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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-10-09 Mayor's Community Climate Task Force MinutesMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF: Mayor's Community Climate Task Force BOZEMAN, MONTANA December 10 2009 The Task Force met in City Commission room at the Bozeman City Hall on 121 N. Rouse St, on Thursday, December 10 2009 at 6:00 p.m. Present were task force members: Kaaren Jacobsen Dawn Smith Scott Bishke Bill Murdock Mel Kotur Daryl Nourse Otto Pohl Leroy Wilson Anders Lewendal Kevin Barre Mary Cloud Ammons Dan Stevenson ...city staff liaison Hattie Baker and Natalie Meyer, Grants /Climate Protection Coordinator. Minutes prepared by Rebecca Piersol. Hattie Baker presenting. Committee agenda was given to members. I. Public Comment I. No public attendance. II. Introduction I. Hattie Bakers reintroduced herself to members. II. Introduced previous task force members- Otto Pohl, Scott Bishke, and Mel Kotur. Also introduced non task force member- David Boggeman and his connection to transportation. His experience in that field may help sub committees Introduced members not present for 11/19/2009 meeting III. Mary Cloud Ammon VP for NENA (North East Neighborhood Association) and is a researcher /teacher at MSU IV. Anders Lewendall- SWIMBIA Representative V. LeRoy Wilson- CEO of Bozeman Deaconess Hospital VI. Mel Koutor- NW Energy Consumer Advocate VII. Daryl Nurse- Represents Reid -Smith Architects III. Old Business I. Meeting Dates- Second Thursday of every month I. Agreed to continue as is. II. Meeting attendance timeline I. Second Thursday of March is in conflict? (possibly with University schedule) II. Group adopted- if member misses more than 3 meetings, may have to revaluate member's participation. III. Scott Bishke talked about the website he created for task force members www.cacheo.com a blog to help members stay connected other than email. Mary Cloud- can a RSS feed connected to the blog? III. Bios Newsletter I. Hattie introduced Task Force website City of Bozeman Website Sustainability Strategy >Climate Action Plan, where bios and pictures will be posted. II. Newsletter- first one in January. First issue will talk about the taskforce and highlight a handful of members. III. Mayor Karen Jacobson reiterated how this task force is important to the community and its mission. Thanked members for their public service. IV. New Business I. PowerPoint presentation: Burlington Brattleboro, VT; Keene, NH; Boulder, CO; and Bellingham, WA Climate Action Plan I. Hattie Baker: Introduced ICLEI's 5 milestones— conduct baseline, established target lower than emissions, develop CAP, implement, implement policies and measures, and monitor and verify results. II. CAP format- define problem, emission, inventory, municipal and community are together in other plans III. Reviewed each plan and its goal. I. Bellingham, WA PP: Otto- tons per capita, they vary. Why does that happen? Hattie- ex. Keene NH didn't have an industrial factor. Dam- electrical Source varies across country. East coast is coal driven. Bellingham is hydro, so their carbon is low. Hattie- They purchase green electricity, so they're 100 II. Brattleboro, VT PP: Hattie- Natalie, will we convert to LED traffic lights? Natalie- Working on amber of red light. Hattie- grants for traffic lights Natalie- unknown at this point. Hattie do we use biodiesel for our trucks in the city? Natalie- no. too expensive. Otto Are the measures recommended or mandated? Hattie mostly recommended, a theme seen in the rest of the communities. Otto- Main boiler for buildings would work to heat multiple buildings... would that work for here? Anders- To have one central heater is probably used at MSU or in a duplex Dan looked at central heater, but problem is- so upfront capital intensive that no builder would take that on. Typically developers like to offset that money to the back end. Daryl- Proposed for "Spirit" complex, for geo thermal heating or ponds- used in ponds for geo thermal heating. Dan- Build houses to absorption rate. Sell three houses and build three more. Downtown St Paul, MN was very successful- for commercial core. Had bio mass plant and used wood. Anders- Can include in homeowners association to pass a fee. Dan- Not sure how they paid for it in St Paul, MN. Billings has a central heating system. Works fantastic. Most hospitals have it. Bill- Some cities failed at reaching their targets. Can we just use cities that work ex- Austin, TX? Hattie- Because they have a municipalized owned source is why it worked in Austin III. Keene, NH: no comment IV. Boulder, CO (I): Dan- MSU is the largest energy user within town... assuming so since University of CO is 5% share in total Boulder emissions. Mary- Their transportation is low? LeRoy- They have trails and great public transportation. (Hattie spoke about Boulders plan- needs to email it to members.) Scott All these reports, you started mining each report. Should each member read a report and share it on the website? Hattie- You're fairly busy already, but if you are able to read /skim through reports is helpful. Hattie brought up the program evaluation matrix Dan- 2 techs and a truck? Hattie- People don't know how to weatherize so they send out two techs and a truck Mary- Might work with conservation clubs. People know how to replace toilets with water efficient toilets, but people may not know how to install a toilet. May tie into volunteerism from clubs. Leroy- When boulder put this together, the city put on workshops. Got contractors to do it for free. Mary NENA has talked about block parties and they go through and do weather stripping on one block. Blocks of energy audits, or weatherize. Hattie- You could see if the GIS dept can track/highlight your progress. Scott- Could a carbon tax go in front of a commission? Kaaren- Go for what you think is best. Anything can go before a commission, but it doesn't mean it will pass. Don't think what will they think- go with your best plan. They mark it up as they see fit. Scott- Boulder's initiative is funded by the carbon tax, which helps. Hattie- There is a tax already on the people on Bozeman. Otto- How does Boulder's tax work? Hattie- It's on your utility usage. Can't remember natural gas is included. Otto- Not gasoline? Hattie- No. Kaaren- Get it out there now, and then it's out there. You'll move forward. Otto- How much? Hattie- They just went before the council and passed the highest amount of KWH yet. Something around $.00030/KWH. Scott -Not very much Hattie- They have a greater population [than Bozeman]. Hattie- is there opportunity to find funds or what are we doing already? Dawn- USB fund for NW- used it for commercial and home buildings and every rebate the city will give you and there's a lot of money out there- ex. one building is $2k... two fold thing since you're using the rebate to save you money on USB tax. If you go to website, they have commercial and residential rebates. Hattie- Question of outreach of education? Is it something residents are already doing? Scott- Is money from State or City? Mel- Money from state of Montana. One of the challenges is that it is regulated by the commission, on how its assessed and distributed locally. Would be complicated. Need to have dialogue with commission. V. Burlington, VT: Otto- Is biomass trees? Is it used anywhere? Hattie- Yes, but MSU said it was a cost issue to do there. Have they continued to talk about doing biomass here at MSU? Dan- Many constrictions; tricky and issues with having a plant right in town looking at volume of biomass needed. Not a slam dunk. Hard. Natalie Air quality issues? Dan- Not characterized as primary issue nor with connectivity. Money seemed to be greatest concern. Dawn- Any example where cities used mandatory measures for community? Hattie- No other than carbon tax. Anything mandatory was on municipality end. Otto- everyone seems to do same 6 things. Hattie- Yes. Part of guidelines ICLEI has structured. VI. Medford, M4: Hattie- Do we have a City idling program? Natalie- We do. It has exemptions such as if its below zero. Hattie- Seattle, they're converting their city fleet to hybrids. Have pumping stations throughout the city. Dawn- Did they change building codes? Would be curious, and I thought Boulder set a standard codes program? Hattie- They did and not sure if its mandatory or not. Anders- We're using 2003 energy codes... its 40% more efficient to use 2006 codes than 2003 codes. Otto Are we going from 03 to 09 code next year? Anders- Wes. We're on 03 codes and it should be more efficient to switch. Dawn- In theory we'll hit our reductions by just switching codes? Anders- Yes. Mel- North West energy tracks weatherization/ Otto- Can you (Anders) bring a report next time? Anders- Looking at older homes in town, what percentage of those are taking part in weatherization? Daryl- Would be interested in learning what areas of town are most inefficient. Anders- Older homes, you might as well have the windows open. NW energy you, have to be a 6.9 to qualify for re- weatherization. Need technology for air exchange. Otto- Get older homes down to 3 Anders- Asbestos- another problem. May be drawing in asbestos from attic. More challenges than just cost. Dawn- COB could reduce impact fee? Anders- City can't give preferential treatment Scott- increase number of Energy Star houses in Bozeman from 80% to 90 How do we get there? How can we quantify? Dawn- new or old construction? Anders- new homes are all energy star Scott- how does Energy Star go from 2009 to 2015.? Anders- I'll get certificates each year... and retrofit /replace appliances house to maintain certificates. Bought older house and it's a huge feat to get it energy Stared. Mel- Energy Star- Department of Energy's program. Less that 50 or 100 in Bozeman that are certified. Certification process is a menu of things such as windows, etc. Not a very good way to measure in old homes. Maybe use a survey? Bill- Not necessarily need to have Energy Star homes. For example, just replace boilers with Energy Star? Mel- How do you acquire that data? Bill- Rebates are good. Anders- Each community would be surveyed and volunteers would go and educate community on tax credit available if they retrofit. Dawn- You can triple dip? Mary NENA has Google groups that have online forums for networking and forums. Ex Bogart Park or "CAN" next to MSU did survey on MSU interactions. NENA has a network of people delivering newsletters. Has grass roots movement. Anders- If we had someone approach older homes, it would be a targeted effort. Mary- Eight neighborhood associations. South, North, and Valley Unit Park are covered. Old neighborhoods mostly. Those not associated have homeowner's assoc. CAN- their neighborhood assoc is recognized by City- no politics- makes neighborhood engagement poor. Whereas NENA is politically active and more cohesive. Kevin- When targeting houses, you need to differentiate from owners and renters. They're not worried about investment b/c they're not paying bill. Some people may not want to invest in this environment. May help when selling house. Or additional money to do things. No incentive. Mary- Carbon tax will get homeowners involved. Otto- Most interesting way is put together fund where it pays upfront for whatever, and then in the backend you pay the mortgage on it. Where can we tie it to the meter? Whoever is paying the bill or if owner sells it transfers, so whoever is paying that month is paying for that weatherization Anders- Energy efficient mortgages. If you do certain things they'll adjust your mortgage. People are motivated b/c its no out of pocket. Through bank- they should go above and beyond. Dan- A revolving loan fund, that could either be low interest or... year or so ago worked with group to start loan fund for efficiency and weatherization. Revolving loan fund that was capitalized- to fund residential and Buggy Bath did solar system- Rocky Mountain... Natalie- RC &D Dan- Coordinator left to go to Dillon- Josh Keller. Managed fund, advisory group was supposed to review applications. Not sure if advisory group is meeting? Only $50k bucks came from big box fund Bill- who knows when you go to Lowe's, Energy Star appliances, why wouldn't we want to develop an incentive for them to sell those appliances? Anders- we can upgrade Energy Star program through North West Energy, most furnaces in home are 92% efficient Dawn- Clash for clunkers? There are already incentives out there. Fed tax exists in 2007- not 2008- and 2009... covers output up to $1500. There are tax credits. Hattie- People don't know. Dan- Two thoughts- our goal is to get KWH off street, need to educate people as to why they need to replace 1980s appliance to save /be efficient with new appliances and revolving loan fund would be helpful in reaching that. Other thought- tax credits- Dawn says they're out there, but community side there is really interesting tax benefits with owners; up to $.30 (or $30) a sq ft tax credit can also go to design team. Example- bio mass heating plant, reduce footprint of school, get tax credit for every sq ft saved. Most design firms don't know it exists. Anders- Builders receive it too. Hattie- What I'm hearing is people don't know money is there Dawn- That or doesn't know it doesn't have to come from us. VII. Boulder (11) First city to start carbon tax. First started with trash tax. Tax through city by energy use through KW hours. David- Or cubic ft of gas? Mel- More about money, NW offers to customers instead of tax like Boulder. Hattie- Weatherization or renewables? Mel- Money goes to efficiency, so weatherization. Scott- Is NW Energy money available for task force or city? Mel- No. For customers. Scott- Make available for city? Is there money left at end of year? Mel- No. Money is used by end of year and no issue trying to dispose /put towards something. II. Senate Bill 290 Accepting public comment- is anyone interested in sending comment on behalf of the group? Taking energy comment on conservation, efficiency and construction. Dan- 1s thing [the Bill notes] is to use coal fired energy. Bill- Use blog to make comment and have everyone accept /reject that. Scott- Will handle comment exchange and will separate our comments with his own. III. Montana 20x10 Challenge Adopt challenge and would any organizations at the table adopt this challenge? Go back to your org and see if you can reduce energy consumption by 20% by end of 2010. Dan- Year is not enough. 2015 is more reasonable Leroy- Sometimes you have to plan and have capital. V. Working Groups Possible working groups or we can work on it together as a group? Hattie has list that has professionals she can approach. Example- David can be included in working groups. I. Building Energy II. Buildings III. Waste Recycling VI. Meeting I. Actions for next meeting Hattie- Set target next meeting? Dawn- What is /was the rational for city's target number? Was it based on Kyoto protocol? Scott- We didn't have data for 1990, so we used 2000 and ICLEI recommended that we use 15 Copenhagen will work out a new goal, and congress is working on a goal of 17% by 2020. This group should consider if Bozeman will adopt whatever plan passed through Congress and we'll match that. Hattie- Chris Naumann suggested that we use the municipal plan to make it less confusing. Hattie- If we set a target- then we can associate a reduction for each recommendation. Bill- I like Boulder, CO's matrix. I'm going to down -play the emissions and up- play the weatherization and cost efficiencies. Easier sell. Daryl- 1. Aside from incentives and Education... www.thefuntheory.com, by Volkswagen, three ways to change people's life styles is to have more fun. Example- make escalator into piano keyboard. 2. 2030 challenge- net zero footprint for all new construction by 2030- increase efficiency by 10% each year so by 2030 we'll be 0 carbon. LEED is catching on; it's geared toward the community.... But it's catching on. Anders- How much per sq ft? Daryl Around $200. We did geo thermal off nearby pond. Heating bill around $200 /month. All energy is 100% green power out of Utah. Anders- Majority of homes are $200k homes. Could easily be done Daryl- Geo thermal is easiest by far. Hattie- next meeting is on existing programs- SWIMBIA, hospital, school, can those groups bring a list of things we're already doing to include in the report. Anything anyone wish to include in agenda when meeting with editor of Chronicle? 1/14/2010- 2nd Thursday of each month in this room.