SustainaVille

About SustainaVille

SustainaVille is home to the City of Somerville’s programs and initiatives to reduce Somerville’s contribution to climate change and to develop our city’s ability to prepare for the impacts of climate change. On this page, you can learn about SustainaVille initiatives and how you can get involved in climate action.

Sustainability and environmental stewardship are important values to the Somerville community and are clearly articulated in SomerVision, the city’s comprehensive plan. Through SustainaVille, we are upholding these values by working collectively to advance sustainability and climate resilience within our city government and throughout the Somerville community. This work is being done across city departments and in partnership with community stakeholders. Together we’re slowing climate change and building a healthy, safe, and thriving Somerville.

The City of Somerville updated its community climate action plan, Climate Forward, in 2024. This plan establishes 5 key focus areas and 77 actions for an equitable, carbon net-negative, resilient, and thriving community. 

Climate Forward builds upon the successes over the past five years, since the first iteration of Climate Forward was released in 2018. Drawing upon community feedback and the latest climate data, this plan lays out new priorities and strategies that will be implemented through 2035 across different sectors, including energy, buildings, natural resources, mobility, waste, and community health.

 Learn more about the plan at www.somervillema.gov/climateforward.  

Proposed Rental Registry Ordinance 

What would the ordinance do? The ordinance would provide basic information to renters and the public about the rental units in the city, improve city communications to rental unit owners and city functions, and inform city policy and programs.

What would happen if the ordinance is passed? If the ordinance is passed by the City Council, city administration will convene a working group of interdepartmental representatives to write the program manual.  

The program manual would be directly informed by community and stakeholder input. It would define programmatic processes and procedures to comply with the ordinance. The working group would meet regularly over a period of time to develop the manual and may solicit additional input from the community and stakeholders about the specific program processes and procedures as they are drafted.  

City administration will conduct communitywide outreach to rental unit owners and the public to inform them of the program and provide assistance and education. Regular public communication and feedback will be a cornerstone of the ordinance program development, with a goal of all rental building owners will be able to efficiently fulfill the ordinance disclosure requirements and high-quality information will be available for property owners, prospective renters, and the public as applicable.  

Helpful links:

• Read a short summary about the ordinance
• Read the results of stakeholder interviews and focus groups about the proposed ordinance conducted in the Summer and Fall of 2024
• Read a draft of the proposed ordinance
• Learn more about the vision for the Rental Registry and the focus group outreach here
• See the November 20, 2024 Rental Registry Community Meeting presentation slides or watch the meeting recording

 Reach out to Garrett Anderson at ganderson@somervillema.gov to learn more or with questions about the proposed ordinance. 
 

Watch a video describing the proposed ordinance and its benefits for tenants and building owners.

Networked Geothermal 

The City’s Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) went through a competitive procurement process and selected engineering and design firm Buro Happold to help assess the feasibility of networked geothermal in Somerville. As part of this feasibility assessment Buro Happold has identified three neighborhoods where there is potential to install a system. Networked Geothermal is an emerging utility-scale technology that can help communities transition to efficient renewable energy by using the stable temperatures of the bedrock beneath the earth’s surface. 

In networked geothermal systems, geothermal wells and ground source heat pumps are linked together to serve a collection of connected buildings, including residential and businesses, on a neighborhood scale. The technology can help Somerville reach its greenhouse gas reduction goals by providing a cleaner and safer alternative to fossil fuels.

This work is made possible through a Kickstart Mass grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and HEET,  which was awarded to help Massachusetts communities that have displayed interest in implementing geothermal networks begin to study the feasibility of the technology. 

Helpful links:

• Read more about the City of Somerville's Networked Geothermal Initiative
• Watch a video recording of an educational presentation and community meeting about Networked Geothermal held on December 9th, 2024
• See the presentation slides from the first community meeting held on December 9, 2024
• Sign up to attend an online community meeting about the project on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at 6pm 

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What You Can Do

Resources and Reports

• Carbon Neutrality Pathway Assessment

  This report defines carbon neutrality and analyzes the technological transformations necessary to achieve this emissions reduction target, through the implementation of policies and programs. This report presents a possible pathway to reduce emissions but does not encompass all of the ways the city can reduce emissions and is not intended to be a prescription for how the city should reach its goal. The report is an exercise in understanding what it will take to become carbon neutral and is a baseline resource for the strategies recommended in Climate Forward.

  • 2023 Pathways Assessment
  • 2017 Pathways Assessment

• Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment

  The Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) analyzes how climate change is expected to impact Somerville in the coming decades. The study looks at Somerville’s risks from sea level rise and storm surge, increasing temperatures, and precipitation-based flooding. The study identifies key priorities of Somerville to focus on in order to reduce climate related risks. The information in the assessment is used to develop strategies in Climate Forward and will help the City make future decisions that can reduce risks to climate impacts within Somerville and within the region.

  • 2023 Vulnerability Assessment 
  • 2017 Vulnerability Assessment

• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory

  The City completes an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for all of Somerville as well as an inventory of the subset of emissions that are from city government operations every two years. The inventories of 2014 emissions provide a baseline for planning emissions reductions and measuring progress in future years. These reports identify the leading sources of climate change-causing emissions in our community. In 2023, Somerville completed its first Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory (CBEI) an estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the activity of all residents of a geographic area.

  • 2020 Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory
  • 2020 Consumption-Based Emissions Inventory Dashboard 
  • 2020 - Community and Local Government Operations Inventories 
  • 2018 - Community and Local Government Operations Inventories
  • 2016 - Community Inventory
  • 2016 - Local Government Operations
  • 2014 - Community Emissions and Local Government Operations

• Zero Waste Plan

  Somerville's Zero Waste Plan provides recommendations for specific actions to build a zero-waste community and align with community climate goals. The plan identifies waste diversion goals and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction initiatives. The plan recommends long-term waste management contracts, equipment considerations, and programs to reduce trash to protect public health and create safe environments.

• Hazard Mitigation Plan

  Somerville’s Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies actions that can be taken to reduce the dangers to life and property from natural hazard events. The plan makes recommendations to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards such as flooding, hurricanes, and winter storms. The plan also addresses the impacts of climate change, and features recommended mitigation actions the City can take to become more resilient to natural hazards.

• Lower Mystic Region Climate Assessment

  Six municipalities in the Lower Mystic Watershed—Boston (Charlestown and East Boston), Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop—host New England’s highest concentration of critical infrastructure. These communities partnered with infrastructure managers, state and federal emergency response agencies, community-based organizations, and researchers to understand infrastructure and social vulnerability. This assessment provides us with the data needed to prioritize capital and operational investments.

• Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Plan

  In an effort to both lower the cost of electricity bills as well as introduce green power options into our energy supply, the City of Somerville created a citywide electricity bulk buying program known as Community Choice Electricity. The program maximizes savings and provides a full set of consumer protections, including the right for any customer to opt out of the program at any time at no charge.

 

News and Updates

Sign Up for the SustainaVille Newsletter

 Read Past SustainaVille Newsletters

Get in Touch

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Related Departments

• Office of Sustainability and Environment
• Commission on Energy Use and Climate Change

Contacts

• Christine Blais 
  Director of Sustainability and Environment  
  cblais@somervillema.gov
  Cell: 781-296-7194
  617-625-6600 ext. 2422  
• 
  Energy Manager
  617-625-6600 ext. 2424 
• Emily Sullivan
  Climate Change Program Manager
  esullivan@somervillema.gov
  Cell: 781-823-9248
  617-625-6600 ext. 2426 
• Naomi Gross
  Community Engagement Specialist
  ngross@somervillema.gov
  Cell: 857-274-2463
  617-625-6600 ext. 2425
• Elyse Belarge
  Sustainability Planner
  ebelarge@somervillema.gov
  Cell: 781-823-9332
  617-625-6600 ext. 2427 
• Josh Eckart-Lee
  Sustainability Planner
  jeckartlee@somervillema.gov
  Cell: 857-270-4996
  617-625-6600 ext. 2421
• Garrett Anderson
  Residential Decarbonization Program Manager 
  ganderson@somervillema.gov  
  Cell: 857-270-4403 
• Shannon Taylor
  Energy Advisor
  staylor@somervillema.gov
  617-625-6600 ext. 2424
• 
  Environmental Policy Manager
  617-625-6600 ext. 5070 
• Kathy Cole
  Financial Analyst
  kcole@somervillema.gov
  617-625-6600 ext. 2428 
   

The OSE team works remotely from time to time, so please call their cell phones if you are unable to reach them at their office extensions.