Learn where the 2025 Quincy city council candidates stand on climate change and other environmental issues.

Tuesday, October 7, 7-10pm
United First Parish Church
1306 Hancock Street Quincy, MA 02169

We will be posing questions to candidates about environmental issues, including their ideas to fight climate change locally and mitigate its effects. You can also propose questions for the candidates here.

We have confirmed participation from all six at-large candidates: Scott Campbell, Noel DiBona, Anne Mahoney, Andrew Nguyen Pham, Herbert Alie Shaughnessy III, and Ziqiang Susan Yuan; Ward 2 candidate Richard Ash; Ward 3 candidates Walter Hubley and Kathleen Thrun; Ward 4 candidates James Devine and Virginia Ryan; Ward 5 candidates Maggie McKee and Daniel Minton; and Ward 6 candidate Deborah Anne Riley.

Please share the Eventbrite notice! You can also RSVP there, though it isn’t required.

Massachusetts communities have a few options regarding the building code; QCAN strongly supports Quincy’s adoption of the newly available Specialized Energy Code.  

All buildings must be built to the MA State Building Code (Base Code) standards, which are minimum safety and energy standards.  In 2011, Quincy adopted the Stretch Code which requires that buildings be more energy-efficient.  Quincy is not alone; we are one of 267 MA communities that follow the Stretch Code.  In late 2022, a third option, the Specialized Energy Code, was introduced; in addition to requiring energy-efficient new construction, it requires that new buildings either be all-electric, or be easily converted to all-electric appliances.  As of April 2024, 34 MA communities have adopted the Specialized Energy Code, and many more are considering it.

Unlike the Base Code and Stretch Code, the Specialized Energy Code only affects new construction; it does not affect renovations or additions to existing buildings.  The Specialized Energy Code requires that new buildings be set up for easy conversion to use electricity for heating, hot water, cooking, and drying clothes.  

Why do we care what powers our new buildings’ appliances?  A new building that uses electric heat pumps produces today on average 53% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than one that uses natural gas for heating.  And because Massachusetts law requires increasing percentages of electricity to be produced by renewable energy each year, by 2050 that same building will produce 93% fewer greenhouse gas emissions using heat pumps that it would with a gas-fired heating system.

Mayor Koch’s administration should be commended for its efforts in welcoming and facilitating new construction in Quincy, which has brought many new residents and a new vibrancy to the City.  Quincy has a choice now, and we, at Quincy Climate Action Network (QCAN), urge the City Council to ensure that newly constructed buildings are built for flexibility and adaptability.

The Specialized Energy Code requires that new buildings are easily converted to use electricity for heating, hot water, cooking, and drying clothes.  A new building that uses heat pumps today, on average, produces 53% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a new building that uses natural gas for heating.  And because Massachusetts law requires that each year, increasing percentages of electricity must be produced by renewable energy, by the year 2050, that same new building built today, if it uses heat pumps, will produce 93% less greenhouse gas emissions than if it has a gas-fired heating system.   

As you can see, decisions made today about how new buildings are constructed have major implications on current and future greenhouse gas emissions, which affects our quality of life.  Emissions affect the frequency and severity of storms and flooding, and heat waves and droughts too.