Energy Program News

Greening Municipal Fleets - Work by Clean Energy Corps Member Dugan Becker Featured

In 2018, Dugan Becker, UMass Amherst ’19, was chosen as a CAFE Summer Scholar to collect data that resulted in recommendations for reducing municipal vehicle fuel consumption in rural Massachusetts towns.   His efforts, in collaboration with CEE staff, are featured in a recent news article.

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CEE and Professor Crago receive SSEN seed grant to collaborate on study of solar PV and economic equity

An investigation into the equity of solar PV development by Professor Christine Crago and Extension Professor Dwayne Breger was one of three proposals selected for funding through the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) and the School of Earth and Sustainability’s 2019 Social Science and Environment Seed Grant competition.

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State funding awarded for renewable water treatment plant upgrade in Amherst

Through a recent grant announced by the Baker/Polito administration, UMass Water and Energy Testing (WET) Center facility will installing, monitoring and commissioning a wastewater source heat pump, which will provide renewable and consistent heating, cooling and hot water to the Amherst Wastewater Treatment Plant from a renewable source.

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UMass/CEE awarded MassCEC Offshore Wind Energy Workforce Development grant

On May 10, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $721,500 in grants to six academic institutions and labor organizations to establish workforce training and development programs to support the state’s emerging offshore wind industry.  CEE was honored to receive $105,500 to complete initial design and development of an offshore wind professional certificate program to be offered at the Mt. Ida campus in Newton. 

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Clean Energy Corps 2019 Clean Energy Site Assessment presentations

As a component of their Spring 2019 course, the UMass Clean Energy Corps presented their findings this week to stakeholders from the municipalities of Cohasset, Colrain, Montague, Northampton, South Hadley, and Whately, as well as two non-profits, the Drama Studio in Springfield and North Quabbin Harvest Co-op. Faculty and staff from the Building Construction Technology program and the Clean Energy Extension were also in attendance. Working with professor Dr. Ben Weil, the students visited the communities over the course of the semester, conducted in-depth analyses, and then developed proposals that would cut energy use in the largest energy-consuming facilities.

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Clean Energy Corps Proposes Community Energy Solutions
Dr. Ben Weil and the 2018 UMass Clean Energy Corps

As a component of their Spring 2018 course, the UMass Clean Energy Corps presented their findings this week to stakeholders from the municipalities of Northampton, Ashfield, Shelburne, Goshen, and Windsor. Faculty and staff from the Building Construction Technology program and the Clean Energy Extension were also in attendance. Working with professor Dr. Ben Weil, the students visited the various communities over the course of the semester, conducted in-depth analyses, and then developed proposals that would cut energy use in the communities’ highest energy-consuming facilities by as much as 72%.

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New video on "Wood Pellets and Our Health": UMass Research that Matters
Rick Peltier of UMass Amherst’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences

New technology, in the form of pellets made of compressed wood, make modern wood heating much more convenient.  But can this wood smoke harm our health? Rick Peltier of UMass Amherst’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, is working to make sure we make smart energy choices about the types of fuel we use to keep warm, choices that will also that protect human health.

With support from UMass Clean Energy Extension, he is monitoring air from a mobile air quality sampling laboratory, measuring the particulates found in the air.  These data will be able to show whether or not pellet emissions could be harmful for a community.  And knowing this information is important for policy makers, industry leaders, scientists, and families.

View "Wood Pellets and Our Health: UMass Amherst Research that Matters" video

North County Energy Committees Discuss Improving School Efficiency

September 2017

By SHELBY ASHLINE 
Greenfield Recorder Staff

Northfield, Warwick and Bernardston’s respective energy committees are getting creative with their Green Communities grant money, turning their attention to the schools. Members of Northfield’s Energy Committee, Warwick’s Building and Energy Committee and Bernardston’s Green Committee met with representatives from the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Clean Energy Extension (CEE) last week to discuss how to make the towns’ three elementary schools, as well as Pioneer Valley Regional School, more energy efficient.

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Massachusetts Named Most Energy Efficient State

September 2017

Commonwealth Earns Top Mark on American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Scorecard

 

The Baker-Polito Administration recently announced that the Commonwealth has been named the most energy efficient state in the nation by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for the seventh consecutive year. Massachusetts continues to receive top marks for its energy efficiency policies and programs, particularly the energy efficiency programs offered by the Commonwealth’s utilities under the Mass Save® brand and for promoting smart growth development in cities and towns. The full 2017 ACEEE State Energy Efficiency Scorecard can be found here.

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Can College Kids Help Mass. Towns Go Green? Introducing the UMass Clean Energy Corps

Students learning to use an IR camera with Prof. Ben WeilJanuary 2017

Ask town officials what they think in Ware. Ask them in Natick, and in Greenfield. Palmer too.

These are some of the towns where the new UMass Clean Energy Corps has touched down in the few months since its founding. The Corps is a student-centered initiative focused on helping communities across the Commonwealth develop and meet their clean energy goals. It was created by UMass Clean Energy Extension, a research and outreach program that in its first two years of life has been helping transform communities and businesses into cleaner, more efficient places to live, work, and grow into the future.

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