North Adams Students aim to reduce energy consumption
By Ryan Hutton for the North Adams Transcript
Posted: 12/18/2009 01:43:13 AM EST
NORTH ADAMS — A group of Williams College students believe they have a plan both to reduce the city’s carbon emissions and save local business owners some money in the long run.
Students in the college’s environmental planning class spent much of the semester interviewing local shop owners and conducting research into ways North Adams businesses can increase their energy efficiency.
Monday afternoon, the students presented their findings to group of about 20 people at MCLA’s Gallery 51 on Main Street.
“The primary goal of the project is to gauge the feasibility of a self-sustaining Green Business Plan tailored to North Adams,” said student Rachel Savain. “We surveyed local business owners to find their familiarity with various energy-saving techniques and to document any current energy saving programs currently in place.”
Savain said they chose North Adams as the focus of the study because it was the largest community in North County, and it had a large number of locally owned businesses in a concentrated area.
Focusing on the 41 businesses of Marshal Street, Eagle Street, Main Street and Holden Street, the students sent out surveys to them all and got back responses form 21.
According to those responses, the business owners showed a high awareness of various energy-saving options, and about 75 percent of them were already doing small things such as using energy-efficient light bulbs and being mindful of turning off lights and turning down the heat when not needed. The students said they also found about 70 percent of them wanted to learn more.
Student Sasha Macko said they also realized early on in the process that they needed to work with the landlords to make changes, such as installing more energy-efficient windows and heating systems.
She said they contacted Scarafoni Associates, which owns many of the buildings in the downtown, and the company had already begun taking such steps for the cost savings.
Student Alisha Cahlan said they came up with a three-tiered plan to increase the city’s energy efficiency. The first tier consists of small business solutions, such as efficient light bulbs and additional educational programs. Students also recommend businesses get free energy audits from National Grid and Berkshire Gas Co. to find out what they could be doing better.
The second tier is a building-by-building approach that uses tier one ideas and brings the landlords into the picture to begin working on plans to replace windows and heating systems, and possibly use solar cells on roofs.
The third tier is a full “Green Business District” plan, through which the businesses would work with the city to implement more long-term, complete solutions that would become the standard. Fiscal incentive programs in the form of grants or tax incentives for businesses and landlords would also be considered.
Macko said the class realized climate change is a complex and multifaceted issue but noted that change can begin on a small, local scale.
“This plan could not only decrease the energy needs of the downtown of North Adams but also save the businesses money in the long run, after the initial investment,” she said. “It will also encourage residents to support their local downtown businesses if they are also concerned about the environment.”
To reach Ryan Hutton, e-mail rhutton@thetranscript.com