The BEA is a growing community of municipal leaders and advocates in Massachusetts committed to a Commonwealth of sustainable, resilient, and healthy buildings, affordable and attainable for all. The BEA’s mission is to accelerate equitable building decarbonization in Massachusetts via municipal action. To further this mission, the BEA convenes municipal teams, catalyzes successful local policies and programs, and coordinates state-level action with allies.
The BEA’s work began in 2020 around the fossil fuel prohibition warrant articles starting with Brookline and Arlington. Subsequently a dozen more municipalities passed similar articles and home rule petitions, leading to the 10-town pilot section of the Drive Climate Act signed by Governor Baker in August. The BEA’s efforts have since expanded to prioritize collaborative projects retrofitting low-income housing, with a focus on environmental justice communities. The slides for the BEA presentation are here.
Next came a presentation by Arnie Epstein, Chair of the Stow Green Advisory Committee and facilitator of the ECA Mass research team. Arnie provided an overview of the new building codes and the work being done in Stow to adopt the Specialized Energy Code at town meeting. The slides for the presentation on Specialized Energy Code are here.
Watch the video here.