Great Ways to Take Action Saving Energy in Your Organization
Take the Melrose
Energy Challenge
Go
Solar
Reduce Energy Usage
in Your Facility
Change the Way
You Get Around
Take the Melrose Energy Challenge
Get a No-Cost Energy Assessment
Save money and energy every month on your utility bills, by contacting National Grid to book a no-cost assessment.
With your no-cost energy assessment you’ll receive:
- Incentives up to 70% off:
- lighting upgrades
- lighting occupancy sensors
- site-specific custom lighting projects
- Measures for natural gas customers to increase efficiency
- Additional incentives on eligible efficiency improvements
- Flexible payment plans
- Eligible customers can have their share of the efficiency improvements placed on their monthly electric bill for up to 24 months or pay in once lump sum and receive an additional 15 discount.
Schedule Your Assessment
Houses of Worship
If your organization is a house of worship, call 833-443-7473 to book your assessment.
Other Non-profits
All other non-profit organizations, please contact the National Grid Small Business Energy Efficiency Program to book your assessment:
Call: 1-800-332-3333 | Website | Email
Installing solar energy helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions while minimizing electricity costs. Additionally, solar is a key component to reaching the city’s 2050 net zero goals.
Currently, over 300 Melrose businesses, non-profits and residents have installed solar PV. The combined impact of these installations is 2.3 MW of clean, local, renewable power from the rooftops of Melrose.
First Congregational Church recently installed a 101kW solar array that produces enough energy to cover nearly 70% of the church’s needs. The array and recent weatherization work are estimated to save the church $9k annually.
Why Go Solar?
- Reduce or eliminate your monthly electric bill
- Great investment that can return 15%+ annually
- Protect your business against rising utility costs
- Lock-in your electricity costs at a lower rate
Questions about going solar? Contact Lori Timmermann, Melrose Solar Coach. Email Us
Our partner, EnergySage, provides an online solar marketplace where consumers can get information on going solar. The online marketplace allows you to view an instant estimate of your potential solar savings, compare quotes from multiple, pre-screened installers, and select the quote that is best for you.
To learn more and receive your instant estimate of solar savings, visit www.EnergySage.com/Melrose.
Environmental Impacts of Melrose Solar:
1,935 metric tons of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere, equal to:

Greenhouse gas emissions from 414 cars driven for a year

CO2 emissions from 217,730 gallons of gasoline consumed

Carbon sequestered by 2,279 acres of forest in a year
Reduce Energy Usage in Your Facility
Energy-Efficient Measures with a Rapid Payback
Looking for a quick return on your investment? Here’s a laundry list of ideas from Energy Star to get started with saving energy that often have a rapid payback. Complete these before you invest in capital equipment to make sure you install only the equipment you need. The best part? These upgrades continue to save you money long after the initial project cost is paid off.
To learn more about measuring your facility energy usage, visit Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager.
Are you a house of worship?
National Grid also provides tips for businesses to save energy and save money that can apply to many non-profits.

Operations and Maintenance
- Schedule an energy assessment to examine where your facility has become inefficient and take action to make suggested improvements.
- Repair leaking faucets and equipment. A dripping hot water faucet can leak hundreds of gallons per year.

Lighting
- Replace old fluorescent and incandescent lighting with T-8 (or even T-5) fixtures, ENERGY STAR certified CFLs or LEDs, and other energy-efficient lighting systems that improve light quality and reduce heat gain. CFLs cost about 75 percent less than incandescent to operate, and last about 10 times longer.
- Install LED exit signs. These signs can dramatically reduce maintenance by eliminating the need to replace lamps and can save $10 per sign annually in electricity costs.
- Install occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lights when no one is present and back on when people return. Storage rooms, back-of-house spaces, meeting rooms, and other low-traffic areas are often good places to start. Before you begin, check with National Grid as they will most likely offer incentives. Occupancy sensors can save between 15 and 30 percent on lighting costs. And don’t forget — even good equipment can be installed incorrectly, so don’t install the sensor behind a coat rack, door, bookcase, etc. It must be able to “see” an approaching person’s motion to turn on the light as they enter an unlit room.
- Examine the opportunity to switch from high-pressure sodium lamps to metal halide lamps in parking lots and consider upgrading to LED lighting for outdoor signage.

Office Equipment
- Purchase energy-efficient products like ENERGY STAR certified office equipment, electronics, and commercial cooking/cleaning equipment.

Food Service Equipment
- Purchase ENERGY STAR certified commercial food service equipment. For example, certified refrigerators and freezers can save over 45 percent of the energy used by conventional models, which equals as much as $140 annually for refrigerators and $100 for freezers.

Heating and cooling
- Tune up your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system with an annual maintenance contract. Even a new HVAC system, like a new car, will decline in performance without regular maintenance
- Plug air leaks with weather stripping and caulking.
Change the Way You and Your Members Get Around
Transportation choices have a huge impact on climate change and our ability to meet our goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Residential vehicles produce about 40% of the GHG emissions from the community as a whole, with average emissions of 6.3 metric tons per household in 2013. Melrose residents on average own vehicles with worse fuel economy than the national average, and we drive those vehicles an average of 25 miles per day (based on 2013 figures), a higher mileage than most of our neighbors (with the exception of Wakefield at 26 miles/day).
To help reduce the carbon footprint from transportation, encourage the use of efficient vehicles, carpooling, public transportation, biking or walking as your members get around town. Here are some specific things you may want to promote:
Considerations when purchasing your next vehicle:
- Don’t buy bigger than you need – Consider a fuel-efficient small car, or if this is not possible, consider a car instead of an SUV. If you need an SUV or truck, make sure you buy the most fuel efficient one possible.
- Consider new technology such as hybrid, electric, and other technology entering the market such as fuel cell vehicles.
- Using electricity, hydrogen and other sources provide a much cleaner and cheaper source of power and fuel than gasoline to run your vehicle.
- Check out the electric vehicle charging stations at Cedar Park and the City Hall Plaza parking lot.
Even small improvements in fuel economy have a bigger impact when you start from a relatively inefficient vehicle, so current SUV owners have the potential to contribute a great deal to greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Driving tips to save fuel:
- Turn off your car – 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine.
- Observe speed limits – each 5 mph over the speed limit on the highway consumes about 7% more fuel.
- Avoid fast starts and stops – you arrive at your destination at nearly the same time and use about 5% less fuel around town.
- Plan your trips – combing trips and avoiding traffic improves gas mileage and saves you time.
- Maintain your car – keep your tires properly inflated and change the oil and air filters as recommended by the manufacturer.
Getting Your Employees to work:
- Walk for part or all of your commute.
- Join NuRide – Find others to carpool with for free through NuRide, the carpooling rewards program for individuals who take greener trips – walking, biking, carpooling, vanpooling, public transportation, or even telecommuting.
- Bike to the T – Use the Pedal and Park locked bicycle storage facility at Oak Grove T Station. Register your CharlieCard here. If you own a folding bike, you can bring it on the train with you.