Develop a Home Decarbonization Plan

Summary: Creating a home decarbonization plan can help you minimize costs while maximizing available incentives

Description

Did you know? Massachusetts has a law that the state must reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To understand the work in front of us, in 2023, the Groton Sustainability Commission completed a town-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the year 2019. They found that about 66% of Groton’s emissions come from residential homes and passenger cars. This means that most of Groton’s emissions are driven by household activities inside and outside of the home. 

Do you want to do something about it? Great news, you can! All of the tools needed to decarbonize our households exist today. Many of these tools can actually save us money in the long run and have other co-benefits as well, but they can have high upfront costs. The most practical way to implement these changes are when your existing fossil-fuel systems have reached the end of their usable life or when you prioritize some other clean energy benefit. Waiting until you are in an emergency situation with no heat in the winter, air conditioning the summer or transportation decreases the likelihood that you will be able to invest the time into understanding how to integrate a new technology into your household, and increases the likelihood of continuing with the business as usual, fossil-fuel burning option. A plan can help you avoid the business as usual choice!

The good news is that federal incentives for reducing household emissions through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act exist through 2032, allowing a long runway to plan for improvements and maximize those incentives. The first step is making a home decarbonization plan! Visit our Steps to Take page to see how. 

Deep Dive

Steps to Take

1. (Optional) If you are curious to know your own household’s carbon footprint you can calculate an estimate using one of many available online carbon calculators. The CoolClimate Calculator from UC Berkeley gives insights into household emissions not only from home energy use and transportation, but also consumption of goods and services, which can be a significant proportion of overall emissions.

2. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC) is a clearinghouse of information for state residents. Use their Clean Energy Home Plan Guide to help you identify the opportunities to decarbonize your household and when to expect you will need to act on them. 

3. Armed with the big picture plan of the appropriate timing and magnitude of changes needed to decarbonize your home, there are numerous resources out there for you to learn more:

• Visit our Take Action pages on specific topics. They include information on available incentives as well. 

• Engage with one of our Groton Energy Coaches to assist you with reducing and decarbonizing your home energy use by emailing us at sustaining@grotonma.gov

• Check out more Mass CEC for good starter information on different home decarbonization topics

4. Do you want to extend your impact beyond your household? Consider joining our Sustainable Groton Advocate group to learn how you can help others follow the same path!