Select Board approves municipal decarbonization roadmap and moves to apply for Climate Leader grants

The Westborough Select Board voted to approve a municipal decarbonization roadmap and to pursue Climate Leader certification and related grant opportunities.

Sustainability Coordinator Layla Emmert presented the roadmap and explained it is a nonbinding, long-term planning guide focused on municipal and school building emissions. Emmert said the town's FY2022 building baseline totaled roughly 2,733 metric tons of CO2, with schools representing the largest share of on-site building emissions. She described a "zero over time" approach that aligns equipment replacement decisions with normal capital cycles so upgrades can be undertaken when systems naturally reach trigger points.

Emmert highlighted two grant tracks available through the Climate Leader program: a technical-support grant (up to $150,000) for engineering studies and feasibility work and a larger decarbonization-accelerator grant (up to $1 million) to fund heat-pump conversions, solar and battery storage, and other efficiency upgrades. The accelerator grant carries a 10% local match.

Board members who spoke praised the road map's nonbinding nature, requested close alignment with the town's capital-expenditure plan, and asked staff to ensure capital items referenced in the roadmap appear consistently across planning documents. The board voted unanimously in favor of adopting the roadmap and enabling the town to pursue Climate Leader application by the earliest eligibility date.

The adoption does not appropriate funds; any project appropriations would follow the town's usual capital and budget approval processes.