HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 04/29/2013SBEC Strategic Planning Session – Special Energy Committee Meeting
April 29, 2013
In Attendance:
Don Cummings, Chair Keith Epstein, Vice Chair Laura Waters, Scribe
Marcy Murray Peter Tousley Sam Swanson
No members of the public or city officials attended.
Don called the meeting to order & opened with a Proposed Process of: Ground Rules – 15 Min
Project Selection Criteria – 10 min
Review of Current Commitments – 10 min Review of Past Strategy Suggestions – 30 min
Project prioritization/Selection – 45 min The meeting began with a Ground Rules brainstorming session. The basic assumption
of participation on the committee is that this is a volunteer group with an ebb & flow of participation. We need to develop a common understanding of where we want to spend our energy & time resources.
Each member discussed their time availability and what they were interested or not interested in as far as their personal involvement. Don recommended that we try to
extend our resources to involve more people outside of the committee on projects. He stated that a point of contact with 350org was willing to send out an email to their South
Burlington members if we came up with an appropriate project. It was also mentioned
that other organizations have done work that the energy committee could use as an additional resource for presenting issues to the public & city
There was then a discussion of what our values are as a committee how to share our vision build credibility with city staff, city council & other committees. What concepts or
catch phrases could we develop that would be our linchpin. The committee feels that it is important to get the city’s planning committee to embrace
sustainability & to look at projects with an integrated approach. It was mentioned that there is federal & state money available for city sustainability projects.
There was a conversation about affordable housing as an example & that in the affordable housing definition, there is no mention of utilities for homeowners. Therefore, there is no incentive for groups to include this as a measurement when considering how
to increase affordable housing
We then discussed how to proceed with sorting of the projects. Projects can entail
legislative, outreach & educational component. We could organize by member skill sets. We should be tracking what the city council & other committees are addressing in their
meeting & make recommendation. We could also promote events that other organizations are doing.
We then began looking at our criteria, current commitments & past strategy suggestions. Current commitments include Stay Warm (& condo project), Public works changing
signals to LED lights, the city solar contract, Open Space committee, Form Based Code, Affordable Housing. We included that the Energy committee should create an energy policy & act as a general liaison.
Motion to adjorn made by Laura Waters, seconded by Keith Epstein and passed unanimously.
Included below are copies of data on the flip charts showing the results of the meeting.
Criteria for Strategy / Project Selection
• Addresses biggest CO2 contributors:
o Transportation
o Commercial Electricity
o Commercial Natural Gas
o Residential Heat
o Residential Electricity
o Municipal
• Renewable opportunity
• Reasonable effort to achieve
• Someone interested in working on it
• Get city government (and residents) to embrace energy sustainability
Current Committed Efforts:
Committee Projects Start End
Stay Warm Weatherization
Jan 12 2013 –
2014?
(incl Condo)
Projects with City Staff
Solar Development Mid 12 2014?
(Police stn, Cairns, Land fill
etc)
Public Works Efficiency June 13 Oct 13
(LED traffic lights, dynamic
signals, other efficiency?)
City Council, Committees, etc
Open Space Jan 13 ?
Form Based Codes Jan 13 ?
Affordable Housing Jan 13 ?
Energy Policy Jan 13 ?
General Liaison Jan 13 ongoing
Liaison with other Energy Committees ongoing
Potential Projects (Highest Priority in Green)
Renewable Energy:
• Encourage roof top solar – regulatory & promotion
• Encourage community renewable (coops, city wide bond, etc)
Efficiency/Conservation:
• Push to institutionalize in public buildings
• Energy Code compliance through city regulation & enforcement (e.g. DRB)
• Set goal to Energy Star
• Work the real estate industry – appraisals, lending
• Pace for S.B.
• Make people feel ownership for making their homes (lives) energy efficient
• Promote weatherization
Measurement:
• Develop measurement process to show progress
Communications:
• Promote adaptability/resiliency/prevention of/to climate change
• Promote idea of saving money
• Celebrate success – public and private
• Build our online presence
Transportation:
• Push Complete Streets
• Bike friendly city certification
• Push Park & Rides and Capture Lots
• Public Transportation to public destinations
• Code to require showers in commercial bldgs – Keith wants to personally work on this
• Anti-idle ordinance (car starters!)
• Promote “eco driving”
• Traffic light optimization: pilot of dynamic scheduling and other light timing, etc
• Make sure land use addresses transportation
• Collaborate with Rec Path Committee on Commuter and other bike paths/lanes
• Connect state transportation policy to local
Note: we talked about expanding our abilities to work on these and other projects with a concerted effort to recruit people to help but this didn’t get written down. I personally
think this might be the highest priority of all. DRC