8/15/23
Residential Heat Pump Retrofits
with Senator Brownsberger

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by presenters at Deep Dialogues and Expert Series are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Elders Climate Action Massachusetts.

with Senator Brownsberger

Senator Brownsberger shared his latest findings and conclusions from his intensive investigation into the real-world needs and challenges for implementing heat pumps at a sufficient scale to meet the Commonwealth’s carbon reduction goals.

Will Brownsberger is the State Senator for the Suffolk and Middlesex District representing Allston, Brighton, Watertown, Belmont, Fenway, and West Cambridge, and is President Pro Tempore of the Senate as a member of the Senate President’s leadership team. He did a deep energy retrofit of his home and last year did a full conversion of its heating system to electric heat pumps. Senator Brownsberger maintains an extensive guide to his findings and analysis of heat pump here.

The presentation is insightful. Senator Brownsberger is candid about our current progress and the challenges we face. Participants shared their thoughts and asked tough questions which the Senator responded to frankly and honestly.

The video of the presentation is here and Senator Brownsberger’s presentation is here.

Past Deep Dialogues

Monday 10/26/26, 4-5:30 pm
Tracking Climate Policy Across 50 States
with Ruby Wincele from Climate Xchange

9/28/26
Overcharged in New England
with Pat Knight

5/18/26
Is Nuclear Power the Answer?
with Dr. Brita Lundberg

4/20/26
Challenges and opportunities in achieving our climate goals
with Arnold Epstein

3/23/26
Challenges Climate Activists Face in Supporting Off Shore Wind
with Michael Sales

2/16/26
Electric Rates
with Senator Brownsberger

1/26/2026
Energy Storage in a Net Zero Commonwealth
with Tom Ferguson, PhD

11/17/25
The Potential of Forests in Massachusetts to Address Climate Change
with Dr. Richard Birdsey

10/27/25
Zen Ecology: Green and Engaged Living
with Chris Ives

9/22/25
What’s Happening with Nuclear Power?
with Sukesh Aghara

7/28/25
Fusion Energy
with Dr. Devon Battaglia

6/23/25
New England Electric Grid Build-Out
with ISO New England

4/28/25
Why Preservation of Mature Urban Trees is So Valuable
with Dr. William R. Moomaw

3/24/25
Drought Around The State
with Monica Ghosh Driggers

2/24/25
How the Wind is Blowing After the Election
with Jennifer Delony

1/27/25
Massachusetts Electric Rates
with Austin Dawson

12/16/24
Real EV Experiences
with Paul Reisberg and Seth Evans

11/18/24
Climate Change, the Brain, and The Next 100 Years
with Dr. Ann-Christine Duhaime

10/28/24
Make Polluters Pay
with Aaron Regunberg and Dan Zackin

10/1/24
The Promise and Challenge Offshore Wind in New England
with Eric Hines

9/23/24
Protect Our Public Watersheds
with Bill Stubblefield and Lynne Man

7/22/24
The Climate Bill
with Tina Grosowsky

6/24/24
Healthy Soils Action Plan
with Keith Zaltzberg-Drezdahl

5/20/24
The Role of Blue Carbon
with Dr. Jennifer Bender

4/29/24
The Social Cost of Carbon and Massachusetts Climate Policy
with Tony Rogers, Roy Harvey, and Roger Luckmann

4/23/24
Carbon Capture and Storage
with Howard Herzog

3/25/24
Sand Wars in Cranberry Country
with Meg Sheehan and Katherine Harrelson

2/26/2024
Organizing Environmentalists to Vote
with Shannon Seigal

1/22/24
Preserving Forever Wild Lands
with Jon Leibowitz

11/27/23
After Death Care and Carbon Recycling
with Glen Ayers, Natalie Higgins and Laura Cassidy

10/30/23
Reducing Food Waste
with Minnie Ringland, Liz Miller and Anya Pforzheimer

8/28/23
Reducing Meat Consumption
with Marianne Krasny

7/31/23
Reducing Air Travel
with Dan Castrigano and Marianne Krasny

6/26/23
Grid Level Storage
with Roy Harvey

5/23/23
Networked Geothermal Systems
with Audrey Schulman and John Ciovacco

5/22/23
Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Transportation
with Rashid Shaikh

4/17/23
Offshore Wind
with Tony Rogers

3/27/23
Sustainability at McDonald’s
with Elaine Strunk

2/28/23
Grid Governance
with Phil Hanser

2/27/23
Decarbonization Strategies for Large Commercial Buildings
with Michael Gevelber

2/7/23
Shorting the Grid
with Meredith Angwin

1/24/23
Introduction to the Grid and Electric Markets
with Phil Hanser

1/23/23
Mini-Forest Revolution
with Hannah Lewis

11/28/22
The Importance of Slow Water Movement
with Erica Gies

10/24/22
Is it Time to Take a Second Look at Nuclear Power?
with Carolyn McCreary and Roger Luckmann

9/26/22
REDES Ecovillages
with Dr. Ousmane Pame, Founder

8/29/22
Climate Legislation
with Sen. Barrett

7/25/22 and 8/8/22
Residential Building Decarbonization
with Roger Luckmann, Ed Woll, and Arnie Epstein

6/27/22
Insights on All Things Climate
with Rep. Tackey Chan

5/23/22
The Climate Crisis
In Honor of Larry Rosenberg

4/22/22
Climate Change in New England
with Dr. Stephen Young

3/28/22
Why We Need Lifestyle Change to Fight Climate Change
with Philip J. Vergragt

1/24/22
Fresh Water and Climate Change
with Betty Krikorian

12/20/21
The Role of MA Public Forests in Addressing the Climate Emergency
with Glen Ayers

11/30/21
Net Zero and Carbon Dioxide Removal
with Arnie Epstein

10/25/21
Natural Solutions: A Path to Mitigate both Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss
with Amy Meltzer

9/27/21
Hydrogen and the Clean Energy Transition
with Brad Bradshaw

6/28/21
Nuclear Energy
with Paul Reisberg

5/24/21
Forest Protection
with Michael Kellett and Janet Sinclair

4/26/21
Federal Climate Policy
with Michael Sales and Anna Lenhart

Five Part Series
Getting to Net Negative
A Massachusetts Approach