Town Sustainability Projects

Current Projects

Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 2.0

MVP 2.0 supports Massachusetts communities in increasing resilience to climate change. It builds off the work communities completed in the MVP 1.0 Planning Grant and focuses on revisiting local climate resilience priorities through an equitable and inclusive process and implementing a project that supports those priorities, with guaranteed funding for implementation.

Sherborn has convened a Core Team of representatives from different interests across the town government. The next step is to select a consultant to assist with public engagement, and to help select Community Liaisons, a compensated position meant to represent the community. Click here to learn more about the process!

Climate Leader Communities

On July 24, 2025, the Select Board approved Sherborn's pursuit of Climate Leader certification. The Climate Leader Communities program is an extension of the state Green Communities program, and qualifies grantees for up to $1,150,000 for municipal electrification and decarbonization projects.

Sherborn must complete 2 tasks by July 2026 to be eligible for the next cycle of Climate Leader grants:

1. Create a Municipal Decarbonization Roadmap. The Climate Leader program has awarded Sherborn a consultant to use Sherborn's existing information on our municipal buildings to create a plan for the next 25 years of decarbonization priorities.
2. The Select Board must adopt a Zero Emission Vehicle First policy for purchasing replacements for vehicles in the municipal fleet. When a vehicle is identified for replacement, if a zero-emission vehicle is available on the market that meets operational needs, the town will prioritize its purchase by leveraging state rebates and incentives. Emergency vehicles are exempt. Thanks to existing charging infrastructure on the Police Station campus, there are already two electric police cruisers in the fleet!

Click here to learn more about the program.

Completed Projects

Roof-Mounted Solar

The Fire Station (22 North Main St) and the Department of Public Works garage (7 Butler St) have both been outfitted with over 100 kW of roof-mounted solar arrays. These photovoltaic panels have produced a total of 820 megawatt hours of electricity, mitigating over 1 million pounds of carbon emissions.

School District

The DSHS campus receives about 50% of the clean electricity generated by the solar farm on Dover's landfill.

At Pine Hill Elementary School, the Community School Association (CSA) received a grant for restoring a garden-based outdoor classroom that teaches children the importance of maintaining natural habitats for the survival of native species. As a National Wildlife Federation (NWF) certified Schoolyard Habitat, the Pine Hill Bird Garden models sustainable garden practices for school families and the community at large. Examples include planting bird, bee and butterfly-friendly perennials, installing bird houses, and organic lawn management. 

Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 1.0

MVP is a state grant program providing support for communities in Massachusetts to increase their resiliency to climate change. 

• In 2017, Sherborn was awarded $15,000 via the MVP Planning Grant to assess our vulnerability to and prepare for climate change impacts and build community resilience.
• In 2023, Sherborn was awarded a $38,145 MVP Action Grant to develop our Climate Action and Resilience Plan. This project uses community outreach to identify 10-15 priority measures for mitigating emissions and reducing vulnerabilities to climate change in Sherborn. It also examines interrelated sustainability issues concerning Sherborn's unique ecological resources, the current state of the community's tree canopy on private and public lands, and current landscape practices. Read the final report here.

Green Communities

Green Communities is a state program that provides funding and technical assistance for clean energy projects to designated Green Communities like Sherborn. These are our past grant awards: