Climate Action Planning at Pierce House

In September 2023, after completing the Boston Green Ribbon Commission collaborative climate action planning process, Historic New England’s board of trustees adopted our climate action commitment statement and four climate action goals. These goals focus on four areas: mitigation, resilience, climate justice, and integrating climate action into our day-to-day work.

After the adoption of this statement and our four climate goals, we began the work of finding strategies and actions to help us achieve them. Some of our actions were implemented organization-wide, such as forming a climate action staff advisory group, purchasing electric landscaping equipment to replace fossil fuel powered equipment when it becomes unusable, prioritizing resilience-related repairs and maintenance at our sites, and continuing to keep our landscapes open to everyone.

However, with forty-two sites across New England, we knew that each site would face its own challenges when it comes to achieving these goals. With this in mind, we began working on site-specific climate action plans. The first, for Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, was completed in early 2024 and we have now completed our second plan, for Pierce House in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

In May 2024, we partnered with consultant GreenerU to develop the plan. Pierce House is on a very different site than Casey Farm, a three-hundred-acre working organic farm and a historic site that receives over 30,000 visitors a year. Pierce House is in an urban environment, sits on a quarter-acre of land, and receives nearly 5,000 visitors annually, primarily students from Boston area schools.

The planning process included an energy audit completed by GreenerU, an emissions assessment, a review of how the site may be impacted by flooding, storms, drought and other climate related weather events, and a review of programming. We also conducted several stakeholder engagement sessions to gather feedback from Historic New England members, site visitors, and community members. We also sent a survey to area teachers who previously brought their classes to the site.

Today, we are happy to share the Pierce House Climate Action Plan with our community members and to express our gratitude to everyone who participated in the planning process. We hope this plan will not only guide us as we begin taking steps to make Pierce House a carbon-neutral and resilient site, but also inspire others to begin their own climate action journey. It is together that we will be able to build a healthier, resilient, and just world.

Written by Joie Grandbois, Director of Sustainability

This report has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.