overall municipal building energy usage, are 36 and 44 and well below average for Massachusetts schools.
  • Addition of three battery electric vehicles to the City fleet and a hybrid water meter van upfit.
  • 19 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging ports including 15 mounted on utility poles – the first on the east coast.
  • Solar panels cover the roof of Melrose High School, Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School and the Public Works Operations Facility on Tremont Street.

Melrose Awarded $500,000 for Melrose Public Library Renovation/Addition

MPL

Melrose High School Receives New Electric Hybrid Heat Pump Hot Water Heaters

New electric hybrid heat pump hot water heaters at Melrose High School

In 2016, the City Installed Over 3,000 LED Streetlights Throughout Melrose

LED Street Light