The new year brought new building codes for Aquinnah that will not allow the use of fossil fuels in large renovations and new builds for systems like heating and cooling.
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources recently gave the final green light to seven communities across the state involved in the new pilot program. Aside from Aquinnah, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, and Acton are participating in the fossil-fuel-free model.
The pilot is intended to help Massachusetts — and the Vineyard — meet its climate goals. The Healey administration reports that the state’s buildings sector is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, at 35 percent.
In Aquinnah, the new bylaws were set to be activated on Monday, Jan. 1, but Aquinnah climate and energy committee chair Bill Lake said the town was required to post the new bylaws online first, which it is in the process of doing. The bylaws would go into effect immediately after being posted online.
Voters in the up-Island town approved the measure during the annual town meeting in May. The “Fossil-Fuel-Free Demonstration” restricts and prohibits new buildings and substantial renovations from installing systems that use fossil fuels, though clerical changes did need to be approved during the special town meeting a month later. Voters also approved adopting stricter building codes to be more energy-efficient.
State lawmakers created the pilot program in 2022. West Tisbury was initially slated to take part as well, but the town did not meet the affordable housing requirement to participate. Ten percent of a municipality’s housing stock must be considered affordable under Chapter 40B laws in order to participate.
Lake told The Times there is pending state legislation that would allow every municipality to opt into the program.
While the new bylaws alone will not be sufficient to achieve the Island’s goal to be fossil-fuel-free by 2040, Lake says it is a step in the right direction.
“We didn’t want to keep adding to the number of houses that would need to be converted later,” he said, adding that all-electric houses tend to be cheaper than houses run on fossil fuels.
While the new bylaws will help in combating climate change, it may not be welcomed by everyone. Aquinnah building inspector Adam Petkus said that it will likely come as a surprise to some contractors or homeowners who might be looking for a building permit to use a gas-powered stove, or other fossil-fuel-powered heating source.
But he said that homeowners or contractors should be able to seek relief if they have a hardship. He is under the impression that the town is required to set up a special committee that could grant special permits. It won’t be up to him to offer that relief, though, only to provide options.
“As the building inspector, I’m happy to answer questions and show you the road map, so you don’t feel like it’s impossible to get you where you need to go. I don’t want people feeling left out in the cold,” Petkus said. “I don’t work for the Department of Energy, I work for the town of Aquinnah. If the rules are there, I will enforce them, but only because they are the town’s rules. I want to make sure that Islanders are OK, and this won’t affect anyone.”
Sam Houghton contributed to this report.
What are the alternatives to using fossil fuels since two thirds of the electricity produced in Massachusetts is generated using natural gas? I am all for reducing the reliance on fossil fuels as long as there is an intelligent, cost effective plan that defines the sources and availability of alternative (truly fossil free) fuels before issuing restrictions.
Let’s hope people listen to you sir…it is very important they see the big picture.
I realize that most of the electricity produced for the new england grid is from natural gas, so it seems counterintuitive to burn gas to boil water to make electricity that can boil water in your home. But the savings come into play when the scale of the operations and the efficiency of a heat pump, as an example, is considered.And we do know that the percentage of “green” electricity will continually increase. Those windmills are coming online whether people like them or not.
But my problem with this kind of measure is in the backup details. The electrical line running to Aquinnah is quite vulnerable to failure. at least they could bury it. But what happens during the inevitable power outages ? Is the town liable if a house freezes up during an extended power outage ? Electrical backup seem ridiculous on all levels. We need all the battery capacity we can get for mobile applications. Forget the environmental consequences of mining the metals needed to produce the batteries. So, I would feel better about this if they allowed for natural gas or propane to run an emergency generator to power the house during power failures. Sorry kids, but “fossil fuel free” by 2040 is a fairy tale pipe dream. It’s good to transition away from fossil fuels as best we can, but they have extraordinary capacities. We need to use them when appropriate.
My understanding is that fossil fuel generators for backup are still allowed, and as you said, while a certain amount of batteries may make sense along with solar panels to provide some nighttime and cloudy day energy, having sufficient batteries for extended outages is a non-starter.
When was the last time the Island had an extended outage?
What did you do?