HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-22-16 BCP Meeting MinutesBOZEMAN CLIMATE PARTNERS
MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
1) CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Bozeman Climate Partners Working Group was called to order at 2:05 PM on
September 22, 2016 in the Strand Union Building, 233 at MSU by Natalie Meyer.
PRESENT
Natalie Meyer, Heather Higinbotham, Kathy Powell, Leigh Pender, Steve Crawford, EJ Hook, Jennifer Boyer, James
Tobin, Kristen Walser, Chris Kukulski, Carson Taylor, Son Seifert, Paul Gannon, Jay Sinnott, Ralph Johnson, Carson
Taylor, Joan Montagne, Bill Hanson
2) SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Mayor Taylor and County Commissioner Seifert led the discussion on
3) CHANGES TO THE AGENDA
Agenda approved as distributed.
4) PUBLIC COMMENT
N. Meyer opened public comment.
K. Walser informed the group about Low Carbon Crossing, a cross‐country bike ride starting in Oregon and ending
in Washington DC. The bikers are stopping in multiple cities along the way and hosting community conversations
on climate. They will be stopping in Bozeman on September 18th. The group will be at Pilgrim Congregational
Church from 3‐5 pm and there will be a talk at 5 pm. K. Walser invited Climate Partners to be a part of the
educational aspect of the event.
S. Bilo also reminded the group that the Clean Energy Fair was scheduled for September 17th in Helena.
N. Meyer closed public comment.
5) MINUTES
Minutes from June 23, 2016 were not approved.
6) NON‐ACTION ITEMS
D) NET ZERO ENERGY HIGH SCHOOL UPDATES
S. Bilo updated the group on her recent conversations with school board members and School District
Superintendent Rob Watson, who thought it worth setting up a meeting with Steve Johnson and Todd Swinehart.
S. Bilo put together a formal letter which was sent to Watson, Johnson, Swinehart and board members.
S. Bilo also spoke to the Department of Energy about their new K‐12 net zero energy assistance program and the
DOE informed her that we could bring the high school into the inaugural program.
She noted that N. Meyer had been speaking with Brit Fontenot about the assistance program as he is a member of
the design selection committee and asked N. Meyer if there were any updates from him. N. Meyer said that due to
other complications and priorities with the school district, B. Fontenot’s conversations with Swinehart could not be
focused on this issue immediately.
C. Taylor noted that he liked the idea of working through the school board first, and then the administration. He
also noted that the school district is concerned with passing their bond, which is why sharing facilities with the City
is a good thing—it’s saving them money and working to benefit the environment.
S. Bilo commented that even if the school board does not adopt a net zero goal, these conversations have made an
impact as it is a new concept for them.
S. Bilo asked why the school district is LEED averse and K. Blackler answered that the school district feels as though
they have already accomplished LEED standards and do not need a third party certification. She went on to say
that she did not believe the school district realizes how much more there is to being a ‘green school’ compared to
where they are. The certification entails more aspects than just the building.
C. Taylor mentioned that when he was on the school board, the person who held the position that T. Swinehart
currently holds told them that ‘this is as green as it gets.’ He doesn’t know what Swinehart is telling the board now
but noted that his role is highly influential.
N. Meyer thanked S. Bilo for moving the conversation forward with the school.
A) TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN
J. Sinnott submitted a letter to the commission on behalf of the group. C. Taylor confirmed that the letter is in the
packet. A question arose about the timeline for the plan and N. Meyer said she would follow up with Jeff Keys.
N. Meyer asked C. Taylor if he would like to give an update on Kagy and C. Taylor said he would prefer to wait as
the project is in flux.
B) ENERGY SMACKDOWN, ENERGY PROJECT, AND WORKSHOP UPDATES
H. Higinbotham updated the group on the Energy Smackdown final numbers:
Total energy saved (therms): 1,493.327
Avg. energy saved per participant (therms): 27.150
Total $ savings: $5,986.80
Avg. $ savings per participant: $108.85
Avg. % energy reduction: 3.3%
Avg. Energy Use Intensity (EUI): 44.64*
H. Higinbotham noted that she was working with Jessica Johnson, Neighborhood Coordinator, to organize a
neighborhood competition during the next Smackdown. She mentioned that a press release will be issued for the
re‐launch of the Smackdown in October and asked for suggestions on advertising. K. Blackler suggested advertising
at Low Carbon Crossing, S. Bilo suggested a television spot on the news and also noted that October is energy
awareness month, which could make it a topical story. H. Higinbotham sent out a survey to get feedback on the
Smackdown and 80% of responders mentioned that they wanted incentives or rebates; 50% wanted to know how
they compared to others; all said they would participate again. J. Sinnott asked if this last round’s participants
would need to re‐register and H. Higinbotham said they were checking on that.
H.Higinbotham and N. Meyer will be having a debrief meeting with WattzOn, the Smackdown Platform host, to
discuss ways to improve the program and challenges faced this year. Challenges included data not linking
automatically or staying linked, incomplete data, no options to enter information on alternate heat sources
beyond gas or electric (such as propane, wood stoves, solar, etc. or indicate no natural gas usage), challenges with
participants joining a group, and *too broad of a range for square footage estimates for calculating EUI.
They will discuss opportunities to increase engagement with the online platform, further customization of the
monthly newsletters, adding more data fields, adding water usage, and increasing ability to compare participant
usage to other homes/participants in the contest.
The next round of the Smackdown will launch on October 1st.
H. Higinbotham gave an update on the Energy Project. Ace Hardware completed a full LED retrofit of their
downtown location and will eventually have both stores fully retrofitted to LED lighting. They are also looking at
solar on one or both locations. Beaudette Consulting Engineers completed an LED lighting retrofit. The Community
Food Co‐op has already received their incentive for an LED lighting retrofit, but they continue to implement energy
efficiency projects and receive technical support from the City. They are currently implementing a refrigeration
project, replacing open air coolers with coolers with doors, which will save an estimated factor of 5 on energy use.
The Loft Spa completed their lighting and energy/water efficient washer and dryer install, and will film their case
study video next week. Pump ‘N Pak, the gas station north of the interstate on N. 7th, is doing an interior and
exterior lighting retrofit. The City is running ads in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, both online and in print. The print
ads are being run monthly on Sundays on the back page of section A, underneath the weather. The online ads are
estimated to have 40,000 imprints per month.
S. Bilo asked about mini‐workshops being held at these businesses, for example an LED workshop at Ace Hardware.
H. Higinbotham said she would ask the owner of Ace about that.
H. Higinbotham gave an update on the spring workshop series. She sent a survey to past participants and got 60
responses on timing, topics, etc. The topics of interest included composting, solar hot water, stormwater
conservation, innovation and new technologies, energy efficiency funding, water quality, energy efficiency for
renters, and seasonal weatherization. She noted that they are thinking of doing shorter presentations for a
broader group during this next round, with a Pecha Kucha style event featuring eight to ten six‐minute
presentations rather than one long discussion. N. Meyer noted that the issue that arises is whether they want to
create awareness and inspiration or provide technical information. H. Higinbotham added that they received
positive feedback and participants were grateful for the presentations.
A discussion arose on ways to make the workshops more hands‐on. S. Bilo mentioned that a hands‐on composting
workshop would be interesting. D. Perata suggested organizing talks before Bozeman Doc Series films to reach a
different audience, though it was agreed that this was too expensive. N. Meyer suggested perhaps showing a video
beforehand which would be more affordable.
B) COMMUNITY GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY UPDATE
N. Meyer informed the group that a new greenhouse gas emissions inventory was initiated and the scope of the
inventory has changed. She has been working with NorthWestern Energy to bring the utility data limits down to
Bozeman’s planning limits. To date, the utility data range has been based on a large scale geographic area which
extends far outside the Bozeman City limits. This change of inventory range will significantly change the baseline
and other information. In addition, the methodology used to determine the data has changed several times and
become more refined. The new inventory will not look a lot like the original and there will be a need to inform
businesses and the community about these changes and about accepting a new inventory and setting new goals.
She noted that communities across the country seem to be getting more ambitious with their goals and wondered
if culturally people are ready to talk about more than a 10% reduction.
C) BOZEMAN STRATEGIC PLAN
C. Taylor and N. Meyer showed the group the new survey link on the City’s website and walked them through the
questions and process. S. Bilo suggested that the group complete the survey by mid‐September and have a work
session to discuss it and consider what their message to the commission will be. C. Taylor also noted that it would
be useful if the group could put together their ideas/suggestions and present to the commission.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 3:38 PM by Natalie Meyer. The next regular meeting will be at 2:00 PM on September
22, 2016, in the Madison Room of City Hall.
Minutes submitted by: Erika Heidecker