How sustainable is NESEA?

We are walking our talk at our office building in Greenfield, MA, with a multiyear plan for upgrades. In 2014, a 50 Miles Street Building Committee worked with Maclay Architects, Wright Builders, and Andy Shapiro of Energy Balance to develop a 50-year stewardship plan for our headquarters. Our goal was for NESEA to model responsible building stewardship, both as a nonprofit and as an entity committed to advancing the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the built environment. You can read the design team's recommendations by clicking here.

For 2012, adding 3 kW of solar power

For 2012, we upgraded our solar array courtesy of sponsor Renewable Sales. In addition to donating a new array of a dozen 250-watt American Choice PV panels for the Energy Park, Renewable Sales has supplied NESEA with a Solectria PV13000 inverter and a Wattmetrics web monitoring system. This system complements the existing 0.8 kW system and weather station on the roof of NESEA’s home base, 50 Miles Street, Greenfield.

High-efficiency lighting, of course

In 2008, we replaced all lighting throughout the building with high efficiency ballasts and fluorescents.

Cogeneration: we tried

In 2008, we were all set to install a Honda Hydronic Freewatt cogeneration system. It would have enabled our heating system to generate electricity when the building was heated. Unfortunately, our plans were blocked by the local utility, which said the system would generate too much power—and thereby interfere with the utility’s switching systems on the circular grid in place in downtown Greenfield.

Green renovations

In 2007, renovations included the use of low-VOC paints and flooring with a high recycled content, laid with nontoxic adhesives.

High-efficiency space heating

In 2006, we replaced our thirty-year-old boiler with a high-efficiency, low-temperature Peerless gas boiler to run the building’s hydronic heating system.

Little everyday practices that add up

Our printer prints two-sided. We recycle paper in the fax machine. We compost. And everyone on the staff brings their own hand towel to the office. When visitors to the office use the restroom, they can’t miss the row of hooks near the sink, each with a towel and a name.

Offsetting our travel

NESEA has partnered with TripZero to offset the carbon footprint created by staff and attendees while traveling to BuildingEnergy Conferences. Booking a hotel room with NESEA's reserved room block through TripZero offsets the footprint of an attendee's entire trip for no additional charge.