The Town of Westford Climate Initiative Survey
The Town of Westford is committed to reducing pollution and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and they are soliciting your input to make it happen. They are requesting that you complete a 10-minute Climate Action Survey to share your thoughts on which climate initiatives matter most to you and how the Town can fund them. Your feedback is vital as the Town plans for a sustainable future while balancing the financial impacts on our community. This information will be incorporated into the Town’s Townwide Strategic Plan.
Survey Deadline: Thursday, October 31 at 11:59 PM
Highlights
• Westford is committed to achieving net-zero emissions
by 2050
• The Net-Zero by 2050 is a state wide initiative that
has many significant impacts on all Massachusetts
residents
o statewide gross GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by
at least 85% below the 1990 baseline level
▪ The 2030 emissions limit shall be at least
50% below the 1990 baseline,
▪ the 2040 emissions limit shall be at least
75% below the 1990 level,
▪ the 2050 emissions limit that achieves at
least 85% below the 1990 level,
o conserve and enhance carbon sequestration on
natural and working lands
• includes heat in homes, power in vehicles,
and the electric grid can all operate with
minimum reliance on fossil fuels based on
widespread electrification across the
economy, including Space Heat and Other
Building Energy Needs
▪ The primary strategy to reduce light-duty
transportation emissions is switching from fossil-
fueled vehicles to zero emissions vehicles
▪ Migrate toward complete electrification of homes
leading to all homes being transitioned to Passive
homes (A passive house is a voluntary set of building
standards that aim to create houses with strict energy
efficiency)
• Retrofitting single-family homes - “while almost
every house today will still be in use in 2050,
most homes will need replacement of their roof,
windows, water heater, air conditioner, and
heating system at some point in the next thirty
years”
• Applies to town and commercial buildings as well
▪ The short term building standards that may be adopted
are described in the article “Opt-In Building
Standards“. These Standards must be voted in.
▪ Given our current budget problems, is this something
we want to invest in at this time?
The Questions in the survey are listed below:
The document can be found at this link:
Specialized Opt-In Building Code
Summary
• The Specialized Building Code is the next level of regulation on new home construction as the state moves toward Net Zero in 2050 and its adoption must be approved by vote
• Two important features of this code are pre-wiring of the home for future all electric conversion and a 4 KW solar panel where appropriate
• This code will add $25,000 to $50,000 to the price of a new home with a payback in 38 years. This would increase the cost of a new home in Westford and reducing the number of homes available as a result. The very long payback puts this investment in question.
• Westford’s continued approval of these regulations over the last 10 years has made it a “Climate Friendly Community”. As such, Westford is being courted to adopt the fourth regulatory level, a pilot program to evaluate the development of Passive houses. Our Select Board has supported both the adoption of the Specialized Code and our entry into this pilot program.
• Massachusetts will be moving toward eventually making it mandatory for every home to be a Passive home. This would add an estimated 10% to the cost of the home.
This new code is moving towards the Net Zero by 2050 initiative which is driven by the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act and modified in 2022 to set emissions levels at Net Zero by 2050. There exists four regulatory categories specifying building code standards for new construction. Westford is currently a Green Community and would consider adopting this“Specialized” code category. This decision must be agreed to by the voters i.e. Opt-In and has already been recommended by our Select Board.
The Specialized code would be applied to all new “buildings”, not to renovations, additions, or historic buildings. The specific requirements of this new code are detailed in Table 1. The Specialized Code facilitates, but does not require, the full electrification of new buildings. However, two items in the code are noteworthy; 1) Pre-wiring of the home for future all electric conversion; and 2) a 4 KW solar panel. The pre-wiring requires that all fossil fuel appliances (heating systems, dryers etc) be wired for 220 V conversion.
These codes also apply to Multi-family homes 4+ stories or over 12,000 ft2 which would impact buildings being contemplated under the MBTA Zoning adoption we voted in last year.
One important caveat is that once adopted all future state or federal amendments to the specifications become automatically applied.
Adoption of this regulation adds significant cost to these new buildings. Even with the state and federal rebates on the solar systems, these regulations would add 1.6 to 3.6% to the cost of the home, estimated to be $15,000 to $25,000 (in 2021 dollars) with a payback in tens of years. In addition, the fees for inspection and compliance to the HERS standard is significant adding upwards of $5,000. The National Association of Homebuilders has estimated that the cost of a home is increased by $31,000 (the total cost including construction and inspection can be between $25,000 – $50,000). The payback for these costs has been projected by the State to be 38 years. Westford contractors who build electric homes have expressed opposition to the regulation because of the additional cost and long payback period. Massachusetts had the third highest cost of new housing of all states in 2021, and has unusually low housing supply, even among expensive coastal states. This would make these problems a little worse.
To achieve Net Zero by 2050, the state will gradually move all buildings to become Passive Houses and will become the standard by 2050. There exists a ‘Demonstration Program’ i.e. a pilot program to develop the technologies necessary for a passive house and the costs to implement them. The Westford Select Board has indicated their interest in becoming part of this program. There are financial incentives given to the town to do this
Passive buildings are buildings that incredibly airtight and insulated. They have an airtight building envelope, continuous insulation without thermal bridging, high – performance windows (double or triple – paned), optimization of solar gain, balanced heat- and moisture- recovery ventilation, and minimal space conditioning system, see Figure 1. Experts advise that the up-front costs will be at least 10 percent more than building a typical home that only meets local codes. Fortunately, some tax breaks are available to reduce construction costs.
Link to article below:
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