Somerville Announces Plans To Fully Decarbonize Municipal Building

SOMERVILLE, MA — Mayor Jake Wilson announced plans this week to make an important municipal building the first in Somerville to be virtually fully decarbonized.

Three projects will be executed at the city’s Parking Office on West Holland Street in West Somerville with the goal of making it 95 percent electric-powered.

“The aging gas-fired boilers and cooling system at the City of Somerville Parking Office building will soon make way for new, green solutions including solar and heat pumps, making it the first city-owned building to essentially decarbonize,” Wilson said in a statement. “The project will not only deliver energy cost savings and advance the community’s climate goals but will also give city staff experience operating and maintaining the kind of electrified building systems envisioned for all of the City’s buildings in time.”

The first project centers around installing a 67-kilowatt solar array on the roof of the building, which would mark the largest city-owned solar panel array of its kind. The second project involves replacing the gas-fired boilers with a new heat pump air handler and basement heat pump units for both heating and cooling. The final project centers around weatherizing and insulating the building’s exterior to improve internal conditions, specifically in the basement where street signs and parking meters are maintained. The projects are all scheduled to be carried out this summer.

According to the city, these three initiatives will achieve the desired 95 percent decarbonization. The final 5 percent will be achieve in the future when the current gas-fired hot water heater is replaced with an electrical alternative, however it will not be replaced until it becomes worn out.

These projects are paid for through Somerville’s Energy Stabilization Fund, which allocates money for work that assists in the city’s goal to be carbon net-negative by the year 2050. Wilson and other city leaders project the changes made will save more than $18,000 annually in utility costs.

See Also:

Significant Somerville Services Returning For Spring

Porchfest 2026 Fast Approaching In Somerville

Somerville Resident Recalls Close Encounter With Home Intruder

Somerville Residents Refuse To Sell Property To YMCA

Somerville-based Cement Manufacturing Startup Issues Large-scale Layoffs

Somerville Teacher Building A Legacy Through Her Work

Somerville Gets Funding For Street Safety Project

European Bakehouse Begins In Somerville

Somerville City Councilor Launches Campaign For State Rep.