HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 06/21/2012South Burlington Energy Committee June 21 Meeting Notes
Laura Waters, chair, convened the meeting at 7 PM.
Attendees: Laura Waters, Sam Swanson, Ilona Blanchard, Keith Epstein, Tim Perrin from Efficiency VT,
David Keefe from Efficiency VT
Keith Epstein volunteered to keep notes.
Residential Energy Code
David Keefe talked about Effieciency VT's goal of partnerting with communities to improve residential
energy efficiency as part of a pilot study. They are using the residential building energy code as a
springboard. Goals are to gain awareness and increase compliance with the code. They will partner with
around 5 towns in Vermont. There are two free programs with cash incentives. The first is Energy Code
Plus, and the second is Vermont Energy Star. They differ in their level of detail and amount of energy
efficiency. Some ideas for promoting efficiency are providing educational materials at the town clerk's
office, providing incentives for going beyond code requirements, or requiring energy code compliance
before occupying a building. Efficiency VT is open to ideas from communities. Some builders don't know
about the energy code, and some ignore it because of cost competition from other builders who ignore or
don't know about it. Many builders don't know how to comply with many of the requirements. Efficiency
VT provides free resources for builders to help them comply. Laura Waters suggested that the Energy
Committee discuss this further at the next meeting in the context of the planning for a Energy Efficiency
Challenge in South Burlington.
City Updates
Ilona says the city is close to signing a contract with Donna Leban for determining street light level
guidelines. The LED light swapout is on schedule for installation by the end of September. There are four
LED bulbs to choose from, and Donna's guidelines will be used to determine which bulb is appropriate for
each location.
The city is almost done selecting a renewable energy partner. We will need to come up with some
renewable energy goals for the partner to propose projects for.
The EPA energy use assessment is still in progress. The mold issue with city buildings is closed. Energy
upgrades will be done this summer.
The city has extended the deadline for energy committee applications, and there is one more open
position
Solar Challenge
We wrote a statement, but we haven't done any promotion. Laura will arrange getting the announcement
published in the Other Paper. Keith will get some testimonials from local solar companies about our
challenge for the Other Paper article.
Condo project
Laura says it is progressing and the toolbox is nearing completion
Evergreen fund
Tim Perrin anounced the Evergeen fund, a $750,000 revolving loan fund for K-12 schools to do energy
efficiency improvements. It's a 5 year 0% interest loan for projects that have payback periods less than 5
years. It's first come first served.
Shelburne Road Corridor Meeting
Sam reported that the Shelburne Road Corridor project will convene a public meeting to report findings
and recommendations July 11 at SB City offices. The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 - 8:15 PM. Sam will
communicate more about this meeting when the agenda is released.
Laura Waters observed that her four month term ends with this meeting. Because the meeting lacked a
quorum the Committee did not elect a new Chair. Those present indicated their plan to advocate that the
current Vice Chair, Marc Companion, be nominated and elected at the next regular meeting on July 19.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30