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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Energy Committee - 06/27/2013 South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington SPECIAL MEETING Thursday, June 27, 2013 7:00 pm South Burlington Municipal Offices, 2nd Floor, 575 Dorset Street AGENDA 7:00 PM Convene Meeting • Recruit scribe, timekeeper • Review and Approve meeting agenda • Approve previous month’s minutes 7:05 Invite Public to Speak • Vermontivate Update – Karen 7:15 Committee Member Comments (info that may be of interest to other committee members) 7:25 City Staff Updates - Ilona • Renewable Energy Projects: Dorset Park, Police Station, Cairns • Update on LED street lamps • Update on City position on Claire Solar Project 7:35 Project Updates • Home weatherization programs - 7:45 Other Business • Energy Committee Recommendation for Affordable Housing • Energy Committee Recommendation on Street Topology • Energy Committee Recommendation to Expand the Committee to 9 Members • Recommendation on Vehicle Purchase (ie. Electric car) – Ilona are we too late on this? • Strategic Planning: Interest in Projects & Committees • Renew ICLEI? • Reminder of Nominations and Elections at the Next Meeting 8:30 (or 9:00 if necessary) Adjourn Meeting NEXT MEETING: TBD – Thursday August 1, 2013 PCT: 6/11/2013 DRAFT South Burlington Energy Committee Meeting Minutes Draft Minutes from meeting on June 6, 2012 SBEC Members Attending: Keith Epstein, Marcy Murray, Don Cummings, Laura Waters, Marc Companion, Peter Tousley SBEC Members Absent: Sam Swanson Date: June 6, 2013 Meeting Location: South Burlington City Hall City Staff attending: Ilona Blanchard Members of the Public Attending: Susan SobyleSobczak, Lou Bresee, Ian Donahue, Karen McKenny Start Time: 7:00 PM Motion 1: Accept May 2, 2013, Meeting Minutes Moved by: Keith Epstein Seconded by: Laura Waters Approval: Unanimous Staff: Don Cummings reviewed meeting agenda and asked if additional items should be included. Added to agenda was: 1. Topology discussion regarding the Marketplace street design 2. The addition of new members by expanding the number of seats on the SBEC. Ian Donahue presented his latest work and findings regarding efforts to improve South Burlington street traffic flow for carbon and greenhouse gas reductions. Ian is finding that his recommendations for changes to traffic control devices (to improve traffic flow during non-peak traffic times of day), isare being met with resistance by those individuals responsible for public safety. Marc Companion suggested that even though it “appears” that changes are recommendable, engineering studies made before lights and signage were initiated were PCT: 6/11/2013 DRAFT thorough. In instances where previous planning has changed or not been realized, a study could be initiated to establish justification for changes but that it would be expensive. Karen MackcKenny presented the SBEC with an update on the Vermontivator game. Although South Burlington has the most players of any town in Vermont, points for participation are weighted, per-capita and therefore, other towns are ahead in the competition. Nonetheless, Karen is ecstatic over the number of South Burlington participants this year compared to last. Karen provided information about a grant program provided by the State of Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Go Vermont Program. The VTAOT is offering VT municipalities grant money to encourage local activities to promote public awareness and participation in the agency’s efforts to “increase carpool registrations, numbers of vanpools and general activity on the Go Vermont website”. Motion 2: That the SBEC craft a letter to Ross MacDonald of Go-VT, stating that the SBEC would like to apply for a Go Vermont Pilot Program Grant. Karen McKenny will draft the letter, Marcy Murray will proof the draft and Don Cummings will sign the letter. Moved by: Marc Companion Seconded by: Keith Epstein Approval: Unanimous Ilona Blanchard gave a brief summary of the SB street lighting conversion program progress. Don Cummings volunteered to calculate the carbon savings from the conversion of streetlights from HID to LED. Ilona also stated that the Dorset Solar Array was on-line and Keith Epstein recommended that to we establish a system “baseline,” i.e., each inverter should be read and the data logged. Ilona also indicated that progress is being made for a (68 kW ?) roof-mounted solar array. Encore and Green Lantern Capital are the developing team for this project. Claire Solar Project: The City of South Burlington has applied for “Intervener” status and will not state a position until after Discovery Proceedings are completed. SBEC Project Updates: Condo Weatherization project: The attempt to motivate this market sector has been “overwhelming” and disappointing. The general consensus is that, given limited resources and time, more attention should be directed towards single-family weatherization efforts such as the Stay Warm program. PCT: 6/11/2013 DRAFT Affordable Housing: Don Cummings presented his thoughts on the impact that utilities have on the affordable housing market and how more efficient housing is presently being considered as a factor in mortgage calculations. SBEC committee discussed the need to “Define” affordable housing, the need to reach for a higher standard than that established by the VT Residential Energy Building Code, and the need to establish a prerequisite for “solar-ready” roves??? including appropriate orientation and supportive construction techniques. Motion 3: That the SBEC will craft a comment on affordable housing. Moved by: Keith Epstein Seconded by: Marc Companion Approval: Unanimous Market Street: Ilona Blanchard provided a description of the proposed design for right-of-way on the new Market Streetscape. The committee discussed needs for an appropriate and safe bicycle route and how bicycle traffic in marketplaces has been studied and proven to substantially increase retail sales. Motion 4: That the SBEC will make the following recommendation on Market Street: “The South Burlington Energy Committee strongly recommends that the bike lane be continuous and buffered from the vehicle travel lane for the entire length of Market Street. In addition, we strongly encourage that public transit connections be accommodated on Market Street throughout its length. These recommendations would support environmentally sustainable transportation options and would safely accommodate all users of all abilities along Market Street in an energy-efficient way.” Moved by: Marc Companion Seconded by: Peter Tousley Approval: Unanimous City Wide Topology: Motion 5: That the SBEC will make recommendations on Street Typology by July 8, 2013. Marcy Murray will draft recommendation and submit to SBEC for comment. Moved by: Marc Companion Seconded by: Keith Epstein PCT: 6/11/2013 DRAFT Approval: Unanimous Next Meeting: Due to the first Thursday of July being a holiday, the next Energy Committee Meeting will be held on June 27, 2013: 7 PM at the South Burlington City Hall. Motion 56: To adjourn meeting Moved by: Marc Companion Seconded by: Peter Tousley Approval: Unanimous Meeting adjourned at 9:55 PM, June 6, 2013 Background: Housing built today in all likelihood will be with us for the next 100 years. Utilities are currently a major cost for homeowners and the outlook, even with recent reductions in natural gas prices, is that it will become even higher. To ensure that a home is “affordable” for the long term, extra measures need to be taken during its’ construction to make the building very energy efficient. We recommend that the following be added to the Affordable House Committee’s report. Recommend that all “affordable” homes built in S. Burlington that are enabled by density incentives, inclusionary zoning or other city incentives shall be built to a significantly higher energy standard than current VT energy code (for example Energy Star). The specific energy standard will be determined though consultation with Efficiency VT and other local experts. In addition, these homes should be built with roof top PV to help offset the electrical usage by the building and its’ occupants. Support for the higher Energy Efficiency standard: It is our understanding that multifamily buildings that are built with state or federal subsidies will likely be built to higher standards than current code(to Energy Star level or equivalent for example). We also understand that large multifamily buildings built and run by housing trusts will also likely be highly efficient if the trust is responsible for paying the energy costs. However, for all other developments (affordable or otherwise) there are usually few incentives for a builder to make the home highly energy efficient since the eventual owners or renters will be paying the utility costs. If “affordable” homes are built without these extra energy efficiencies built in they may soon become unaffordable as energy cost continue to climb. This raises the question “will homeowners be able to finance more efficient homes due to the higher initial costs?” A quick (and by no means comprehensive) survey of the lending industry found the following. Recent changes in mortgage lending practices (allowed by Freddie Mac) permit projected energy savings for Energy Star homes to be added to what the homeowner would normally be limited to for a monthly payment (by using standard underwriting policies for normal homes). This increase in allowable payment results in the borrower being able to finance a higher principle and thus would support the increased purchase price of the more efficient home. Source: John Hood, in charge of Lending, New England Federal Credit Union. Recent evolutions in the appraisal process, though needing to get more widely supported, are beginning to see energy efficiency reflected in higher appraised values. Although there is no direct line item for efficiency on the appraisal, comparabless are becoming available for higher efficiency homes. In addition, adjustments can be made in the quality rating of a property, when it is highly energy efficient, that will adjust the appraisal values higher. Source: Mike Cannizzaro, Cannizarro Real Estate; John Dolan, Dolan Appraisal Services. Support for the roof top solar: Current (and expected future) pricing as well as available grants or tax credits for solar electric generation makes the addition of rooftop solar a viable investment to offset future energy costs. While each project will be different, the general rules of proper orientation, minimizing roof penetrations and installation of high quality and long lasting roofing materials will maximize the effectiveness of these installations. Draft SBEC Position on the Street Typology Second Draft 6/24/13 The South Burlington Energy Committee strongly encourages the City Council to:  Acknowledge and aggressively publicize the science-confirmed threat of climate change, the significant role that South Burlington’s transportation-related emissions contribute to climate change, and the city’s preference that citizens use non-motorized or group (transit or carpool) travel for the good of climate and citizen health.  Minimize transportation-related carbon emissions by maximizing the convenience and safety of public transportation and non-motorized usage, e.g., bikes.  Work diligently to quickly add safe bikeways and bike lanes throughout the entire city so that climate-change-conscious and health-conscious citizens can travel in two directions on each street, and only truly need cars for out-of-town travel and inclement weather. o Work with neighboring towns to expand this network of safe bike lanes  Maximize non-motorized travel by preserving the distinct separation of non- motorized and motorized traffic (as shown in the Recommended Cross Section of the First Draft Street Typology) by elevating all bike/non-motorized paths or by protecting them with trees or other barriers. o Where such separation is not possible, have bike lanes of different color or lane material. o Where roads must be shared without bike lanes, require low vehicle speeds and use visible messages on asphalt and/or signage demanding safe road-sharing and kindness (ideally educating citizens that cyclists and other non-motorized travelers help climate and citizen health and should be respected/thanked). o Educate city government and city committee members that protected bikeways could yield significant increases in business for retail establishments (as experienced in New York City: http://www.americabikes.org/nyc_study_finds_protected_bicycle_lanes_b oost_local_business)  Use a design that prevents open car doors from hitting bike lane users where parking must be adjacent to bike/non-motorized travel lanes.  To ensure that typology requirements do not hinder the energy efficiency of buildings that will eventually be constructed along these roadways: o Where feasible, streets should be aligned to facilitate rooftop solar installations (N/S, E/W). o Buildings (and roofs) built on the street grid should be aligned to facilitate rooftop solar installations on south-facing roofs. o The selection of allowable trees planted along the street should be limited to those with a mature height that will not shade solar arrays on rooftops. o Care should be taken that requirements for landscaping & trees planted along the street (and in front of buildings) will not impact the ability of developers to build passive-solar and low-energy buildings. SBEC Market Street Cross-section Position—Revised Draft The South Burlington Energy Committee strongly recommends that the bike lane be continuous and buffered from the vehicle travel lane for the entire length of Market Street. In addition, we strongly encourage that public transit connections be accommodated on Market Street throughout its length. These recommendations would support environmentally sustainable transportation options, would safely accommodate all users of all abilities along Market Street in an energy efficient way, and could yield significant increases in business for retail establishments as experienced in New York City: http://www.americabikes.org/nyc_study_finds_protected_bicycle_lanes_boost_local_busi ness R – 2013 - RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOUTH BURLINGTON ENERGY COMMITTEE WHEREAS, the mission of the South Burlington Energy Committee is to promote energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy resources among the City's residents, businesses, and in municipal affairs; and WHEREAS, the Committee will assist the City in addressing certain goals expressed in the Comprehensive Plan, such as promoting energy efficiency, affordable energy, and decreasing reliance (per capita) on non-renewable energy resources; and WHEREAS, the Committee was established by resolution of the Council on June 20, 2011 with seven members serving staggered terms and would better be able to carry out their mission with nine members serving staggered terms; and, WHEREAS, the Committee shall be responsible for electing officers; and WHEREAS, this Committee initially was under the auspices of the Planning & Zoning Department and was staffed accordingly and is now staffed by the City Manager’s Office; and WHEREAS, the Committee may undertake studies, programs, or events in the advancement of its mission but shall seek City Council approval prior to engaging the City in outside programs or studies involving significant financial, staff, or representational commitments. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by action of the South Burlington City Council that the South Burlington Energy Committee membership is hereby expanded to nine members; and FURTHERMORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Committee shall be staffed as designated by the City Manager. APPROVED this _____ day of ______________ , 2013. SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL __________________________________ ________________________________ Pam Mackenzie, Chair Pat Nowak, Vice Chair __________________________________ ________________________________ Chris Shaw, Clerk Helen Riehle __________________________________ Rosanne Greco