Progressive Mass joined a coalition testimony in support of including the Zero Carbon Renovation Fund in the environmental bond bill.
January 13, 2026
Senator Paul W. Mark, Acting Chair
Representative Michael J. Finn, Chair
Representative John H. Rogers, Vice Chair
Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets
Attn: Gabrielle Hanson, 24 Beacon St Room 504
Boston, MA 02133
Re: Zero Carbon Renovation Funding in the Mass Ready Act
Dear Acting Chair Mark, Chair Finn, Vice Chair Rogers, and Members of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony concerning S.2542, An Act to build resilience for Massachusetts communities (the Mass Ready Act). Our Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Coalition is supportive of this bill and believes it can be strengthened by including additional decarbonization funding for frontline communities. Luckily, H.3577/S.2286, An Act establishing a Zero Carbon Renovation Fund, sponsored by Senator Gomez and Representatives Vargas and Cruz, would do just that.
The Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Coalition has over 200 member organizations representing 80,000 units of affordable housing, and working at the intersection of housing, health, community, and climate. We are united in the idea that equitable building decarbonization is critical for the health, wealth, and safety of our communities long-term.
Decarbonization involves improving a building’s envelope, transitioning it to clean energy sources, adding on-site power generation, and using less energy-intensive building materials. These practices make buildings more resilient in the face of floods, heat waves, and other extreme weather events,while mitigating climate change.
The state has started to invest in decarbonization for affordable housing and other priority sectors through programs at DOER, HLC, and Mass Save. Current and expected decarbonization sources for Massachusetts’ affordable housing sector total approximately $500M. But this is not enough.
The cost to decarbonize affordable housing units is currently tracking between $50K-$150K more per unit than a business-as-usual retrofit. Scaled up to over 200,000 units of multifamily affordable housing in MA translates to at least $10B-$30B of investment that will be needed for the affordable housing sector alone to meet our state’s climate goals by 2050.
The inclusion of H.3577/S.2286 will provide funding to catalyze an equitable transition to a clean
energy future that simultaneously advances climate resiliency and improves physical and financial security for frontline communities. It will prioritize Environmental Justice communities, Gateway Cities, low-and moderate-income housing, municipal buildings, and minority-and women-owned businesses. As existing buildings in Massachusetts contribute nearly one third of all carbon emissions, a focus on making this clean energy transition is essential if we are to create a sustainable and resilient future for our children. While H.3577/S.2286 allocates $300 million in funding for these retrofits, we believe that $50 million would be an adequate investment to start this crucial work.
We encourage you to include this language in the version of the Environmental Bond Bill that this Committee reports, so we can move a step closer to the clean and resilient energy future our communities and neighbors deserve. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to ZCRF Committee Chair Emily Jones at ejones@lisc.org. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.
