Great Barrington – HeatSmart Great Barrington is a new state-funded program to help Great Barrington residents save on their energy bills while reducing their carbon footprint. The program will kick off Tuesday, May 8th at the First Congregational Church, 251 Main Street, Great Barrington at 6:30 p.m. with a free, public event where residents can learn all about the program and the thousands of dollars in rebates and incentives available, meet the installer, and hear from neighbors who use the same clean heating and cooling systems in their homes.

In fall of 2017, a group of local volunteers teamed up with the Town of Great Barrington to apply for a unique opportunity from HeatSmart Massachusetts – a community-based education and group purchasing program for clean heating and cooling technologies that aims to save residents money and slash emissions from the heating/cooling sector. Great Barrington was fortunate to be chosen as one of only four community grantees statewide that would participate in the first round of HeatSmart Mass, and subsequently chose cold climate air source heat pumps for promotion through the program.

“We’re very excited that Great Barrington has been chosen for this pilot project, and we are fortunate to have a dedicated team of Great Barrington residents led by Michael Feldstein volunteering their time to implement the project,” said Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin. “Helping our residents access financial incentives offered by the state to bring clean, renewable energy technology to their homes and save money on their heating and cooling bills, while cutting our town’s carbon load, is a meaningful win for us all.”

HeatSmart Mass is a partnership between the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Department of Energy Resources, local municipal officials, and community volunteers. Fashioned after the successful 2013 Solarize Great Barrington model, HeatSmart Great Barrington offers a simple way for homeowners and business owners to learn about and purchase high-efficiency, cold climate air source heat pumps (ASHPs) at a special, discounted price.

Great Barrington’s Selected Installer

With support from a team of technical experts, the Town of Great Barrington worked with our volunteer team to carefully select Climate Heating & Cooling, Inc. out of Pittsfield, MA, as the chosen installer for HeatSmart Great Barrington—based on the company’s experience with air source heat pumps, their reputation for offering quality service, and their ability to provide specially-discounted pricing to our community members. Representatives from Climate Heating & Cooling will be on hand at the kick-off event to explain how the air-source heat pumps efficiently heat and cool a building, and to answer residents’ questions.

"Climate Heating & Cooling is honored to have been selected as the installing contractor for the HeatSmart Great Barrington program,” said Darrin Almeida, mechanical systems consultant for the company. “We are a major proponent of air source heat pump technology, and are looking forward to raising awareness and delivering within the community all of the benefits that air source heat pump technology has to offer."

Financial Incentives

HeatSmart Great Barrington offers residents access to education and support in navigating the Commonwealth’s incentive programs to reduce the cost of purchasing and installing clean, renewable heating and cooling technologies. Our installer, Climate Heating & Cooling, Inc., is experienced in assessing and pricing the appropriate heating and cooling solution for homes and small businesses that are eligible for HeatSmart Great Barrington. And they will guide residents every step of the way from the no-obligation home visit to applying for financial incentives, to installation, and more.

How to Participate

HeatSmart Great Barrington is open for business. The best way to join up is as follows:

1. Sign up for a free Mass Save home audit. To be ready to take advantage of the special offers associated with HeatSmart Great Barrington, residents are encouraged to sign up for a free Home Energy Assessment through Mass Save. This enables residents to access the thousands of dollars in rebates available from Mass Save and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The sooner folks get started with their audits, the better.

2. HeatSmart Great Barrington is now open for customer sign-ups! Click here to sign up for a free, no obligation site visit from our installer. This gets you in touch with our installer, Climate Heating & Cooling, and gets the ball rolling to participate in HeatSmart Great Barrington. The process is safe and confidential.

3. Attend our official launch event:

HeatSmart Great Barrington Kick-off Event!

Tuesday, May 8th

6:30 - 8:30PM

First Congregational Church

251 Main Street, Great Barrington

Meet our installer, learn about the clean heating and cooling options available to you, hear local residents share their personal experiences with heat pumps, and be able to ask questions. Plus, enjoy time with your neighbors!

4. Visit the program website www.heatsmartgb.org to learn more.

Questions? Want to get involved? Contact the HeatSmart Great Barrington Coach, Michael Feldstein, at info@heatsmartgb.org.

About MassCEC

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is a state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy sector across the Commonwealth to spur job creation, deliver statewide environmental benefits, and to secure long-term economic growth for the people of Massachusetts. MassCEC works to increase the adoption of clean energy while driving down costs and delivering financial, environmental, and economic development benefits to energy users and utility customers across the state.

(press release sent to WSBS from Juddy Eddy of HeatSmart Great Barrington for online and on-air use, article image taken from HeatSmart Great Barrington Facebook page

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