House: Built in 2004; 2,992 square feet System Description: 30-panel photovoltaic array producing electricity (not hot water) of about 8,500 kWh per year. It is a grid-connected system, meaning that the unused electricity is fed into the electrical grid, making
Green Homes Tour: Electricity/Heat Co-generation
House: Built in 1950’s, remodeled multiple times most recent addition 2008. 2800 square feet System Description: The co-generation system produces electricity and heat at the same time. When the heat is turned on, a small generator (MCHP — micro combined
Green Homes Tour: Residential Geothermal Heating and Cooling
House: 90 years old System Description: In a closed loop piping system, water is pumped 300 feet underground, where it takes on the 55 degree underground temperature. It is pumped back into the basement to a heat pump unit with
Green Homes Tour: Sustainable Gardening and Low-Impact House
Garden Philosophy – Create a small, beautiful and bountiful, local eco-system using as little input from outside as possible. This includes feeding the soil, watering and our choice of plants. We have a large flowerbed and grow about $500 of
Hillside School receives EoEEA award for Water Project
The Hillside School’s Buddy Water Project, whose 2010 efforts were featured in this Green Needham blog post, has been recognized with an award for Excellence in Energy and Environment Education by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Richard K. Sullivan, Secretary, Energy
GREENR – online database and reference available through the Needham Library
GREENR, an online reference and research library on the environment, energy and natural resources is now available through the Needham Public Library.
Green Communities Study Committee meeting schedule
Schedule of meetings for the Green Communities Study Committee (updated on 3/16): Wednesday, March 2nd at 7:30 am Monday, March 7th at 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 16th at 7:30 am Wednesday, March 23rd at 7:30 am (date change from 3/21)
Save the Date: March 31, Native Plants Symposium at Olin College
The Olin College Library will host a Native Plants Symposium in partnership with Green Needham and several other local organizations. The event will take place from 3 – 6 pm in the Milas Hall Auditorium at Olin College. Listening to
Green Communities Study Committee selected
At their January 25th meeting, the Board of Selectmen formally appointed the Green Communities study committee. The Selectmen constituted this group to review the impact of participation in the Green Communities Program. The Town Manager initially recommended the formation of
Olin College’s Library to work with Green Needham on Sustainability Initiatives
The Olin College of Engineering library has received a $5,000 grant to develop sustainability collections and programming in the areas of energy audits and native plants. As part of the community outreach for this grant, the library will be working