DEERFIELD - Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. praised western Massachusetts Thursday as a "real leader" in the renewable energy field, saying the region has helped spur the expansion of a state program aimed at reducing municipal energy usage.

Those comments came as Sullivan held a ceremony at the Deerfield Town Hall with local officials recognizing the five area towns designated Green Communities by the state this year. The event also marked the distribution of Green Communities funding to the municipalities participating in the program.

"I think western Massachusetts has always been interested in good environmental stewardship, but also understands where our energy comes from and how we can use it more efficiently," Sullivan, a former mayor of Westfield, said in a telephone interview before the ceremony. "I think western Massachusetts communities have been real leaders in clean and renewable energy," he said.

The local communities - Buckland, Deerfield, Granby, Middlefield and Shutesbury - accounted for $701,525 of the $3.7 million in energy efficiency grants distributed by the state in 2011. With the addition of those towns, 12 of the program's 74 communities statewide are in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Deerfield Town Administrator Bernard Kubiak said his town plans to use the $142,950 it received from the program to install energy-efficient lighting at the elementary school and finance improvements at the Town Hall, among other projects.

At Town Hall, officials are looking to reduce the large windows on the north and south side of the building, which leak heat during the winter months, Kubiak said. They will be replaced by expanding the wall and using smaller windows, he said.

"For us it's a win-win proposition. We can help the environment and our bottom line," Kubiak said, repeating a sentiment echoed by officials in other towns.

Granby Town Administrator Christopher Martin said the town is hoping to put the $144,125 it received toward the installation of a solar hot-water heater at the new public safety complex.

Future Green Communities grants, which are distributed annually, could help pay for the replacement of a series of inefficient boilers at the West Street School and Junior-Senior High School, a project that will cost around $900,000, he said.

"It's basically a funding source that will help us reduce our energy use," Martin said of the program.

Shutesbury is planning to use its $142,275 toward installing new heating and ventilation, air conditioning and hot water systems at the fire station. The money also will help pay for the installation of energy-efficient lighting, air sealing and photovoltaic panels at the station.

The Green Communities program offers the annual grants to help finance energy savings projects on the condition that communities take a series of steps to try to reduce energy consumption. Communities must establish an energy-reduction plan and an expedited zoning process for renewable energy projects, and adopt the "stretch code" - an energy-efficient building code - among other requirements.

Sullivan noted that the program had made remarkable progress, given that it was only established in 2008. In addition to the 74 communities in the program, an additional 34 have approved the stretch code which Sullivan said is the toughest hurdle.