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The following was submitted by Susan McPhee and Fritzie Nace, Spark LLC. energy manager for the Town of Winchester:
Winchester has proudly been a Green Communities municipality since 2010. The Green Communities Division is a part of the Mass. Department of Energy Resources (DOER) which provides grants, technical assistance and local support from regional coordinators to help municipalities reduce energy use and costs by implementing clean energy projects in municipal buildings, facilities and schools.
Although there are now 298 cities and towns that can call themselves a Massachusetts Green Community, Winchester was among the first 10 municipalities to join the program and to begin writing grants.
The Winchester Recreation Department windows at the Mystic School before, left, and after the replacements, right. COURTESY PHOTOS/TOWN OF WINCHESTER
To date, Winchester has received over $1.8 million in grant funding from the Green Communities program.
This spring, Winchester received its ninth Green Communities Grant award for energy efficiency projects in our schools and municipal buildings. This $90,094 grant will fund two projects: completing the replacement of old windows at the Mystic School and updating lighting at the McCall Middle School.
The Mystic School, where Winchester Recreation, Kids Connection Pre-school and the Winchester After School programs are housed, was originally built in the 1920s with the most recent addition in the 1950s.
The 1950’s single-pane and block-style windows were noticeably deteriorated and had become extremely drafty and inefficient, costing the town money in wasted energy and making staff and children uncomfortably chilly on cold winter days.
With a $48,067 Green Communities grant contribution to the project, Winchester will complete phase two of replacing the old windows this summer. The first phase was funded by a 2024 Energy Efficiency Block Grant.
The new windows will reduce annual energy use by 2,142 therms of natural gas and 167 kWh of electricity, for a total of $3,261 in energy cost savings per year.
Phase one window replacements have already made a noticeable difference in room temperatures.
Another look at the windows at the Mystic School before, left, and after the replacements, right. COURTESY PHOTOS/TOWN OF WINCHESTER
The second project will replace older, inefficient lighting at the McCall Middle School with efficient LED lighting, saving an estimated 55,000 kWh of electricity and $16,107 annually.
This lighting project will also receive an estimated $25,000 incentive reimbursement from Eversource, for a total of $115,094 in grants and incentives that Winchester will receive to help pay for these projects.
