Mayor Burke and the Medford Energy & Environment Committee presented the 6th
annual Medford Green Awards to businesses and residents at this year’s Harvest Your
Energy Festival.
The Festival was highly successful with over 30 exhibitors including local businesses,
school classes, non-profits, state agencies, city organizations and a bone marrow donor
match drive from Be the Match. The City offered electronics and textile recycling as
well as hosted a Mass Save dehumidifier turn-in drive. Mass Energy Consumer Alliance
co-hosted the event and sponsored performances from Trail Mix and Medford’s own very
popular Matt Heaton and the Outside Toys.
"I am thrilled that the City of Medford has continued to involve organizations throughout
the community and recognize their focus on energy efficiency," said Mayor Stephanie M.
Burke. "The Medford Green Awards recognize businesses and residents for their
outstanding effort to conserve energy and protect our environment. I want to thank the
Medford Energy Committee and the Medford Chamber of Commerce for your continued
partnership and efforts in this annual community event."
This year’s Harvest Your Energy Festival sponsors included: Barrett Tree Service East,
Inc., Blake Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine, Elements Therapeutic Massage, JRA Bikes,
Solar Five, TechniArt Inc., Wegmans and Lisa's Family Pizzeria
2017 Medford, MA Green Award Recipients
#1) Accardi Foods: Large Rooftop Solar Array
Accardi Foods is a specialty Italian food distributor located on Commercial Street. They
have invested in the largest existing solar array in Medford, covering their 70,000 square
foot warehouse rooftop with over 1,700 solar panels. Anthony DeVirgilio, co-owner of
Accardi Foods, notes that “The conservation with conserving energy and going solar is
something that we’re seeing become more and more popular… The more we looked into
it, between the benefits of solar power and the tax benefits, it made a lot of sense for our
company to get involved.” The 446.2 kilowatt solar array was installed by Solect
Energy, based in Hopkinton.
Contact: Michael DeVirgilio. Phone: 781-391-2400 x 180, e-mail:
miked@accardifoods.com.
Name on the plaque: Accardi Foods
#2) 101 Main Street Condo Association: Environmental Upgrades Throughout
Professional Building
The building at 101 Main Street houses several professional medical offices. The
building owner has instituted several environmental initiatives, including a recycling
program, interior air quality improvements, and water treatment improvements. A total
2 of 6 recycling bins have been added throughout the building, which has resulted in
substantially reduced dumpster waste material. In addition, live plants have been
installed in place of artificial plants in the building atrium and water treatment system
improvements have resulted in better interior air quality. Soaps and cleaning fluids used
in the building are now environmentally friendly. Medford is pleased to recognize these
changes as an excellent example of how existing businesses can reduce their
environmental footprint with strategic changes to their operations.
Contact: Paul Larkin; phone: 617-828-1500
Name on the plaque: 101 Main St. Condo Assoc. (short for 101 Main Street
Condominium Association)
#3) Sarah Florenz and Susan Schmidt Tufts Park, Installation of Community Gardens
Sarah and Susan took on leading roles in organizing, fundraising and outreach in
preparation for building Medford’s newest Community Garden in Tufts Park. They
brought their energy, ingenuity and enthusiasm to the project and solicited assistance and
support from neighbors, residents and businesses. The garden, which opened this past
spring, enables 24 Medford families to have their own fresh fruits and vegetables. In
addition, 3 garden beds are available for educational use by the Curtis-Tufts school.
These students and hundreds of South Medford residents benefit from this example of
organic gardening and availability of home-grown produce.
Contact: Amanda Bowen; phone: 617-407-4902; e-mail: awbowen@comcast.com
Names on plaques (2): Sarah Florenz, Susan Schmidt
#4) AC Hotel: LEED Certified Hotel in Medford
Medford’s newest hotel the AC Hotel at 95 Station Landing, is LEED Certified. The
environmental initiatives that this hotel has adopted include:
Location near the Wellington Orange Line station
Construction waste management, with use of regional and recycled materials
Low organic compound emissions in the interior
Attention to natural lighting and thermal efficiency
Innovation design with roof that mitigates heat island effects
Use of green power sources and optimization of energy consumption
Water-efficient landscaping.
Use of LEED-certified consultants in construction and design.
Medford is pleased to recognize the achievements of this hotel with its focus on
environmental design and practices.
Contact: Chris Moulton; phone: 561-573-9644; e-mail: cmoulton@colwenhotels.com
Name on plaque: AC Hotel Boston North
#5) John Preotle: Clean up and Greening of Malden River
John Preotle is the Chairman of Preotle, Lane & Associates, and is the developer
responsible for Rivers Edge along the Malden River. In 2014 River’s Edge received a
Green Award for the significant and beautiful brownfield re-development. Since the
development of Rivers Edge John has continued to show admirable concern for the
environment and has put his money where his mouth is to help Medford residents access
the Malden & Mystic Rivers. His company substantially funded the development of the
Wellington Greenway, a path for bikers and walkers that connects Station Landing to
Wellington Station. More recently, he funded the design and permitting of the extension
of that path along the Wellington Station Parking Lot to the Woods Memorial Bridge,
where it will soon be able to cross under the bridge and connect to existing paths along
the river. He is also one of the funders of the Malden River Greenways Vision Plan and
the Malden River Water Quality Study, both managed by the Mystic River Watershed
Association.
Medford is pleased to recognize John’s extraordinary achievements with a 2017 Green
Award.
Contact: Preotle Lane & Associates. General phone number: 617-426-8283
Name on plaque: John Preotle
#6) Energy Smart Alternatives: Geothermal Installation Company in Medford
Geothermal heating and cooling is a great alternative to fossil fuels.
Energy Smart Alternatives is a Medford company that has installed over 200 geothermal
heat pumps in the region, eliminating the equivalent of 1.4 million pounds of CO2
emissions per year. They go out of their way to provide education about geothermal to
the general public through their website and social media and work with manufacturers
and state agencies to increase the adoption of this technology.
Medford is pleased to recognize the efforts of Energy Smart Alternatives to promote and
enable clean energy sources for use in home heating and cooling.
Contact: Jayme Ciaramitano; phone: 978-815-5659;
JaymeC@energysmartalternatives.com.
Name on plaque: Energy Smart Alternatives, LLC
#7) Suman Gautam: Recent Member of the Medford Energy and Environment
Committee
With a Green Award, Medford conveys its appreciation for the contributions of Suman
Gautam to Medford’s Energy and Environment Committee. All members of the
committee serve as unpaid volunteers and are selected by the Mayor based upon their
expertise and experience in energy and environmental issues.
Suman brought to the committee his experience in the fields of electricity markets,
energy policy and regulations, energy access, climate change, predictive analytics, and
large databases. In his day job, he works as an economist at Daymark Energy Advisors,
which is a premier provider of integrated policy, planning and strategic decision support
services to the North American electricity and natural gas industries. Suman also
maintains a blog on Nepal's energy issues, where he focuses upon the formidable energy
and environmental challenges in that country.
Suman, thanks for your service to the City of Medford.
Contact: Suman Gautam; e-mail: suman5142@gmail.com.
Name on plaque: Suman Gautam
#8) Cathy Young: Recent Member of the Medford Energy and Environment
Committee
Medford conveys its appreciation for the past contributions of Cathy Young to Medford’s
Energy and Environment Committee. Cathy served as the chair of the committee for a 3-
year period ending this January.
In her day job, Cathy serves as an On-Scene Coordinator at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, responsible for monitoring and directing responses to oil spills and
hazardous substance releases reported to the federal government within the New England
region. In this role, she has participated in over 50 emergency responses, removal
actions and inspections throughout New England. Cathy has also initiated and
participated in extensive coordination and outreach efforts with local, State and Federal
Agencies throughout the New England Region.
Cathy, thanks for your service to the City of Medford.
Contact: Cathy Young; e-mail: cueless2014@gmail.com.
Name on plaque: Catherine Young
#9) Jonathan Hunt: Recent Member of the Medford Energy and Environment
Committee
Medford conveys its appreciation for the past contributions of Jonathan Hunt to
Medford’s Energy and Environment Committee. Jon’s service to Medford goes back to
about 2008 when he joined the former Wind Energy Committee, which evolved into the
current Energy and Environment Committee. Jon has served as webmaster and in other
critical roles to the committee over many years.
In his day job, Jon works in IT Management at MIT. He manages software release and
licensing areas at MIT and also works on special projects with faculty and students
around education and sustainable technology.
Jon is the Associate Director of Project Manus at MIT where he helps MIT students
design and build things in makerspaces. In Medford, Jon co-chairs the green committee
at his church, Grace Episcopal, which was the past recipient of a Green Award for its
rooftop solar array and other environmental achievements. His specialties include
sustainability, energy efficiency, resource management, technology, making, cyber-
security, communications, computers, and technology.
Contact: Jonathan Hunt; e-mail: jmhunt@mit.edu.
Name on plaque: Jonathan Hunt