00:01:39,370 S1: Okay. 00:01:40,049 S2: One second. Okay. You're all set. All right. TV. 00:01:44,129 S3: Okay. Well. Welcome, everyone. Um, hopefully you know the topic. It's the specialized code. It's a warrant on both Hamilton and Wenham. uh, town meetings. And we want to give the opportunity for you to learn more about it. Um, and so we have some speakers with us who know lots about it and can answer your questions. Um, but before they do, they're going to present for you and, Sue, can you help me introduce everyone? 00:02:20,580 S4: Um, I'm going to go up there. Thank you. 00:02:25,259 S5: Hi. My name is Sue Petrolia. I'm a member of Wenham Climate Action and Sustainability Committee with Casc. Um, together with Hamilton Environmental Impact Committee, we are here to inform you of the specialized stretch code, which you will be asked to vote on at your town meetings. April 9th in Wenham, April 11th in Hamilton. Uh, the reason the both environmental committees brought this up is because we feel unanimously it's the right thing to do. We also have an opportunity to become climate leaders at the Green Communities Division of Doha, and that will open up another million dollars of grants for the towns to do good. I am going to pass you on to the speakers who know a whole lot about this. Tonight we have Dillon Patel, Northeast regional coordinator for Green Communities, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, who will give us an overview of green communities, our towns, how we've been doing and also have the specialized code. After that will be Michael Rossi, program manager for the Energy Code Services at PSC consulting, who will take a deep dive into the specialized code to note, the specialized code is an overlay to the stretch code that both towns passed in 2010, 15 years ago, and it only applies to new building. So with no further adieu, Dylan, take away One question. Do you want questions during your presentation or wait till your. Do you guys. 00:04:02,469 S6: Would you prefer after, uh, after my very best. Yeah. 00:04:04,949 S4: Okay. 00:04:05,830 S5: Uh, maybe we'll take a break between Dillon's overview and then Michael's deep dive. Um, believe me, there's a ton of information, so maybe your questions will be answered. Thank you. 00:04:15,229 S2: That's good. 00:04:17,509 S6: Okay. Thank you so much, Sue. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, people joining um, in zoom land. Um, as you mentioned, my name is Dylan Patel. I'm here with Mike Rossi from PSD. Um, and we will present today on the opt in specialized code. We are breaking it down into kind of two sections. As I was mentioning. I'm going to give a little bit of a policy background, um, into why the specialized code exists and what it means for, um, green communities. And then I'm going to pass it over to Mike to talk a little bit more on the details and requirements of the energy code. So, um, thank you. So I will first give a little bit of a policy background. The, um, specialized energy code came about as part of the Climate Act of 2021. It, um, required Doe to come up with what's known as a net zero energy code. The reason being is that the Climate Act had established statutory emissions reductions, targets goals, rather, for the Commonwealth to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, with interim targets for the two decades prior. So as part of that overarching goal, Doe was tasked with creating what's known as the municipal opt in specialized energy code, which is a mouthful. So we call that the specialized code. Um, and so this specialized code is formulated. So to ensure that new construction is consistent with Massachusetts greenhouse gas, um limits and those kinds of sub limits. Throughout this presentation you will hear both Mike and I talk about new construction. Um, so do keep that in mind throughout this presentation. 00:06:21,730 S6: There are very many ways of, uh, tackling the carbon dilemma. Um, if you think about carbon emissions being broken down into three sectors, there's power, transportation and buildings. And we've made we are making strides in, um, cleaning up our grid, introducing new, uh, clean, renewable energy into our grids, as well as introducing our policy to encourage electrification of vehicles. Building is a lot more difficult, and the one of the best policy levers that um government has is through building energy codes. Building energy codes is the, um, primary way of shaping how buildings, both in terms of their construction and in their operation, um, use their energy. And so we have developed this code, as I've mentioned before, to make sure that new construction and which we're going to repeat over and over, um, is, um, 2050 compliant. This is especially important for, um, not just for the Commonwealth, which will see, um, large growth in the new building stock over time. But in towns like Wenham and Hamilton that have, um, introduced zoning overlays for multi-family housing as part of the requirements. 00:07:52,939 S6: So I mentioned previously about power, and you can imagine that there is a large interface between power and building construction. There is, um, some skepticism about why there is a big push right now for electrification of heating, um, especially when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does have a grid that is primarily powered natural gas. And that is completely true. And that's completely valid. 00:08:26,540 S7: Skepticism around electrical heating requirements. 00:08:31,620 S6: Thank you. Um, and that's completely valid. However, um, it does not consider the fact that we have a large, broader array of technologies, very efficient technologies, um, that are much better than the electric resistance. That was all the rage in like the 60s and 70s. And so even with a carbon intensive grid. Um, because heat pumps are very efficient at moving heat. They are less carbon intensive than any kind of fossil fuel equivalent. And, you know, I'm saying this in the Wenham town Hall, which, um, as I'll get to in a later slide, we've um, is now because of green communities funding, um, heated through geothermal heat pumps. Um, it also does not consider the fact that the grid is very dynamic. And so if we fast forward to 2050, that's the next slide. 00:09:31,309 S2: Thank you. 00:09:32,909 S4: There you go. 00:09:33,629 S6: There we go. Um, there will be a much higher integration of renewables. And actually, you know, we are seeing this much more recently. Vineyard Wind, as you've seen in the news, has just nearly completed construction. We are getting a large swath of Canadian hydropower, so even long before 2050, we'll see electric grid emissions from electric heating to be much very minimal. 00:10:03,200 S6: So now on to the code itself. Um, there are three tiers of, uh, codes that are available for adoption, uh, currently in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Um, there's the base code, which is actually in the minority. Right now there's the stretch code, which Wenham has adopted. It's adopted since the stretch code became available, um, 16 years ago. So there's a large history there with both Wenham and Hamilton. And then there's the specialized code, which is basically the stretch code, plus some additions which, um, Mike will go into. So, um, the vast majority of the Commonwealth is either a stretch or specialized code. Um, community. I will note here that while Massachusetts is was probably one of the first to have introduced a stretch code, we are no longer the first in that a lot of other, um, states have kind of adopted this model of allowing municipalities to adopt much more vigorous, rigorous, um, energy codes. And in the next slide, you'll see the adoptees. I apologize for the resolution, but, um, the main takeaway here is that while there is a big concentration in the metro Boston area, you will see that the adoption of the specialized code, which is the dark blue with the yellow highlight, um, kind of spreads across the four corners of the Commonwealth. There are towns in western Mass. There are towns in the Cape and Islands. Write into the North Shore that have adopted the code in, as well as a few neighbours of Wenham like Beverley. 00:11:54,929 S6: So Sue had mentioned the Climate Leaders program. So for those who are unfamiliar with the Green Communities program, essentially Wenham has been part of this program for about 16 years. You've had two amazing energy managers that have managed to bring in money into the town, over $1.4 million that have reduced the town's operational costs by reducing energy as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And that came to a head with this town hall that we have awarded half $1 million to, to decarbonize. 00:12:41,620 S6: And the Hamilton Town Hall as well. Now, what that means for climate leaders is that you've already established a very good foundation for energy efficiency across your buildings. You've already met some of the criteria on the right here. Adopting the specialized stretch energy code is just one of the five criteria to become a climate leader. And why would you even become a climate leader? That's on the next slide. Um, obviously the main thing is money. Um, there's obviously a, um, you know, moral imperative for this, uh, for, for these two towns to become a climate leader, for, um, leadership and for demonstrating its environmental attributes. But, um, you know, money helps a lot, and the doer recognizes that. And so we want to reward you for this very hard work that you have culminated in the past 15 years. So the we offer two different sets of grants. One is a technical assistance study. Things like design, engineering, test drilling, um, and other funding for $150,000 and then $1 million across one or several projects that can go towards a clean energy and renewable thermal, um, initiatives. Um, these projects don't only save, um, vast amounts of greenhouse gases, but in the right cases, especially if you're pairing on site solar with renewable thermal can reduce the town's heating bills as well. So that's about it from me. And I will turn it over to Mike to talk about the code details. Sure. 00:14:31,070 S8: Yeah. Thank you so much, Dylan. So hi everyone. My name is Michael Rossi, and I'm a program manager and energy code specialist with performance systems Development or SWD. A little bit about PSD. We provide energy code training and technical support on behalf of the massive Codes and Standards Compliance and Support initiative. In that role, we do trainings to different communities in the building departments such as code officials, builders, architects, Hers, readers and other folks that are in the building and design community. And I'll be talking in more depth about some of the specific information relating to the municipal opt in specialized energy code that will be referring to throughout the course of this presentation is the specialized code. Next slide please. So we just want to put together some fast facts in terms of things to know about the energy code. So the specialized code only impacts new buildings. So existing homes and historic homes are not affected by the specialized code. Now there are provisions in your energy code that you have now relating to existing buildings, but that is actually already being adopted as part of your current energy code. So there's nothing new you would have to do for existing buildings by adopting the specialized stretch code. So it only relates to new construction. There are no new requirements for all electric homes or for electric vehicle charging. So if you're building a new all electric home, essentially a home that has that uses no combustion equipment for space heating, water heating, cooking or clothes drying. The requirements are the same as you would already have to do. Now, under the energy code, there's nothing new you have to do there. The provisions of the specialized code only impact new buildings that decide to incorporate combustion equipment, and additionally, the requirements for electric vehicle charging don't go beyond what's already required by code. So that's already something that is adopted on that level. 00:16:22,009 S4: Can you explain more clearly combustion. 00:16:24,610 S8: Yeah. So combustion equipment is any equipment that uses fossil fuels and or solid fuel. There's a definition specifically in the code after reference to see what incorporates that. But the idea is that anything that is burned would be fall under that piece, and it really impacts what you're using for space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying. 00:16:48,129 S6: So the big yeah, the big four would be gas oil propane or wood. Yeah. 00:16:56,049 S8: So that's just some information there. I want to note there are some really great incentives available for energy efficient construction through Mass Save and other potential federal programs that are out there, but relating to massive incentives, they do help make, uh, offset some of the costs associated with building to the standards. And I think we have some slides in here talking in more depth about some massive incentives available. Additionally, as it pertains to multi-family buildings, there are some provisions relating to being built with passive House, which is actually a building standard. It's a third party certification program that is used to really have very energy efficient homes. So passive house or homes that are built very well insulated have very low operating costs through heating and cooling. They're very energy efficient. I like to describe them almost as like the Ferrari of houses, because of how low their heating and cooling loads are in those buildings. So there is some requirements for passive house for large multi-family buildings that we'll talk about in more depth over the course of the presentation. Other thing to note is it does retain the choice to build with fossil fuels. So if you'd like to build a new home, including fossil fuels, you can still do so under the specialized code. It's not, um, it's still an option, but there are some more things you would have to do in order to meet the requirements of the code if you're building with fossil fuels. So the first of which is pre wiring for future electrification. So what that means is that any area in the home used for the four things I talked about earlier space heating, water heating, cooking, clothes drying have to be pre wired with an outlet nearby for the future conversion to all electric equipment. So it basically is a way to have the ability for plug and play. So in the future if you want to add a electric stove but you currently have a gas stove, you already have the outlet in place. So you can just plug your system in and be ready to go. One of the benefits of this is consumer protection and future proofing. And what that means is that doing this up front when the home is new is a lot cheaper to do than you're doing it down the line, because the initial phase of construction, the walls are open and it's easier to sort of get in there instead of having to do a retrofit either 5 or 10 years in the future where you have to poke holes in your walls, do deal with the cost of like running that wire in line and things like that. So doing it up front when the building is new is sort of the easiest and cheapest way to do that. So that's one of the main requirements of the specialized code. The other is a requirement for an on site solar to offset some of the emissions from new fossil fuel equipment buildings. And now what that means is that you have to have a four kilowatt solar array on the home. If you're building a new fossil fuel home. As I said earlier, if you're building a new home that's all electric. The requirements are the same as they would be under the stretch code with no additional provisions. It's only when you're building a new home with fossil fuels where these additional requirements under the specialized code take effect. Next slide please. 00:20:05,839 S8: So here just gives a sense of when you're looking at low rise buildings. So that's residential single family multifamily single family two family townhouse multifamily under three storeys. What would be required. So if you're building all electric, as I said, the requirements are the same as they would be under the stretch code with no changes. So everything under the stretch code you're still doing under the specialized code, and there's nothing else. Additionally, you have to do for that. But if you're building a new mixed fuel home and again, a home that has combustion equipment inside of it, there actually are different requirements depending on the size of the building. So if it's under 4000ft² of conditioned floor area, that means that which is typically a smaller home, we'll call it under 4000ft². There are requirements for electrification ready, which is that pre wiring piece we talked about, as well as the requirement for a four kilowatt solar array where it's feasible. But if you're building a new large home and that's a home that's over 4000ft², the requirement for solar is actually enough to be net zero. So this is when you're building a new mixed fuel home that's over 4000ft². You have to have that pre wiring in place, meet the requirements the stretch code. But additionally you have to be net zero as well with the solar system for those large houses. Next slide please. So when we talk about the solar, as we said, there are certain situations where it would be applicable. So for an all new, all electric home that you're building, no solar is required. So there's not required for a new all electric home. If it's under 4000ft², it is four kilowatt system is required unless you're using passive House. If it's over 4000ft², you have to use enough solar to get to net zero. And the amount that that is of solar is really project dependent. So we can't really speak to what that might be. Every project is different depending on the size and features used in that project. When we say solar is required, there are some things we have to keep in mind here. So in order for solar to happen, you have to make sure you have a suitable a suitable solar roof zone that's over three 300ft² and be properly oriented. And as part of this, this means that if the site is shaded for more than 70% of daylight hours annually, meaning 70% of the time. You don't have to install a solar system, so there are requirements where you won't have to cut down trees or things like that in a new site if they're existing in there and there's an opportunity to shade the building. So. And the other thing is you want to make sure it's in the proper orientation. So that's between 110 and 200 degrees of true north. We're going to maximize the solar potential on that home. So that's just some information there. And when it comes to solar it can be it doesn't have to just be on the roof of the house. It can also be ground mounted as long as it's on site. It doesn't matter who owns the panels. So I know there are some third party options available through a leaf, through leases or things like that. So it can either be through one of those third parties or it can be direct ownership. Um, and as I said before, no trees need to be cut down. So if the if the site is shaded for a certain percentage of the time, um, it's going to the requirement would be exempt. So we talked about when certain home types, how they would be or when and where solar would be required. Other things to keep in mind is that the requirements are different for commercial buildings, where it would be 1.5W per square feet of the three largest floors of the building. But yeah, so that's just some information there. So building a new mix fuel home solar is required as part of that. Next slide please. So when we look at the costs to move from the stretch code to the specialized code, we did a little bit of analysis here. So the first one is looking at a large single family home that's built all electric. You'll notice here that there's no additional costs. And the reason why is because there's nothing you have to do that goes beyond what's in the stretch code if you're building it new all electric. So there's not many impact to the costs for the large electric home. Next slide please. So where the costs really come into effect is when you're building a new large single family home using gas or combustion equipment like we talked about. So as part of that there are some costs associated with pre wiring which we talked about for future electrification. And so we estimated that a cost for a home of this size over 4000ft², usually a larger luxury home is $9,000 for pre wiring for a home of that size. Additionally, if we're looking at the size solar array that would be required for a building, we estimate it's going to be around $23,000 with a $1,000 incentive available through the Massachusetts. And so overall, we're expecting total additional energy costs of adopting the specialized code on large single family homes, using gas to be about $31,000 with annual energy bill savings as well of about $2,273 here two. Next slide please. So then we want to talk about some residential incentives available through massive. So there are incentives. There's essentially a massive there's three tiers of incentives available. One is a base tier incentive of $7,500. And you get that if you build a new home that's all electric. There is a $15,000 incentive for meeting an Energy Star next gen certification, which is available for meeting structures, specialized code. So if you meet that Energy Star next gen program requirement, you can get $15,000 for that home. Additionally, if you're building a passive house project, you get $25,000 in incentives there. Additionally, there are at Irish for certain technologies, which means that if you invest in certain technology like induction stoves or heat pump water heaters, you could get money for doing those upgrades to the home as well. And so there are others that add to that incentive value depending on what they are. And more information than that can be found on the massive website. and there is some additional funding available for larger multifamily projects like duplexes, triplex and quadruplex. On top of that, there's that solar incentive available through the Massachusetts state tax credit up to $1,000, which we incorporated into the model we use to estimate the cost. There are also things relating to net metering in the Smart program that are state programs available to help with solar. And additionally, there's no sales tax on them. There's no extra property tax and added values to a home. So as I said, there's some really great incentives available out there from massive in the state to help make some of these changes worthwhile. Next slide please. So as it pertains to accessory dwelling units. So ADUs are actually becoming very common across Massachusetts. And as part of that there is some questions about when the energy code would apply. But as it pertains to the specialized code accessory dwelling unit, which is a there is certain things to you have to meet to become to be considered accessory dwelling unit. There's a size limit in terms of the size of how big they can be. There are certain information about it has to be independent living facility of someone. So you have to have bedrooms, um, a cooking, a like cooking equipment and sanitation equipment to be considered an Adu with a certain size threshold. So just outside of that, though, when it comes to the stretch code and when it applies, uh, the stretch code is the ADUs are subject to some of the requirements in the stretch code for different situations. So if you're using a attic or basement conversion, those buildings, if they are ADUs or those units, if they're part of that building, are subject to the stretch code requirements. But if you have an attic conversion or a basement conversion under the specialized code, they're not applicable. The specialized code requirements, the additional requirements needed as part of the specialized code are only available for detached structures, so standalone add use would be subject to the pre wiring and the solar, whereas ADUs that are in an existing basement or attic would not need to do those requirements. Next slide please. And so now we'll talk a little bit about some of the requirements for larger residential buildings. Next slide. So there are two paths available for multifamily residential. There's an all electric path which is passive house. And there's a mixed fuel path which is also a passive house. In addition to that, it's electrification ready, which is that pre wiring requirement we talked about earlier. So this is a mixed fuel building or sorry a multifamily building over 12,000ft². Um and which would be subject to these requirements. So even if you're building a new multifamily building over that size threshold and it's all electric, there are some additional requirements you have to follow of meeting that possible certification for that building. And if it's mixed fuel, you also have to meet that Passivhaus certification and do electrification ready. And so as I said, it's a third party certification program. You typically work with a Passivhaus consultant on the project, and they sort of work through the design features to make sure that you can get certified with those program requirements. There's two certification bodies. There's Fice, which is formally known as Passivhaus Institute US. It's kind of a US model two passive House that's available. And there's also IE, which is the Passivhaus Institute, which is a European model. And you can use either of those programs to be passive certified, but there's no really preference in terms of what you can do. But they're both available for adoption there for those larger multifamily buildings. Next slide please. So we talk about passive House. But what is a passive house. So as I said third party building verification program with two options for certification. The certification standards set. Energy performance and building envelope air tightness requirements. And they can be any type of building. So even if it says passive house commercial buildings can still be passive as well. It's not it's not exclusive to homes. You can do it with other things as well. Passivhaus also does not require all electric or net zero, so you can still have passive house homes that do use combustion equipment, um, depending on the design features of it. So as I said, Passivhaus earlier, Passivhaus buildings really have low operating costs and low heating and cooling loads because they're very well insulated. So heating loads can be reduced by 90% or more compared to a typical building energy. Overall energy demand can be reduced by 60% or more, and there are significant improvements in indoor air quality as well as occupant comfort. You're not going to see the types of draughts you might see in an existing home. It's going to be really well insulated and air quality is going to be better, leading to better health outcomes. So that's just a little bit about what pesos is. And just some more information on that next slide. And so as it pertains to affordable housing and passive House, there are some questions around that. But there are some benefits of making affordable housing projects Passivhaus certified as well. So one of which is lower utility costs for tenant or for a developer. Higher levels of indoor air quality for lower healthy to lower health impacts from indoor pollutants. So again, because they have very good indoor air quality, you're going to see less opportunities for mold and mildew to develop. That could lead to some respiratory issues and occupants, improved occupant comfort with a consistent room temperatures and the elimination of air draughts. Its longer lasting in construction with less maintenance needs and costs. And one of the benefits of that is that with because they're built so well, you're not going to have to do callbacks and stuff if equipment breaks down or things like that, because the system operates really effectively. Additionally, there are some low income income housing tax credit options available, and you do get credit available for building a passive house for that. And on top of that, there are some massive incentives that we talked about earlier and we might be able to dig into in more depth soon as well. Next slide. So the other thing about passive House is it's scaling pretty fast. So in the rapidly developing in Massachusetts and right now there's over 29,000 units of multifamily housing pursuing passive certification in the state. And over a third of these projects are categorized as low income projects with Rest as market rate housing. Next slide. And so that's all we have for the formal part of the presentation. But we do have some supplemental information we can get to. If anyone has any questions. But yeah thanks for having us. 00:33:00,099 S4: Thank you. Thank you. 00:33:09,099 S3: Yup. we have people. Um, I don't know. It's now open for questions. 00:33:15,829 S4: Yes, I have one. I think you are. 00:33:19,150 S3: I think you have to get to it. 00:33:22,230 S4: Yeah. Yeah. 00:33:24,789 S9: By Bob Knowles. 201 Main Street, Wenham. Uh, founding member of the Hamilton Wenham climate Action Team. Um, Dylan, could you just tell us more about the grant and how that works? Um, if there's, say, 50, um, towns that apply for the grant, how many are going to get $1 million? Do you have some performance metrics around the grant? And is the grant coming out of the same bucket as mass saves? Is it a is it the same utility line item on our electric bills? 00:34:01,309 S6: I'll get to you a second question first. So the current allocation that we have for the Climate Leaders program comes from the alternative compliance payments. Those are payments that utilities and power generation facilities make when they cannot meet. Things that, excuse me, things like the renewable portfolio standard. So we have an allocation of $60 million that has already been set aside for this current, um, grant round. Um, that is through fiscal 28. Um, after that, we will be using the funding that we already receive for for the Green Communities program. The first part of your question, um, is kind of relates to the second. So we already have we have 60 million, of which I believe 52 million is set aside for the accelerator grant and then the remaining for the technical assistance. As you've seen in that map, there are 56 communities that have adopted the specialized code. Not all of them are are planning. Not all of them will become climate leaders or be or are planning to be climate leaders. Um, within the next couple of years. Um, for one reason or another, they may have just adopted the specialized code because they wanted to. Um, so therefore we currently have 28 climate leaders, with a few more coming in the couple in a couple of weeks. The process for applying is once you are set up, once you meet those five criteria, um, and you are certified a climate leader, uh, we do this kind of certification celebration every six months. Um, you will have a chance to apply for a, um, accelerator Grant, which is our capital improvements grant. Um, again, those are, um, over two windows over the course of the year. We will work with you, um, to identify a project. Both Hamilton and Wenham. As you are all aware, has a shared energy manager. Um, she's been a joy to work with. Um. Extremely talented. I have no doubts that, um, either town will find a good project. Um, and so there will be, like, an engineering review, a technical review, and we will award you the money. 00:36:42,409 S2: Okay. 00:36:43,329 S9: So the chances are pretty good that if we apply for a, if we if this passes a town meeting, whatever a majority vote, whatever the rules are and we we move forward. Chances are pretty good that we're we're going to apply for the we're going to apply for the grant. And we most likely would win the grant. 00:37:05,059 S6: It's not a question of winning. It's it's it's more of a we don't call it designation because we we, um, because we don't want to confuse people because we call green communities designated. Once you're certified, that $1 million is not essentially yours. But, um, you won't be in competition. It's not a competitive grant, I see. Yes. 00:37:29,340 S9: We're not competing. Okay. 00:37:31,139 S2: Thank you. Bill. You're welcome. 00:37:38,500 S4: Anybody else? 00:37:41,179 S2: Hi. 00:37:41,739 S10: Uh, Andreas Hansen. And just to expand on have the technical review and the allocation towards, uh, I believe, um, like further research and site, uh, I guess monitoring, uh, if I get that correct, I'm just kind of curious how, um, perhaps unique systems like especially with geothermal, um, might be evaluated or more recent or newer styles or systems might be promoted by this or explored when it comes to kind of newer technologies as they're rolling in. Because obviously with newer construction, there might be newer systems or unique site conditions that might create different, um, systems or styles. 00:38:30,230 S6: That's a really good question. So we contract out with an engineering company that will evaluate the technical aspects of the um, Climate Leaders Accelerator grant. Um, we did the same thing when we evaluated this project for the town hall. Um, so those go under engineering review, the level of detail. I mean, we are not extremely intrusive, let's say, into the level of detail that's required. Um, we just need to know that the project is technically feasible and that it is the best solution for the facility. Um, things like, okay, let's say hypothetically, this, um, you pick a project that, um, undergoes, uh, that you want to do a ground source heat pump for if you uncover, um, water when you're doing the test drilling, that's something that you will figure out early on. And that might require you to reevaluate the proposed design or the project. That's something you would probably do well in advance of actually applying for the grant. 00:39:47,110 S2: Okay. 00:39:47,510 S10: So that's beforehand work? 00:39:49,309 S6: Yes. Yeah, that would be a bunch of, um, you know, legwork, uh, design in terms of the application for the accelerator grant. We would require the town to have undergone engineering review and design review studies prior to applying. And again, we have that technical assistance allocation for that as well to help you out. 00:40:12,519 S10: Most of the assistance applies to that. That's what I was. 00:40:15,320 S6: Oh, okay. I apologize for not understanding. So yeah. 00:40:18,000 S10: I was wondering like how with the evaluation who eats that. 00:40:21,440 S6: Yeah. So you can apply that one. Excuse me. You can apply that $150,000, uh, to do all of those studies. And now we'll get you prepared to do an accelerator grant. Or you could do it for something completely different. It's really up to you. 00:40:36,440 S2: Sure. Interesting. Yeah. Thank you. 00:40:44,119 S3: Nope. I don't see anyone on zoom. Please raise your hand if you're got a question. 00:40:59,170 S4: Okay. Anybody else from the audience? 00:41:06,329 S4: Hi. 00:41:07,010 S11: Hello. I'm Jenny Moran and chair of the Hamilton Environmental Impact Committee and the Casc here in Wenham. You've got a date of 2050 to reach a decarbonisation, is that correct? And Hamilton has 2040 and I know the state is 2050. But as you were talking Dylan and Michael, you were talking about these are going to be requirements in the future. So what is that going to look like as we get closer and closer to 2050? What is the state going to be requiring people to do? Are they going to say everyone has to have specialized code or even further? Can you kind of look into the future and tell us what's going to be happening anyway? 00:41:50,650 S4: Bring your. 00:41:51,050 S6: Hat. Did I bring my crystal ball? Um. 00:41:56,659 S6: Okay, I can take this from a policy perspective and if you have anything to add on. Um, so in order to look into the future, I want to invite you to look into the past. So we're in 2026 right now. Imagine where we were at in 2000, 2001. Like renewables were hardly a thing. I mean, we had solar since the 70s, obviously. Um, we didn't have anywhere as near the kind of penetration that we have for solar, for wind, um, let alone battery storage. That wasn't even thought about 25 years ago. Um, electric vehicles was not I mean, apart from, like, you know, Ed Begley Junior. Um, that wasn't even the thing. So we have come such a long way in those 25 years, we are nowhere near there yet. I understand that, but, um, we are entering this crescendo phase, this transition phase right now. Um, regardless of policy or other kinds of government levels. So you can think about bringing that forward to the next 25 years. The state and all of the municipalities within the state will have to do a lot of more rigorous policy. More ambitious policy. Although I think technology is going to be that to help us out. There's going to be much wider adoption of renewables, of renewable heat, like heat pumps, which are the heat pumps that we see today are still like in the US, are still like five years out from what's seen in Europe and in Japan. So, um, we still have lots of catching up to do when it comes to technology adoption. So I'm quite optimistic. Um, from a policy perspective, we have always made it such that the stretch code and the specialized code were optional codes. Those are things that, um, are done at the municipal level through democratic means. As you know, you're putting this on town meeting, um, and that's actually turned out to be incredibly successful, like, um, you know, one of the first slides that I showed 300 municipalities out of 351 are green communities. There are 300. And, um, sorry, 298, 301 have adopted the stretch code, um, all out of their own volition. This specialized code has only been available for three years, and we've already had 56, which is the seventh of municipalities. It's about a third of the population, I think. Um, so I don't think the state would have to mandate adoption of the code anytime soon. We would have to do probably other things, um, you know, requiring the utilities to purchase more renewables, for example. I don't know, I'm speculating, but at the municipal level, I, I don't expect the energy codes to be mandatory. 00:45:07,840 S8: Yeah. And also, speaking from a code's perspective to building practices do change over time. And as part of that national model codes that the state energy codes are based on change as well. So what the stretch code and municipal code look like today might not be what they look like in 5 or 10 years from now. As construction practices go their own way. As new codes become available, new ideas get introduced into the energy code. What? What is actually in the code is subject to change over time as it cycles. So the national model codes get updated every three years, and mass does incorporate those codes when they become available. So as technology changes and we get in that way. Codes might become more stringent as as they sort of incorporate new building practices over time. 00:45:57,329 S6: And that's that's actually something. Thank you for mentioning that. That's something to recall. At town meeting you are adopting this as is. So you will be agreeing to any future changes that are made by DWR. 00:46:13,369 S11: Yes. That does make some people nervous. Um, I think it was a positive that, you know, you're going to be making it a better code as you go forward. Um, and that, of course, the overall purpose here is to slow down climate change and not put CO2 in the air. And, and, you know, try to mitigate all that's been happening. So we want to keep that picture too. But, um, one last thing. I do think that younger people going a totally different direction are looking for all electric cars and homes when they're purchasing induction stoves. I mean, a certain group of people are looking for this and that. That may be the wave of the future anyway. I guess I'm just sort of throwing that out there as a possibility as people get, you know, more conscious and aware of why we need to get rid of fossil fuels that people say, oh, well, no, I'd rather have the induction stove. And I think we've also talked about that, the air quality. Right. And it's a better place to live. So all these things are changing. So people's attitudes will change over time too. So anyway, thank you for answering my question. 00:47:20,780 S2: Thank you. Thank you. 00:47:26,099 S12: So Gary Cheesman, thank you for a great presentation tonight. But I think we also need to include the next step here is interested parties here. Thank you for attending. And those out in zoom. That next step is at the two town meetings. And I think the most important thing is to get this sort of information out to the public. So everybody here tonight and on zoom, you need to pass it to your neighbors, pass it to your email folks and so forth. So the word gets out so that when people arrive at the town meetings that they're fully informed and support this thing that's going to really make a better future for both towns. 00:48:02,619 S2: Thank you. Thank you. 00:48:08,260 S4: Gary. Hi, Sue Petrolia again. 00:48:10,340 S5: I do want to mention that all this, uh, this seminar will be able to be. I'm sure it will be on the website. We'll also probably push it out and all the so that all kinds of information on the Wenham website. Um, it's right on the front page under News Hamilton. Is it on your website? It's on both Hamilton and went to the website FAQ sheet, a cute little thing. So, um, find out about it. And you can always call town hall and ask one of us to help you out. Or we can get to Dylan. Or if you have any questions. I do have a question though, on the grid. So we're pushing, um, all this electricity and there's all this news about the grid falling apart. Can you help us figure out how that works? Thank you. 00:49:00,869 S8: So. 00:49:01,989 S6: Um, do you, er, has designed the, uh, regulations for the stretch code and the specialized, um, stretch energy code with the grid in mind. Um, you know, recognizing the fact that both these codes do, um, kind of heavily encourage, um, electrification through the regulations. Um, and, of course, obviously it does not prohibit any kind of fossil fuels, but as, um, both the codes and the Commonwealth do push for electrification, there is a very valid worry about whether the grid can handle it. Um, I think the best way that we've designed this is to make sure that the increase in demand in electric demand is managed the best way. So it actually does not matter that, um, grid electric demand is increasing. It actually matters. Um, when that happens, um, a lot of, um, electric demand, especially if you're heating with, uh, heat pumps, that will happen. You know, when people wake up in the morning, come back from work. Um, and so we have, you know, these kind of daily peaks. Um, having said that, the grid is kind of built out to manage that kind of, uh, daily peak demand. I will also say that the grid currently in Massachusetts is designed for the like annual peak in the summer, where a bunch of houses are just using air conditioning. The heating demand that's going to come in the winter is not really going to strain the grid until from our best estimates, like mid 2030s. So there's still a lot of time to do those kinds of grid upgrades that might be necessary. Um, having said that, you know, um, the stretch and specialized code, as Michael was mentioning before, are designed to really minimize the need to heat because of the energy efficiency, thermal envelope requirements that are present in there. So even if you build all electric with heat pumps, you're really not using that much more electricity than if you had like, gas all over. 00:51:39,170 S6: Mike anything. 00:51:39,769 S2: To add, Michael before I pass it to Lucifer. 00:51:42,099 S8: Um, I think the only thing to add is that when we, as kind of Dylan alluded to, when you build new homes, the new homes will have a lot less of an impact on the grid in terms of energy load than existing homes, just because the homes are built more efficiently, better insulated, less air leaks and things like that. So the energy is not escaping through the home, meaning that overall, the impact of a new home put in the grid is going to be a lot different than the impact of an existing home on the grid. So that's just another point to think about when we look at this. 00:52:15,699 S3: As a as a follow that Lucy McGovern, um, from Larch Row, um, as a follow up, uh, what about smart meters? Has Massachusetts ever. I know there are some states. I know Texas has it, um, has them in Maryland. Just, um, is converting to smart meters, which Allows the electric the utility to see when you're using electricity so that it can offer off peak, cheaper electricity at off peak. Um. Is Massachusetts. 00:52:52,019 S6: We're actually in the process of doing that. So in until territory. Um, I think they've done like 100% conversion. National grid, I think, has just started. Um, I've heard that there are there have been some conversions already in the, in the city of Chelsea. So I think it's actually you might get an email or a mailing sometime in the next couple of years because that's in place. Um, to your point. National grid already does have an off peak charging, um, uh, program. So like a managed charging again to help out with the grid. Um, and then there's also the heat pump rate, which is present during the, the heating season, again, because there's a lot of excess capacity in the winter right now. 00:53:42,949 S4: Get up there. 00:53:46,150 S2: Um. 00:53:48,429 S13: So, uh, Tom Starr, 41 Pleasant Street. Welcome. Um, so I just want to make sure I got this right. So the specialized code only applies to brand new construction. Freestanding. Correct? 00:54:02,829 S8: That's correct. 00:54:03,469 S2: Yeah. Okay. 00:54:04,110 S13: So how maybe can somebody. Gary, I don't know how much like in Wenham, how much new construction of freestanding buildings takes place each year. Because when you talk about the total strain on the grid, I don't think it would be very much in a community like Wenham. I mean, I know it would be cumulative, but about five was what I've heard. 00:54:26,429 S4: I think it's I think it's five. 00:54:27,949 S13: Five new. 00:54:28,389 S4: Homes per year for Hamilton. And when you look at the. 00:54:33,150 S2: Numbers of houses. 00:54:33,909 S13: Or. Yeah. 00:54:34,829 S12: Well it comes in surges in development. But overall, you know, you. 00:54:38,360 S13: Can look. 00:54:38,760 S12: At new growth on your tax bill. You know, calculations is about 1.5% new growth. So I see over if you measure over years you're talking probably uh 15 homes per year. 00:54:56,320 S2: Okay. Okay. So you get the whole, you. 00:55:00,039 S12: Know, a new street done. 00:55:01,920 S2: Another year zero. Yeah. 00:55:03,719 S13: Yeah, yeah. Okay. But it puts it in perspective. 00:55:06,159 S2: Yeah, yeah. 00:55:07,119 S6: Um, and to to the point on homes from when we've talked about with dollars engineers, um, unless you're building a very large house, which might be the case in one of them, um, you can build an all electric house with a 200 amp panel. It's pretty easy to do. Um, I think a lot of builders might get scared. Um, might get scared, or, you know, occupants might want to have 400 amps, but I think that might be overkill. Um, you know, unless you are building an extremely large house or a house with a pool, then you can build with 200 amps. 00:55:43,769 S2: Okay. Okay. 00:55:48,250 S4: Anybody else? 00:55:50,530 S2: Just one quick thing. 00:55:53,050 S4: We sit down. 00:55:53,570 S2: To. 00:55:56,130 S2: Uh, Chao Congdon, 70 Yarbrough Street. 00:55:58,090 S14: Also a member of the Wenham Climate Action and Sustainability Committee. 00:56:02,409 S2: Um, I. 00:56:04,130 S14: May have missed it. So this is a simple one. Um, in terms of everything you were saying, sometimes we lose electricity. Right. And people have backup generators and things like that. What are the limitations or the expectations for those who people have to have batteries? 00:56:19,809 S2: Go ahead. 00:56:20,250 S8: I can speak to that. So the specialized code does not exclude the use of on site backup generators that are using fossil fuels. So you're still in that all electric path under the specialized code, even if you have a generator that is, um, that does have like a fossil fuel use. So fossil fuel backup generator does not put you in a mixed fuel path. You can still be all electric with that backup generator on top of that. Uh, there are some benefits when the grid goes down to living in an electric home or into a home built to the requirements of the energy code, where the home is really airtight. So the amount of time you can occupy the space if it goes down in the middle of the winter, for example, is longer than you could in other spaces because you don't have those constant temperature changes. So that's just one of the benefits of the energy code in general, where because the home is so airtight in the winter when the power goes out, you're going to be able to maintain that heat for longer during those kinds of interruptions. 00:57:23,769 S4: Okay. Last thing. Anybody else? 00:57:26,130 S3: No. See anyone online? 00:57:30,130 S4: Okay. I'm gonna close it up. 00:57:32,340 S5: I do want to thank. I want to remind everyone to come to town meeting. As Dylan said, this is a democratic decision about the Dutch cartel. Amongst many other things that will happen in a town meeting. It is Thursday at Gordon College for Wednesday, April 9th and Saturday, April 11th for Hamilton. Um, this is a great opportunity. Will Casc and AGC believe it's a great opportunity for both of our towns to leverage some money coming through the state? Uh, thank you for listening. This recording will be on both websites. Um, again, there's more information. And thank you so much to Dylan and Michael for helping us understand this kind of complex situation. And here we are. Thank you everybody. Good night. 00:58:22,139 S2: Yeah. 00:58:22,260 S8: Thanks for having. 00:58:22,739 S15: Us. Thank you.