Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 04/04/2013South Burlington Energy Committee Meeting Minutes Members Present Absent Marc Companion / Don Cummings / Keith Epstein / Marcy Murray (scribe) / Sam Swanson / Peter Tousley / Laura Waters / Date: April 4th, 2013 Meeting Location: South Burlington City Hall City Staff: Ilona Blanchard Members of the Public: None Start Time: 7:05 p.m. Motion: To accept the March 7, 2013, minutes with changes Moved by: Don Cummings Seconded by: Sam Swanson Approval: Unanimous Motion: To elect Marcy Murray as Vice Chair for the next four months beginning at the close of this meeting Moved by: Sam Swanson Seconded by: Keith Epstein Approval: Unanimous Motion: To elect Don Cummings, current Vice Chair, as Chair for the next four months beginning at the close of this meeting Moved by: Sam Swanson Seconded by: Keith Epstein Approval: Unanimous Open Meeting Law Training for all city committees: There was a brief discussion about whether to reschedule our SBEC strategy meeting so we could attend the training regarding the Open Meeting Law. Because it had been so difficult to schedule our April 29th meeting (7 to 9:30 p.m. at Sam Swanson’s house), Ilona agreed to attend the training and share any pertinent information with us at a future meeting. City Staff Updates: LED Streetlight replacement. We have new information from GMP regarding 38 new lights that they’ve “found.” Ilona will work with GMP to reconcile that information. Once GMP finishes installing Colchester’s lights, they will install ours (although they have been charging us LED rates since February—LED rates are approximately 10% lower than non-LED ones). Renewable Energy Projects—Dorset Park Solar. There is momentum with the 60-kilowatt fixed solar array projected to be installed around April 15. Ilona reported that because of the access to electricity, the array is required to have a fence that has yet to be purchased. As a less expensive, more attractive alternative, Keith suggested that a screen be purchased instead. Ilona will explore that option. She will also see whether driving-range netting or some other alternative (potentially removable in winter) could replace the planned fence at the end of the lacrosse field to prevent potential damage from lacrosse balls. Keith pointed out that solar panel prices have dropped 30 or 40 cents per watt since this project started. Ilona will explore whether this could be used to offset the additional cost for fencing/scrim or whether the difference is being allocated to cover the transformer replacement. Ilona mentioned that rooftop solar on the two Cairns buildings may eventually be a possibility. Renewable Energy Projects—Police Station Solar. Encore created a new LOI— Letter of Interest--and has forwarded it to Ilona who wants to further examine whether this is acceptable to the city given the atypical structure, i.e., a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that includes a royalty. (According to the proposal, we would get a 10 percent deduction; that is, we would get full credit for all of the generated power, and then we would pay 90% of that value to Encore.) Don will help by researching comparable PPA’s that have been set up during the last 10 months. The staff at the Energy Atlas may have some of the necessary information. Ilona will confirm that Encore will pay for completely removing all equipment at the end of the panels’ life. The City Council will need to sign off on this project very soon if it is to be installed this year. A Certificate of Public Good (CPG) still needs to be applied for, etc. Renewable Energy Projects—Landfill Solar. This project won’t receive SPEED credits. More pressure on the SPEED board and the legislature would be needed to provide an opportunity for towns with “brownfields” to access such credits. It is a very complicated permit process to gain approval for landfill-related projects and a more complicated structurally —it is definitely not a low-bid process. Building Energy Codes. Ilona shared brochures from the Energy Code Assistance Center that she thought might be helpful to citizens and builders planning to build. She will mail them to Laura in case Laura wants to arrange for them to be given to building permit applicants. Keith was encouraged by upcoming dates in the Building Energy Code implementation schedule. Sam suggested that we promote these required codes for all new residential construction and then highlight which locations are, for example, Energy-Star certified—Efficiency Vermont would have that information. Market Street. We discussed the importance of all new buildings along Market Street having energy-efficient construction. That does not yet appear to be a priority. As a related example, many of the recommended trees are projected to grow too tall to allow for a solar advantage (for passive heating). Don emphasized that the committee can’t support the Form-based Codes recommendations if energy-saving techniques are not incorporated. He also mentioned that awnings and porches are not consistent with the latter, although of the two, awnings are the most problematic. There was agreement that we need to go on record with our position, e.g., that new construction must meet the Energy Star standard, and have roof ridgelines that are both oriented in the right direction and structurally sufficient for solar panels to be added in the future (if they aren’t installed initially). Peter suggested advocating for integrated design because it can be much more elegant, with the solar panels being “hidden” as part of the building. Don will talk to Paul Connor to see whether the Form-based Codes Committee recommendations should cover these issues and, if not, what/who should. Market Street building construction represents a huge opportunity if life-cycle cost is considered. Consequently, the city would be wise to embrace energy-saving requirements for all new construction. Ilona noted some of these can be written into the Land Development Regulations (LDR’s). We would need to decide which standards to recommend for commercial and residential construction, i.e., LEED or Energy Star. Keith suggested that we invite Efficiency Vermont to help decide the latter. Ilona encouraged us to discuss how to go about this with the Chair of the Form Based Codes Committee, Mike Simoneau and/or the Council liaison on the committee, Chris Shaw. Finally, in reviewing the proposed design for Market Street, there was consensus about the importance of safely accommodating bicycle and pedestrian traffic for the good of exercise-related public health, clean air, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. There was agreement on the idea of adding the development of a position on this issue to next month’s agenda. Project updates: Home Weatherization Challenge. Peter Jones will be unable to host his planned part of this weekend’s publicized weatherization open house event. Consequently, Don, Keith and Peter will be present in Peter’s driveway to talk with anyone who stops by intending to visit Peter’s house. Keith will further publicize the event on his local Front Porch Forum given that this is an experiment to focus on one neighborhood at a time. Marcy shared a story of an elderly man in Maine who lives in an un-insulated house and can no longer afford to pay the more than $6,000 (!) needed to heat it during the winter. We need to raise awareness of the significant savings that can come from weatherization. Keith shared information from conversations he’d had with staff at Vermont Gas about exploring the possibility of including a histogram (with a clear explanation of how to read it) on gas bills so that gas customers would be able to see how their gas usage compares with their neighbors’. Perhaps a visible phrase could be included on the bill, e.g., “If you are spending more than $1,500 a year to heat your home, call us!” Energy Committee involvement with Interim Zoning committees. There was consensus that it is crucial that energy have a significant presence in the final recommendations of the Affordable Housing and Form-based Codes committees for the good of the community and the climate. So far, the committees have chosen not to do so despite input from Keith and Don. (As one example of support for energy-related content: regarding affordable housing, even Habitat for Humanity recommends using energy-saving techniques such as weatherization to significantly reduce the cost of ownership.) We need to share with City Council our lists of resources and of recommendations for actions to take. Ilona suggested that Don first ask Kimberly Murray, the City staff for the Affordable Housing Committeewhich of our recommendations have been included in the Affordable Housing Committee’s final report, after which he could update the Planning Commission and, finally, go to City Council. Motion: Whereas Keith Epstein, in his role as Chair, has addressed the Affordable Housing Committee; and whereas Don Cummings, as a member of the committee, has spoken to the Form-based Codes Committee; and whereas neither has yet to see actionable items as a result; we move to have Don Cummings communicate with the City Council and the Planning Commission regarding the insufficient treatment that energy is being given in the Affordable Housing Committee’s recommendation and in the current Form-based Codes Committee's draft recommendations. Moved by: Sam Swanson Seconded by: Keith Epstein Approval: Unanimous Traffic light timing or other public works cooperation. We plan to give this topic more attention if it is deemed a priority in our April 29th strategy session. Claire Solar. The city will apply for intervener status in the Claire Solar application process. The City Council has requested a briefing at its public April 15th meeting by the applicant and all interested city committees. Sam and Don have worked on a statement describing our committee’s position as being in favor of the project. Motion: That the statement drafted by Sam Swanson and Don Cummings in support of the proposed Claire solar farm be presented by the committee to the City Council at the latter’s April 15, 2013, meeting. Moved by: Seconded by:(Further discussion and voting will occur at City Hall at 8 a.m. on April 9.) Decision: ICLEI membership discussion. Some of us expressed the desire to support the good work that ICLEI is doing by renewing our $600 membership. Given that $600 appears to be our entire budget for this year, and given Don’s recommendation to purchase two weatherization ads in The Other Paper, Don will meet with Paul to better understand our budget for the current year. Before our next meeting, we hope to find out whether the South Burlington emissions data in the soon-to-be-released ECOS report will have enough detail to make using the ICLEI software (to update our numbers) unnecessary. Marcy recommended tracking such data so we can assess to what extent we are reaching our energy goals. This discussion will be continued at next month’s meeting when we plan to determine whether to delay renewal to the new fiscal year that begins in July. SBEC online presence discussion. Marcy gave a brief description of the advantages and responsibilities of establishing an ongoing Facebook and/or website presence. We plan to resume the discussion at next month’s meeting. Adjourned at: 9:27 p.m. Upcoming Meetings: Tuesday, April 9th, at 8 a.m. at City Hall – 10-minute meeting Thursday, May 2nd, at 7 p.m. at City Hall