Greenfield’s Energy Department compiles ‘building dashboard’ to track municipal properties

GREENFIELD — Starting Friday, residents and municipal employees will be able to access the Energy Department’s “building dashboard” — a document with information about each municipal property including the year it was built and energy usage.

According to a press release from Mayor William Martin, the document was created to “further facilitate well-informed allocation of municipal funding.” With input from the Planning and Construction Committee and several city departments, the dashboard “will aid in planning for future building projects,” the release states.

In addition to building construction information and energy usage, there is information on the operating systems in each building, including their condition, age and warrantees. Having such data will allow the city to plan equipment replacements, thus minimizing the budgetary burden, according to the release.

Director of Energy and Sustainability Carole Collins said that when she became director, knowledge about buildings or other information was only kept in the minds of respective department leaders.

“There were people retiring or leaving, and information was going with them,” Collins said. The Energy Department came up with the “building dashboard” as a solution. The document has taken a couple of years to complete.

“Now we have the ability to plan ahead for what we know is coming down the road. ... It was all done in-house in the Energy Department, and it was a labor of love,” she said. “This will help capital projects, which are not always put into context of what needs to happen. It will centralize that information for everyone to use.”

Martin said the dashboard will be “invaluable” to Greenfield.

“These dashboards are invaluable in making city operations more efficient and will help ensure the wise use of resources to keep our buildings in good repair for the community,” Martin said. “By having all of this information in one place, we can avoid emergency situations that invariably cost more, like a failed heating system in the middle of winter, and can proactively secure grant and other funding for anticipated projects, saving money that otherwise the city would have to spend.”

Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.