MARION — Tom Friedman is thinking green with his campaign for Planning Board.

Friedman, a 25-year resident, is currently on the Energy Management Committee, which focused on issues that are “very close” to his heart.

“It seemed that we had a lot of challenges as to how to handle global warming, sea rise, increase in population, demand on space,” Friedman said.

Friedman is a longtime engineer, and he said his family has three hybrid cars, solar panels on their home and a solar hot water system.

“Start at home,” he said, “use those things to preach to friends and neighbors.”

If elected, Friedman said he’s interested in keeping Marion both affordable and environmentally conscious for future generations.

“Will they be able to afford to return to town and will the character of the town be what it was?” he said.

Friedman said he’s always had an interest in public service, but, now that his kids are getting older he said it’s “my turn to step up.”

Friedman also recognized the way Marion’s ongoing water and sewer issues affect the planning board.

In the early 2000s, Friedman, who worked in municipal water and sewer management, was on the committee which consulted with a design team for Marion’s wastewater treatment plant. Back then, Friedman said, the committee was “short-sighted when we worked with the engineer,” designing the sewer system in a way that made growth difficult.

But now, Friedman said, the goal is to get everyone on the sewer system.

“A centralized processing system is always going to be more efficient at capturing the nutrients than a single-family septic system.”