HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 07/19/2012South Burlington Energy Committee
July 19, 2012 Meeting Notes
Laura Waters, chair, convened the meeting at 7 PM.
Attendees: Laura Waters, Sam Swanson, Ilona Blanchard, Keith Epstein, Don Cummings, Anna
Sommers, Marc Companion. Don Cummings volunteered to keep notes.
Elections of Officers were held and Marc Companion and Keith Epstein assume 4 month positions as the
new Chair and Vice Chair of the committee.
City Updates
Renewable Energy Partnership: A resolution will be presented to the city council to approve the
selection of Encore Redevelopment as the city’s Renewable Energy Partner. A motion was made and
unanimously approved by the Energy Committee that we support this selection. Based on Encore’s
recommendations the city has applied for reservations for grants for three 60k PV installations on city
buildings or land.
LED Streetlamps: Work proceeds by a contractor to determine street light level guidelines and to survey
the city owned streetlamps before replacement occurs. There was some discussion about special
circumstances where shielding of lamps may be necessary to keep light from coming into homeowners
windows. Ilona will work with GMP on this issue.
The Energy Committee recommends that the city write a letter to GMP stating that during the replacement
process, GMP should update their mapping system and billing system to reflect the actual number of
lamps and where there are installed. At the end of the replacement this info should be provided to the
city.
EPA Energy Use Assessment: Still in progress.
Municipal Energy Grant: No update
Project Updates
Shelburne Road Corridor Meeting: Sam reported that the Shelburne Road Corridor study has been a
comprehensive review of all uses for this corridor. He was enthusiastic about the quality of the work effort
and noted that they have included our recommendation about a Park and Ride at Kmart and that they
have also recommended an additional one further south on Route 7.
Improve Compliance with Energy Code for New/Remodeled Residential Construction: A letter
explaining the need to comply with the Vt State Energy Codes is now being given out with all residential
building permits. Efficiency Vermont is looking to work with communities to implement other ways to
improve compliance.
Solar Challenge: The Solar Challenge announcement was published in the Other Paper. We will
continue to work with installers to try to find a way to promote PV installations in the city.
CCRPC Greenhouse Gas Study: The study is nearly complete and a report is due this fall.
Condo project: Shelter Analytics has made good progress identifying and contacting condo associations
about the effort. As a result owners from 17 associations have attended workshops about the program.
There are 10 energy audits in progress and 4 more scheduled that will represent potential improvements
to many buildings. Vt Gas has been adjusting their audit and rebate programs to help make this project a
success. The contractor is working on their key deliverable - to get these audits turned in to contracts for
energy upgrades.
The committee will discuss how to sustain this effort after the Shelter Analystics contract ends in
September.
Residential Weatherization Project: A brainstorming session is scheduled for 7/25, 7:00 pm in the 2nd
floor conference room at city hall to begin to develop this program. All are invited to attend.
ECOS Grant: There is an opportunity coming up to apply for a grant that promotes sustainability. Perhaps
we could apply for a grant to support our goals of reducing energy use or increase renewable energy
production and as a result save our community money and reduce CO2.
Green Building Day: It was suggested that we may want to put together a big event to promote energy
efficiency and renewable energy production. We will discuss further at subsequent meetings.
Anna Sommers is moving to Arizona in August and will no longer be able to volunteer on the energy
committee. She will be greatly missed! We all wish her the best of luck.
Meeting adjourned at 8:40