Harvard’s admission to a new state-sponsored group-purchasing program promises to lower the cost to Harvard home and business owners of replacing their fossil-fueled heating systems and traditional air-conditioning units with energy-saving heat pumps.
On Nov. 15, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced that Harvard was among the seven towns chosen to participate in the first round of the new HeatSmart Massachusetts initiative, a community-based education and group-purchasing program for clean heating and cooling technologies, managed by the nonprofit Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.
According to Harvard Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC) member Eric Broadbent, Harvard teamed up with Bolton earlier this fall to submit an application on behalf of the two towns. A team of HEAC members and volunteers—plus Selectwoman Kara Minar, Harvard’s “municipal representative”—put together Harvard’s portions of the application, including budget, marketing and outreach plans, local permitting information, and approvals from the selectmen and town administrator. In an email to the Press, Broadbent wrote that the committee also solicited and received letters of support from several other town boards and committees.
Participation in the HeatSmart Mass program will allow Harvard and Bolton to offer air-source and ground-source heat pumps to residents and businesses at a reduced cost. The pilot will begin in January, and preparation work is already underway, according to Broadbent.
MassCEC states on its website that the program aims to drive down the installation cost and increase deployment of residential and small-scale commercial clean heating and cooling installations through a group-purchasing model. The consortium reports that HeatSmart Mass is modeled on the highly successful Solarize Massachusetts program, which is now in its seventh year and has served 63 communities and resulted in more than 3,200 contracts and 21.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic projects.
Heat pumps explained
Heat pumps can be used to heat and cool homes and businesses. The most common type of heat pump, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, is the air-source heat pump, which transfers heat between a house and the outside air. Today’s heat pump can reduce one’s electricity use for heating by approximately 50 percent compared to electric resistance heating such as furnaces and baseboard heaters, according to the Department of Energy. High-efficiency heat pumps also dehumidify better than standard central air conditioners, resulting in less energy usage and more cooling comfort in summer months.
Ground-source heat pumps (also known as geothermal heat pumps) achieve higher efficiencies by transferring heat between a house and the ground. Although they cost more to install, says the Department of Energy, ground-source heat pumps have low operating costs because they take advantage of relatively constant ground temperatures. Geothermal heat pumps “can reduce energy use by 30 to 60 percent, control humidity, are sturdy and reliable, and fit in a wide variety of homes,” states the agency’s website.
In addition to Harvard and Bolton, Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln, Great Barrington, and Nantucket will also take part in this year’s pilot program.
The HeatSmart initiative is funded by alternative compliance payments from energy suppliers that do not otherwise meet state standards for the use of alternative energy technologies to generate electrical power. Each participating community competitively selects one or more designated installers to offer one or more of the clean heating and cooling technologies available through the program to interested residents.
The Energy Advisory Committee will hold a public forum Thursday, Dec. 14, 7 to 9 p.m. in upper Town Hall to discuss plans for the Harvard-Bolton HeatSmart program as well as the state of its proposed community electricity aggregation program.
