This January, the Devens Enterprise Commission is looking back at all of the amazing actions we took towards meeting our Devens Forward climate action and sustainability goals.
From permitting more redevelopment projects, to planting trees and passing policies, the DEC has been busy this year! Take a look at our year-in-review roundup:
Working in collaboration with the Town of Ayer, the DEC recently expanded our efforts with the Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project and installed two new pocket forests in Devens at Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School and Verbeck Field. These mini forests will better connect people with nature and reduce impacts of climate change by reducing urban heat-island impacts, improving air quality, reducing flooding through increased rainfall capture and infiltration, and providing accessible greenspace. These pocket forests will also serve as outdoor classrooms and labs for local educators to teach students about nature and science.
This year, we also had the pleasure of celebrating the 1st birthday of the original Ayer/Devens pocket forest! The Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project Pilot Site 1st Birthday Festival featured food, tours of the site, musical performances, and readings.
Left: Pocket Forest 1st Birthday celebration attendees from all over the region surround the Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest pilot project, including State Senator Jamie Eldridge and Marion Staddart. Right: Former Ayer Director of Economic Development, Alan Manioan lights the candle for the pocket forest birthday cupcake-cake that was beautifully designed as a tree! 
A new video prepared by our partners at BSC Group, will help make other communities aware of our project and how they can create their own pocket forests.
We also worked with Devens Department of Public Works to purchase and plant over 40 street trees throughout Devens to help maintain a robust street tree canopy which has multiple climate, health, social, environmental, and economic benefits for businesses and residents. Check out our Triple Bottom-Line Benefits of Street Trees for more information.
The DEC continued our tradition of hosting the Open Streets Earth Day celebration out on MacPherson Road again this year, in conjunction with the Town of Ayer and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Folks had a great time enjoying a car-free street and taking in the beauty of this natural resource-rich corridor! We highlighted the new Nashua River Trail and our newest pollinator meadow and interpretive signage for visitors to enjoy and learn! A big thanks to Devens businesses Jabil and BioTechne and their employees who assisted in the pre-event clean-up as well!
The DEC was proud to once again partner with Dick’s Market Garden to bring the Farmers Market back to Devens for another year, supporting local agriculture and providing access to fresh and healthy food. This year, we are particularly proud of our focus on engaging more local businesses and residents in our pre-order program, which was a major success! Be sure to be on the lookout for the 2025 market opening in June!
This year, as part of the Devens Forward Climate Action Plan and our initiative to reduce emissions, the DEC took many steps toward encouraging local developers and businesses to target embodied carbon in their projects (read our embodied carbon blog!):
- Devens recently adopted a set of Embodied Carbon Reduction Guidelines that include a set of tools and guidance to assist applicants with reducing the carbon footprint of their development projects. These Guidelines provide developers with resources that allow them to evaluate their building material choices – helping build more with less and contributing to the sustainable redevelopment mission of the Devens Reuse Plan. Read more in the official press release and download the guidelines here.
- To pair with the Guidelines, developers can take advantage of a Project Checklist for Reducing Embodied Carbon in Devens – a practical worksheet to help your projects tackle embodied carbon. Download the checklist here.
- Lastly, the DEC has incorporated an embodied carbon focus in existing buildings and demolition projects by adopting a policy that requires developers to submit a Solid Waste and Recycling Management Plan with all demolition projects. This process will help developers look at reuse opportunities for building materials and interior finishes and fixtures instead of disposing them, to maximize the lifecycle of products and reduce emissions. Check out the Plan form here.
Investing in an electric vehicle (EV) is one of the most impactful sustainable choices you can make. Individuals can reduce their personal carbon footprint significantly and businesses that electrify their vehicle fleets and equipment can reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to their corporate sustainability goals! The DEC has been partnering with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Smartway program to provide resources and assistance to Devens businesses looking to green their supply chains. Since Devens incorporated EV parking requirements, more than 100 charging stations have been installed throughout Devens (not all public). Is your business interested in installing charging stations for your employees? be sure to take advantage of the many federal and state incentives available. The Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (MassEVIP) provides grants for MassEVIP Workplace and Fleet Charging Incentives on their website.
For those who are looking to ditch their car completely, Devens has over 14 miles of trails and over 5 miles of dedicated bike lanes – and the numbers keep growing as more as Devens improves its street network in accordance with the Devens Green and Complete Streets Policy.
Utilizing Devens and MBTA public transit can make a world of difference. Learn more, travel sustainably. 
Development in Devens has been progressing rapidly throughout 2024 and it is all occurring within previously developed areas as the Devens Reuse Plan intended. Many of these sites were contaminated by past military activities and have been cleaned up and redeveloped in a much more sustainable manner. By preserving existing vegetation and requiring intensive planting plans, Devens redevelopment is integrating the natural and built environment.
And it is not just the sustainable landscapes that are helping to reduce carbon emissions, of the 1,840,000+ square feet of buildings under construction in 2023 and 2024, almost 1,800,000 square feet have been built to the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code – that's 98% of new buildings! Of these new buildings, over 285,000 square feet have gone a step further and achieved LEED Certification through the US Green Building Council. Our Low-Impact Development regulations helped reduce impervious surface coverage by over 172,000 square feet (19%). All of these improvements are resulting in more resilient buildings and landscapes that are able to withstand more frequent and intense storm events that are occurring as a result of climate change, using significantly less energy to operate, thereby reducing both embodied and operational carbon.
Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) have been an important focus of many redevelopment projects in Devens. Incorporating green infrastructure and smart growth strategies in both commercial and residential projects has helped reduce stormwater runoff, improve water quality, and reduce urban heat island impacts throughout Devens. The DEC hosted a number of NbS tours of Devens throughout 2024 for municipal officials, planners, engineers, students, watershed groups, and interested individuals to show first-hand NbS applications (seeing is believing!)
The tours have been so popular that the Mass Ecological Climate Action Network (ECAN) granted the DEC a 2024 Ambassador Award to share nature-based solutions and lessons learned through the creation of a “virtual tour” video series. The award enables climate adaptation practitioners to spread exemplary adaptation practices among their peers to ultimately help those practices become mainstream within the practitioner community. The reach of this NbS tour is another great example of Devens sustainable redevelopment having a broader impact beyond just Devens and benefiting the region as a whole.
2024 marked the exciting milestone of incorporating public art with the DEC’s sustainability mission. The Intersections of Communities and Cultures Mural on pavement at Willard Field was designed and painted by Fitchburg artist Shara Osgood and strives to attract visitors to notice the space and reflect on cultural and community identities and the many intersections between nature and the built environment at Devens. Project partners include MassDevelopment and the New England Foundation for the Arts, through the Making it Public for Municipalities Program.
In 2024, we produced 12 monthly blogs and interviewed 6 businesses to learn more about how they are advancing sustainability in their day-to-day operations in Devens. You can catch up on these blogs and sustainable business spotlights here.
The DEC wishes you and yours a happy and healthy 2025! Please remember to check back on the Devens Forward Dashboard throughout the year to stay updated on all things Devens climate action.