Green Middleboro?
At the Middleboro BOS meeting on 1/14/2008, there was (at least) one item in particular that I would like to comment on. There is audio of this item at the end of this post.
BOS chairman Adam Bond brought up a discussion about asking the Middleboro G&E to do an energy audit of all town buildings. He discussed the town of Kingston who seem to be leaders in using green technologies and sharing the information on their apparently usable web site.
This is a great initiative and one that many in town have been suggesting for quite a while now – none more than Jessie Powell. As I’ve said before, she not only jousts at windmills, she reads up on them. The real shocker here is that Adam recommended that people read Jessie’s blog for it’s wealth of information on green technologies and other environmental issues.
Gasp!
Middleboro resident Bob Dunphy reported that he had spoken to a G&E manager earlier in the day who said that energy audits were not really their forte. Not a problem since the Middleboro School Committee just signed a contract that pays about $200K to a company that guarantees equal savings within three months. I had mentioned this to Adam when I ran into him at the Rotary club craft fair and sent him an email about it. We discussed it briefly again at the Honey Dew yesterday.
I will say that if the G&E lacks the expertise to do best-of-breed energy auditing, they should acquire it and offer it as a service to residents.Update: Jane Lopes has pointed out that the G&E will do home auditing for free – they just don’t do commercial
As if Adam recommending Jessie’s blog was not enough of a shock, there was another noteworthy moment. In the past the BOS have had some less than stellar moments dealing with entities that oppose the casino(CFO, Tom Calter, SRPEDD). Adam reported that he had a great conversation with Tom Calter to get guidance on environmental issues. Mr. Bond was impressed with Calter’s knowledge in this area and seems committed to working with him on this.
Gasp!
This is the way it should be. Town leaders(and private citizens) can disagree vehemently on some issues and still cooperate productively on others.
Finally, Mr. Bond recommended that the town create a green committee similar to what Kingston has done. This isn’t horribly different from the idea of a Citizen’s Technology Committee that was discussed on my Nemasket forum not so long ago.
Interested parties should send information to BOS secretary Jacquie Shanley. This would include people who are interested in being on the committee or suggestions on the mechanics of the group’s structure. This is a very worthy effort and a great opportunity to help the town save some $$ and help the environment at the same time.
Here is the 15 minute discussion that took place at the BOS meeting of 7/14/2008.
Energy audits aren’t G&E’s forte?
Huh? That really surprises me…
Kingston has done an excellent job with energy conservation in their town. Carver also has a green committee and their job is to look at how much energy is used and where the Town can save. A committee of this type can only serve to help the community and is a fab idea.
Jessie’s blogs about green technology are quite interesting and in some instances real eye openers. Kudos to Mr. Bond for acknowledging the wealth of information that can be had from her posts. He and the BoS seem to be truly committed to looking into energy savings for Middleboro and I find that to be quite commendable.
This week on CST will be a representative of Alternative Energies. He will be talking about how to be green and save–residentially, commercially and municipally.
Bumpkin, since I missed the BOS meeting last night, an historical first, your audio post was appreciated.
For any unfamiliar with this blog format, at the top is a search feature for which you can type in pertinent words, like energy conservation and locate the links that were listed in the past.
I might suggest for anyone seeking additional resources for municipal energy reduction, Cambridge has accomplished some pretty astounding retrofits that have been widely publicized, including an NPR program on NOW. http://middlebororeview.blogspot.com/search?q=cambridge
Energy: Retrofitting Older Buildings is one of the entries about Cambridge.
There is grant money available that Middleboro has missed out on in the past that has been discussed on the nemasket forum.
As a footnote, let me add that I am extremely disappointed that 2 of the Selectmen commented on the need to hire additional personnel. That is not the answer. And one is particularly disappointing in commenting that the lack of a custodian has prevented filters from being replaced. Lack of personnel doesn’t prevent town employees from turning off lights and computers when they leave the office. Last week’s town lawn concert had the interior illuminated — even in locked and vacant offices. Why? How many computers are left on? What are the thermostat settings? Are there set back thermostats in ALL town buildings? The basic stuff only requires a nominal investment and raising awareness. Let’s not talk about hiring additional people, but rather about raisiing awareness and dispelling the myths. The first 20-30% is generally effortless and inexpensive and begins with leadership from the BOS, which it appears we might have. Now we just have to educate them.
Here’s your chance to get on the towns energy conservation committee! Just send an email to the BOS.
Action and inaction are both choices!
Re: the G&E doing energy audits, they will do them for residential customers at no charge. They don't do commercial and municipal audits.
Dear Ms. Lopes: Numbers Nannie has cured several bouts of insomnia caused by recent heat and humidity by reading statistics about potential cost savings by encouraging large gas/electric customers to conserve energy, especially during peak usage.
A review of the numbers, dull and boring though they may be, indicates that saving a large user 10% of his 100 KW daily usage is more significant than saving a homeowner 10% of his 20 KW usage. And that peak usage during this hazy, hot and humid period seems to be the focus of some groups that seems to mean high cost energy.
When other towns are addressing business, commercial and municipal usage, maybe that means the G&E is missing the larger picture?