AVON CLEAN ENERGY COMMISSION
SELECTMEN’S CHAMBER BLDG. #1 TOWN HALL
MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM by Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren in the Selectmen’s Chamber, Building 1 Town Hall. Members present: Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren, Martin Kaplan, Brian Glenn, Brian Preleski and Lisa Levin. Members absent: Jeffrey Bernetich and Linda Meyers. Advisory members present: Jonathan Craig, Giorgina Paiella and Diane Zhao. Advisory members absent: none. Also in attendance were staff members Steve Bartha, Assistant to the Town Manager and Ann Dearstyne, Town Clerk.
II. APPROVAL OF THE PRECEDING MEETING MINUTES – August 3, 2011
Mr. Zahren asked Mr. Bartha how much time was available with the remaining grant monies for Peregrine services in case we wanted to hold some back. Mr. Bartha said we should be winding down by next summer, 2012.
VOTE: Mr. Kaplan motioned, Mr. Glenn seconded and all agreed to accept the August 3, 2011 minutes as presented. None opposed. Mr. Preleski abstained as he was absent from the meeting.
III. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
None.
IV. OLD BUSINESS: a. Energy Plan update, b. Solar Panels, c. Avon Day – booth coverage and materials/ideas
Mr. Zahren encouraged Ms. Paiella for input from her group at the high school. She said they were to meet the following morning. He also reminded her that it would be her age group that would be responsible for carrying on an adopted energy plan for the town in the future. Ms. Paiella added that they’d be discussing Avon Day participation at the morning meeting as well. Mr. Zahren asked Mr. Craig if he could provide demonstration materials for the Commission’s booth for Avon Day. He said it’d be helpful to engage the children while explaining the Commission’s initiatives to the parents.
Mr. Zahren was recently able to attend the contest winner’s plaque presentation at Thompson Brook School. He was happy to report that the principal jumped in and suggested continuing the energy efficiency efforts, even if they did not participate in a formal contest this year, and try to beat the former students’ performance. Mr. Zahren spoke too of attending the recent Town Council meeting where he and Peregrine’s Steve Weisman presented the draft energy plan. Mr. Weisman complimented the town on our energy efforts to date and said we were probably the best of the five towns in what we’ve already achieved. Mr. Zahren surmised that the 15% by 2015 was a very doable number for the town to achieve, given the efforts thus far.
Members discussed the EUI or energy use index. Mr. Zahren explained that it is not about dollars but energy use per square foot and reducing energy use could actually cost more given fluctuating energy prices. Mr. Bartha noted that Alex Trujillo and Peter Gaski were busy on the task of providing energy use figures from 2008 and 2011 which will be used for the baseline for comparison. He added that we may find out that we are at or near the goal already and can adjust it if needed. Mr. Zahren explained that EUI is based on BTU (a universal measurement of energy – produced by gas, coal or oil, etc.) for every square foot of the buildings we use in a year. He also noted that the worst user of energy is the animal shelter building. Mr. Craig added that building materials carry their BTUs through them –
windows are typically 1 for a layer of glass and a cement block wall 2-1/2 in terms of heat transference. Mr. Zahren further explained using the library as an example. He posed the old library’s energy use index as 25,000 btu’s per square foot usage per year. The new building is being built with LEED silver standard (without the certification), good insulation and windows, high efficiency lighting and geothermal heating and air conditioning so he guessed 18,750 btu’s per square foot per year. This creates the new EUI index. Blending this with all the other buildings he feels could potentially create 5% of our savings towards the 15% goal. Mr. Craig felt the figure to be conservative given the energy savings materials that are going into the building. Mr. Bartha suggested the members visit the library to get a better look at materials. Mr. Kaplan added that this index was being used in different ways throughout the country. Mr. Zahren noted too that our police
building has high energy use and can be compared with a standard for this type of building. He added that Mr. Weisman felt because the station was high use, it could be a focus in the energy plan for looking for ways to increase efficiency.
Through discussions with Mr. Weisman and Mr. Bartha before the meeting, Mr. Zahren admitted that the commission is not ready for a town wide charette. He said candidly that we need more participation from the members or we can’t get the job done. He’d like a point person on each of the jobs. Mr. Zahren mentioned that Mr. Bernetich had been attending meetings with himself and the School Board and would like to appoint him as the point person, as he is not able to attend all the meetings. He was also disappointed with the lack of response to a request for member comments on the energy plan draft.
Mr. Zahren referred to page 3 of the energy plan. He’d like to better define the 15% reduction by the EUI as described to the Town Council. He added “clean energy” to the second part 20% by 2020. We are achieving the 20% clean energy through the purchase of RECs now and asked if we should be moving to producing it ourselves as part of the plan. Mr. Bartha asked what this would look like. Mr. Kaplan mentioned virtual net metering whereby we could take care of five buildings through a solar panel field. Mr. Zahren clarified that net metering would be more beneficial in that it returned the distribution charge as well as the energy usage charge back to the town. Mr. Craig mentioned newer solar panels that were 40% efficient compared to the old which were 15%. He suggested solar thermal panel water systems
which are daytime use and are doable if everything is looked at. He said better technologies are in the pipeline as well.
Members attempted to define the State’s goals as initial reductions in energy usage and continue through the purchase of energy from green sources. Mr. Craig said to consider the economics in reducing energy usage now as more achievable and increasingly clean energy can be sought as technological efficiencies are made and costs come down five or ten years from now. Mr. Zahren added that the cost of money, be it through grants, bonds or special incentives, affects the goal as well and needs to be considered for the best advantage. Mr. Glenn questioned how much money was available through the newly created CFIA fund (Clean Finance and Investment Authority formerly the CCEF CT Clean Energy Fund). Mr. Zahren felt the real money would come from the RECs because the free market was bringing the cost down and he
added that this was helping the utilities to meet their goals as well. He added that if we could sell our RECs from a solar panel installation in Avon, in addition to the cost of solar panels going down and efficiency going up, then solar would be very competitive. Wind is difficult in that it is site specific and subject to zoning regulations. Geothermal is good but hard to measure accurately. Mr. Craig noted that solar thermal is 80% efficient, heat comes directly from the sun, installation is minimal and it has a payback that lasts for years. Mr. Preleski asked what the town was currently purchasing in RECs as this was the only source of its renewable energy. Mr. Bartha said around $13,000 but could check. Mr. Craig mentioned the Cape Wind project which will produce about 50% of the Cape’s energy but not necessarily all bought by them. He added that wind farms are predicted to be high energy suppliers within range of our region and sought by large industrial users on a
first come first served basis.
Mr. Zahren discussed Avon Day. Some form of flyer needs to be prepared. Ms. Levin suggested the students prepare it with their club and have the town copy it for distribution. Mr. Bartha suggested collecting email addresses and have members follow up with a link to how to sign up for clean energy. Ms. Levin suggested a better explanation was needed for the sign up as she found the information confusing and unclear. She said people are concerned with who to call if there is a problem or is the service local and also felt the group lacking in educating the people. She suggested creating a FAQ handout sheet to answer some of the resident’s questions. Mr. Kaplan noted that he had used an electric bill mock-up to sell and explain the program to the residents in Farmington Woods. Mr. Bartha suggested a two sided flyer
with FAQs on the back. Mr. Zahren posed if members should refer questions to the PTOs since they would be running the sign up contest. Ms. Dearstyne questioned if all the schools were participating because she said individual meetings with the PTOs and the Superintendent could take a month. This could give one school a jump on the sign ups over another so a start date would be a good way of preventing this. Ms. Dearstyne asked for volunteers to work two hour shifts. Avon Day usually runs between 11:00 AM and 6:30 PM.
11:00AM to 1:00 PM - Mr. Glenn and Mr. Craig to help set up/end
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Ms. Dearstyne will email Ms.Meyers/Mr.Bernetich
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Mr. Zahren
Ms. Dearstyne will be sure to contact Mr. Glenn to get the flyers early enough to hand out. Mr. Zahren would like to include a poster highlighting the energy plan’s main points. Ms. Paiella will try to locate a leftover flyer showing the piggy bank savings (she can email to Mr. Bartha). Ms. Dearstyne said students will be available throughout the day as well.
V. NEW BUSINESS: a. Annual Meeting Schedule 2012 – Options A & B
Ms. Dearstyne asked the members to decide on a meeting schedule for next year. Members could choose the first or second Wednesday of the month to meet.
VOTE: Mr. Kaplan motioned to keep the current first Wednesday evening of the month to meet, Ms. Levin seconded and all agreed. None abstained.
Ms. Dearstyne said an exception would occur in July because of the holiday making the meeting date for the following Wednesday.
VI. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION: a. Email from Lynn Stoddard to Bernie Zahren re. Avon Energy Plan, b. BOE Lighting Project article in the Avon News
Mr. Zahren discussed a grant that is available through the Clean Water Action group run by Roger Smith. A consultant is being funded to pick ten towns throughout the state that need help implementing a plan like Avon’s. Mr. Kaplan submitted an application yesterday and through emails, meetings are being arranged with towns who have applied for the grant. Mr. Zahren asked for a volunteer to attend the meeting next week as he was unable to do it. Mr. Glenn agreed but would like to meet beforehand in order to be better prepared. Mr. Bartha initially thought the consultant would overlap with Mr. Weisman of Peregrine Energy Group. Mr. Kaplan explained that the consultant would help the commission with what Peregrine could not. He said this consultant knew the ins and outs of the state planning which can help with
subsidies. Mr. Zahren suggested Mr. Glenn bring the energy plan draft to the meeting with the consultant.
Mr. Zahren suggested also that he’d like another party to start sifting through what the State is really doing. He has been in communication with Lynn Stoddard of the new DEEP for guidance. Brian Preleski agreed to assist with this topic.
Mr. Kaplan questioned if the comments regarding the plan were forwarded to Peregrine. Mr. Kaplan wants to make sure Mr. Weisman changed costs to life cycle costs. Mr. Bartha suggested having Mr. Weisman attend a meeting to discuss this. Mr. Zahren noted that there were still a number of blanks remaining in the matrix and that Mr. Weisman will do what we ask him to do until we run out of money. Mr. Bartha reiterated that the plan was still a work in progress.
Mr. Bartha referred to an article in the Town News telling of the extension of the 30% by 2015 campaign and the picture showing the energy saving light bulbs that were to be installed in the schools. Mr. Glenn commended Mr. Zahren for his presentation to the Town Council.
VII. DO ANY BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THIS MEETING
VIII. ADJOURN
VOTE: Mr. Kaplan motioned, Ms. Levin seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 PM. None opposed.
Respectfully submitted:
Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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