Alfred Glickman Elementary School received $5 million from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Green School Works program for the installation of air source heat pumps and ventilation upgrades. The school is one of almost a dozen schools in the city to receive such work.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
SPRINGFIELD — Alfred Glickman Elementary School is the latest in Springfield to receive necessary upgrades to its heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The city received $5 million from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Green School Works program to install air source heat pumps and ventilation upgrades at the Ashland Avenue school.
“These upgrades are critical to school operations,” said Parks, Buildings, and Recreation Management Director Thomas Ashe. “We believe that buildings with ideal conditioning support overall academic achievement as well as day-to-day attendance rate improvements.”
Glickman was one of 18 Massachusetts schools to receive money for upgrades from MassCEC. The organization awarded a total of $52 million through its Green School Works program, which “aims to make K–12 public school buildings more energy-efficient, lower costs for school districts, reduce pollution, and create safer and healthier learning environments for students and educators.”
The program was funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, according to MassCEC.
Ideally, Ashe told Reminder Publishing that the city wants to complete the HVAC upgrades at Glickman during summer vacation following the 2025-26 school year, but he said that depends on critical infrastructure changes and long lead items.
“We will know following initial design what critical infrastructure will need to change and what our lead times will be on items such as switchgear and HVAC equipment,” Ashe said. “Long lead items might push this timeline out, however, we will carefully monitor the grant schedule to ensure that we comply.”
Last year, Glickman received ESSER funding to replace windows and doors and install a new playground, according to the mayor’s office. The city said 11 schools have had existing original HVAC infrastructure removed and replaced with a modern code compliant system that produces both heat and AC.
The new equipment installed meets all of today’s modern standards for ventilation in school buildings, according to the city.
“We continue to move closer to our goal of getting all our older school buildings retrofitted with enhanced HVAC systems,” Sarno said.
Ashe shared that the city is actively looking at all remaining buildings without air conditioning and noted how Springfield has several applications under review with the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
“We are actively working with key stakeholders including the utility providers, numerous regulatory officials, and grant administrations on all available funding pipelines to support such work,” Ashe said.
In a statement about the Glickman money, Superintendent Sonia Dinnall touched on the collaborative work that made the grant possible.
“We are proud of our collaborative work to provide safe and healthy environments for our entire school community,” she said. “Upgrading our HVAC systems demonstrates our commitment to a more sustainable future, and empowers our students by highlighting the importance of investing in their well-being and the environment.”
According to the grant announcement, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is a state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy and climatetech sector across the state to spur job creation, deliver statewide environmental benefits, and secure long-term economic opportunities for the people of Massachusetts. Since 2010, MassCEC has awarded nearly $800 million in programs and investments and attracted more than $2.8 billion in private and public funds.
