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The steering committee of Sustainable Sudbury conferred our Coddington Award to Rami Alwan, for his service as a member and Chair of the Energy and Sustainability Committee for the Town of Sudbury and for his longstanding collaboration with Sustainable Sudbury on Wednesday, 10/15/26.
The Jane Coddington Award was established in 2000, to honor Jane Coddington, who founded The Earth Decade Committee that later became Sustainable Sudbury, in 2000. The award has been given since then to residents who exemplify environmental, sustainability and/or recycling activism. A book is given to the awardee and to the Goodnow Library with a commemorative book plate inside the front cover.
Throughout his years on the ESC Rami Alwan has shown distinguished service, leadership and collaboration with Sustainable Sudbury towards achieving reduction of carbon and additional sustainability goals in Sudbury.
He was one of the original members of the Energy and Sustainability Green Ribbon Committee, that later was renamed as the Energy and Sustainability Committee, and served for more than 15 years, including the last several as the committee’s chair.
Rami challenged the committee and the town to think boldly and creatively about affordable, sustainable solutions for Sudbury’s energy independence, a posture of constructive challenge that he has carried into every project and every meeting since.
Under Mr. Alwan’s tenure and advocacy as a member and committee chair, often in close partnership with town staff, town meeting and his fellow committee members, the Town of Sudbury has achieved a remarkable record of accomplishment, including:
The Sudbury Transfer Station Solar Photovoltaic Array at 20 Boston Post Road, a 1.5 megawatt photovoltaic facility transforming the town’s closed and capped landfill at the transfer station site into a productive municipal asset that operates at no cost to the town and generates approximately 1.9 million kilowatt hours annually, The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Solar Canopy, a 3,600 panel, approximately 1.2 megawatt parking canopy, interconnected in May 2015, and recognized as the first solar canopy of its kind at a Massachusetts high school; the Sudbury Community Electricity Aggregation Program, launched in August 2017, that provides Sudbury residents and businesses with rate stability, an enhanced renewable energy supply, and substantial savings and has collectively returned approximately $9.2 million to the community, both keeping ratepayer costs low and advancing the town’s decarbonization goals; establishment and stewardship of the Solar Revolving Fund, the dedicated town meeting authorized mechanism by which solar revenues are reinvested into further energy and sustainability improvements for the benefit of Sudbury taxpayers; LED lighting retrofits, including the conversion of Sudbury’s municipally-owned streetlights from high-pressure sodium to LED technology, that cut streetlight electricity use by an estimated 50-70% and lowered long-term maintenance costs, and interior LED retrofits across several town buildings; and importantly, the Green Communities Designation for Sudbury. Sudbury was one of the first municipalities in Massachusetts designated as a Green Community. This status unlocked for Sudbury grants and incentives for weatherization, HVAC improvements, rooftop unit replacements, and energy efficiency measures across the town’s facilities.
With Sustainable Sudbury, Rami was also deeply involved in the crafting and ultimate passage of the Climate Emergency Declaration, Article 58, the Climate Mobilization Action Plan, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, all passed in 2022, which together establish Sudbury’s strategic framework for long-term climate action.
Rami has also demonstrated sustained advocacy for the adoption of the specialized opt-in stretch energy code and other policy measures positioning Sudbury to meet its energy and climate commitments. This impressive list of accomplishments for the Town of Sudbury has, in the aggregate, delivered substantial and recurring cost savings to the Town, the Sudbury Public Schools, and the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School District. These savings can be measured not only in dollars returned to ratepayers and to the municipal budget, but in avoided emissions, deferred infrastructure costs, and grants and incentives made available to Sudbury that would not otherwise have happened.
Interpersonally, Rami Alwan has been a model of ethics, integrity, collegiality and fiduciary stewardship, consistently insisting that public funds dedicated to sustainability be used for their intended purpose, that the ESC’s deliberations be transparent and accountable to the residents of Sudbury, and that every project the town undertakes should be evaluated rigorously for both its environmental and financial merits. He consistently worked closely with Sustainable Sudbury members to further our joint goals. Rami did this all as a volunteer.
On Wednesday, Sustainable Sudbury expressed our profound gratitude and deepest appreciation to Rami Alwan for his extraordinary service to the ESC, as a tireless advocate for sustainability and for his openness to work with Sustainable Sudbury to achieve our shared goals.
We wished Rami heartfelt thanks and best wishes for all that lies ahead.
Sustainable Sudbury meets monthly, on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, in person and by zoom. To join us, email to: sustainablesudbury.org, and check out our website at sustainablesudbury.org. In this era of massive federal climate denial, it can feel good and it is important to continue to make local progress!