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Newton 311 Services

Consult an Energy Coach

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Whether you are just starting to learn about climate and energy, have a project in mind, or need detailed technical advice, our city staff and volunteer experts are here to help! Schedule a consult or browse the Q&As and ask a new question and we’ll direct you toward the information, resources, incentives, and industry professionals available as you make energy improvements.

Schedule an Energy Coach Consult

Energy Consults are 30-minute phone or zoom conversations. By signing up below, you will be scheduled to meet with a coach at the time you have requested. You will receive email confirmation of your consult. Watch your email: your coach may reach out to you with questions or scheduling updates ahead of your consult.

Consultation with a Citizen Energy Coach is a good place to start when considering household energy projects. Before making purchase decisions you should conduct your own investigation of equipment, prices, contractors, and rebates and tax credits. The Newton Energy Coach website is a service of the City of Newton. For that reason, any communication with the Energy Coach may be considered a public record subject to disclosure under the MA Public Records Law.

Browse FAQs

Meet the Coaches

Halina Brown

halina As the current Chairperson of Newton Citizens Commission on Energy and member since 2005, Halina has been involved in numerous technical projects and campaigns in Newton.

Most recently she led the Commission’s collaboration with the City staff to produce the official Newton Climate Action Plan. She was actively involved in the development of Newton Power Choice program.

Personally, she reduced her carbon footprint by insulating her house through the Mass Save Program, installing a whole-home heat pump, and by driving an electric vehicle. Until her retirement in 2017 Halina was a Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University.

Philip Hanser

Phil-Hanser-Round-2 Philip Hanser brings a distinguished career in energy and environmental matters to his role as a member of the Newton Energy Commission and as an Energy Coach.

For the last quarter century, he has been a Principal with The Brattle Group, a leading economic consulting firm, where he specializes in regulatory and financial economics, especially for electric and gas utilities.

He is also currently a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at Northeastern University and a Senior Fellow at the Boston University Questrom School of Business’s Institute for Sustainable Energy.

He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in Economics and Mathematical Statistics and a B.A. in Economics from Florida State University.

Stephen Grody

Stephen Stephen’s family has made themselves at home in a 100+ year old Federalist Colonial in Newton Corner and then a 25+ year old Center Entrance Colonial in Newton Centre.

An electrical engineer and mathematician by training, Stephen brings an analytic approach to helping business clients understand and pick the right problems to solve, in what measure, and how. The League of Women Voters Newton appointed Stephen to the Newton Citizens Commission on Energy in 2018. He was part of the distinguished team authoring and presenting the Citizens Climate Action Plan to Mayor Fuller.

Stephen stands at the ready to help Newton property owners with questions, advice or just a discussion of what might make the most sense for their particular situation and circumstances.

Craig Forman

Craig-Forman Craig believes that climate change is a crisis, and that we must take it upon ourselves at the personal, neighborhood, and city levels to take bold steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Craig holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering, as well as an MBA. His 30+ career as an engineer helps enable him to understand new technology, but also to make it relevant to people who are less familiar with it.

Craig is a 30+ year Newton resident, as well as a board member of Green Newton. He served as chairperson for the 2017-2018 Newton Goes Solar campaign, which was a Green Newton initiative to educate Newton residents about the benefits of residential PV solar and make it easier for them to complete a rooftop solar installation. Currently, he is leading the volunteer team for HeatSmart Newton, and serving as the HeatSmart coach. This is a City of Newton program funded by a grant from state agencies. The goal is to promote clean heating and cooling technologies to help residents improve home comfort, lower their energy bills, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Asa Hopkins

asa Asa has been a member of the Newton Energy Commission since shortly after he moved to Newton in 2016, and contributed to the development of the city’s Climate Action Plan.

A physicist by training, he works as a consultant on policy and analysis in the clean energy space for clients around the country, with a particular focus on climate planning and deep decarbonization in the buildings sector.

At the same time, he’s been walking the walk: He designed and led the process to nearly decarbonize his home, a 1938 Cape in West Newton, to be nearly net zero through insulation, air sealing, solar PV, and cold climate heat pumps.

Bob Persons

Bob-Persons Bob has worked to mitigate climate change since 1977, when he left a job analyzing nuclear plant foundations to be a research assistant at the Solar Energy Lab of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Bob has worked on energy efficiency projects ever since then at Thermo Electron, Citizens Conservation Corporation, Persons Engineering, and Ameresco. Bob’s specialties have included appliance efficiency, cogeneration, solar thermal systems, multifamily housing energy renovations, and municipal solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Bob’s family’s 1905 home in Auburndale gained a condensing boiler in 1994, a Prius in 2005, a rooftop solar PV system in 2010, a plug-in hybrid car in 2018, an induction cooker in 2019, and a cold-climate heat pump system and beefed-up attic insulation in 2020. And the DIY project to double glaze the home’s many, large windows preserving the original sashes is almost complete after, ahem, some years.

Now retired, Bob enjoys helping others take steps to protect our only planet for future generations.

Don Ross

DR-circle-headshot A 38 year resident of Newton, Don believes that urgent action is needed to address Climate Change. Thus, after 10 years of usage, he traded in his Prius in 2012 for the first Prius plug-in. When the Electric Vehicle Task Force was created he became a member.

In 2015 he added solar panels to his roof and later worked on the Newton Goes Solar campaign to educate Newton residents about solar options and benefits. He promoted Newton Power Choice and has opted for 100% renewable energy through Newton Power Choice. Mass Save has conducted a couple of energy audits on his house, and he is a member of Green Newton.

Don retired from Salem State University after 19 years as the Director of the Center for International Education. He earned a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a B.A. in History from Williams College.

Conditions are dangerous for brush and outdoor fires