Solar 101: All the Solar Info Needham Needs

Green Needham Collaborative featuring course on solar panels for beginners later this month.

  Could putting a solar panel on your house be a bright idea? To help you figure it out, the Green Needham Collaborative are hosting a solar basics course. The course will answer many of the basic questions and terminology about solar panels, according to a post on the Green Needham website. The featured speaker is Building Commissioner David Roche, who will talk about what the Building Department is looking for with local installations.  Solar 101 is slated for Wednesday, March 20 starting at 7 p.m. Broadmeadow Performance Center. Contact the Needham Community Education at 781-455-0400 x235 to register by phone. For more information, see the post on the Green Needham website.  

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Team Up With Green Needham for Energy Savings

Green Needham announced a new team dedicated to helping people in town get energy savings, and that team is looking for members.

  Making Needham more energy efficient is becoming a team effort; Green Needham announced earlier this month the formation of the Energy Savings Team. The team hopes to build on some of the town's successes--like NSTAR's Community Home Energy Challenge--and existing partnerships--such as Next Step Living--according to a Jan 5 post on the Green Needham site. The team aims to get 1000 energy assessments completed on homes around town.  Energy Savings Team meetings will hold regular meetings, and the post also notes that the group is looking for members to join. For more information on the Energy Savings Team, contact either Jim Glickman at jamesglickman1@gmail.com or Maureen Commane at MCBL1@RCN.COM. See the full story on Green Needham's …

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Needhamites Recognized for Energy Saving Efforts

The Green Needham Collaborative held a ceremony on Oct. 12 at Town Hall.

Submitted The Green Needham Collaborative wrapped up its 10 percent Energy Challenge campaign with the presentation of a brass plaque at Needham’s Powers Hall on Friday, Oct. 12. The plaque honors the town of Needham for its sustainability accomplishments and lists 32 local businesses, organizations and schools that have shown an outstanding commitment to cutting energy use. The plaque, which will be displayed in a glass case on the first floor of Town Hall, was unveiled by Selectman Jerry Wasserman and fourth grader Jack Gordon, a member of Eliot School’s Green Kids Team. Forty people attended the ceremony, including state and town officials, as well as representatives of the local schools, organizations, businesses and houses of worship …

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Thermal Images Reveal Needham Homes' Energy Loss

Woburn-based Sagewell Inc. recently took a photographic survey of houses in town to encourage residents to begin the process of energy assessment.

This fall, Needham residents are being encouraged to take a closer look at their homes—and possibly make some simple upgrades that could help keep the chill of winter out and save them money on their utility bills. Sagewell Inc., a company based in Woburn, captured hundreds of thermal images of homes in Needham and other area towns last winter, using a drive-by, shoot-from-the-street process similar to Google mapping. Now, the company is making those images available to homeowners free of charge via their secure website, and encouraging residents to take the next step by arranging a free in-home assessment of their energy usage. The thermal images offer residents a snapshot look at where heat escapes their house—through gaps in insulation…

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Interfaith Environmental Network Organizes Recycling Program at Needham Fields

Members of various faith organizations in town have been working together with the town and Green Needham to share ideas and coordinate environmental activities.

  Submitted by Michael Greis, Green Needham Collaborative Youth sports teams and other users of several DeFazio and Memorial park fields will soon be able to recycle their containers instead of throwing them away thanks to a recycling pilot led by seven Needham faith organizations. Members of the faith organizations, meeting over the past two years as an Interfaith Environmental Network to share ideas and coordinate environmental activities, have partnered with the town of Needham and Green Needham to introduce the recycling pilot at the DeFazio complex and Memorial Park. Christ Episcopal Church, the Congregational Church of Needham, First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist, Grace Lutheran Church, St. Joseph Parish, Temple Aliyah and…

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7 Ways To Celebrate Earth Day in Needham

From cleanups to climate change, here are a few things to do around April 22.

Earth Day is on Sunday, April 22, and there are many ways to celebrate here in Needham, with upcoming events or activities you can do year-round. Here are a few ways you can “go green” in Needham: 1. Soil 101: On Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Volante Farms will offer free soil testing to customers. Bring in one or two samples from your lawn and garden and John Howell of the New England Vegetable and Berry Grower’s Association will evaluate the soil and tell you how to make your plants and garden grow. 2. Charles River Cleanup: Volunteers will be picking up trash all along the banks of the Charles River on Saturday, April 21 between 9 a.m. and noon. This annual event provides a great opportunity for groups or individuals to …

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Green Needham Achieves Success in NSTAR's Community Energy Challenge

Homeowners' efforts to conserve energy and lower their utility bills brought in $10,800 for the nonprofit group.

Although Needham residents still aren't sold on some of the steps required to become a Massachusetts Green Community, the town is already a pretty green place to live. Recently, homeowners in Needham helped make Green Needham one of the most successful participants in NSTAR's Community Energy Challenge—reaching 150 percent of its initial energy reduction target in less than four months, according to the Green Needham Collaborative blog, at greenneedham.org. Through Green Needham’s education and awareness programs, more than 150 Needham households lowered their utility bills—taking advantage of no-cost home energy assessments and incentives for weatherization improvements. Because of this achivement, the nonprofit collaborative received a $…

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Summit Raises Ideas for Greening Needham

A collaborative discussion held at Olin College on Oct. 24 explored Massachusetts' energy and environmental goals and plans for Needham.

Whether it was planting shade trees, growing vegetables, adding bike racks to buses or recognizing energy-efficient homes in town, Needham residents and town leaders who gathered for the first Needham Summit on Energy and the Environment on Monday, Oct. 24 had many ideas of how to make Needham “greener.” Held at Olin College of Engineering, the summit was organized by the Needham League of Women Voters, the Green Needham Collaborative and Olin College and invited residents to come together to hear what Massachusetts is working on in the area of energy and the environment and to consider what actions Needham could take to follow a similar path. “There are many people and many organizations that have been working on energy conservation and …

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Patch Picks

5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day in Needham

Clean up the neighborhood, learn what can be recycled and other tips for going green.

Earth Day is Friday, April 22, and in this week’s Patch Picks, Needham Patch has rounded up a few ideas of ways to celebrate the day and make the world a better, cleaner place. 1. Clean up the town. Possibly the best way to celebrate this year's Earth Day is to participate in the townwide cleanup scheduled for Saturday, April 23. Sponsored by Needham 300, the event begins at 8:30 a.m. with refreshments and organizing at Newman Elementary School. Volunteers will then team up and spread out through town to pick up trash and give Needham a fresh look that will hopefully last through the rest of its birthday year and beyond. 2. Shut it off. Join Green Needham’s 10 percent challenge by reducing home energy consumption by 10 percent this year. …

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