Minutes - Environmental Advisory - April 2, 2008CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
13UAKllJ A1V1)
NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Environmental Advisory Boazd
DATE OF MEETING: April 2, 2008
NAME/TELEPHONE OF PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Kelle Karp, 303-441-1940
NAMES OF MEMBERS, STAFF AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT:
Environmental Advisory Board Members Present: Brian Vickers, Bill Roettker, and Suzanne Jones
Board Members Absent: Leah Kukowski, Francoise Poinsatte
Statf Members Present: Jonathan Koehn, Office of Environmental Affairs; Sazah Van Pelt, Office of
Environmental Affairs;
Public Present: none.
OUTLINE OF AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by acting chair Suzanne Jones
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. The minutes were amended to include the boazd's suggestion of an
aggressive program to replace all traffic signal lights with LEDs. Minutes will be resubmitted at next
month's meeting for approval.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. None
4. UPDATE. Jonathan Koehn updated the board on the Xcel Smar[ Grid program with the intention
to clarify any confusion about its relationship to the municipalization and franchise negotiations. The
city has indicated to Xcel that they would like to pair the Smart Grid technology with the on going
Franchise negotiations. At this point, the municipalization discussions are suspended, but could be
revived if and/or when the City Council deems appropriate. City staff intends to create a Smart Grid
team that will help guide all aspects of implementation to make sure the Smart Grid performs to the
city's expectations. (Members of the Smart Grid team are currently being chosen.) Implementation
will begin in the next month with the first step being an analysis and mapping of areas in the
community that will receive upgrades to their transformers and substations. Press releases will be
issued to keep the community informed of which transformers and substations are being upgraded.
Xcel hopes to have implementation underway before the Democratic National Convention in August,
so they can have a display illustrating what a "Smart Home" looks like and provide delegates with the
option to view the Smart Grid onsite in Boulder. Ultimately, Xcel plans to have 25,000 meters
installed by the end of the year starting first with the commercial and industrial sectors and phasing in
the residential sector afterward. Once the process is further along, city staff requests that the board
actively participate in guiding the course of action. Jonathan told the board he will forward them the
white paper he has on the Smart Grid and any additional documentation he receives.
5. MAIN AGENDA ITEMS. Jonathan informed the board that tonight's discussion is a continuation
of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) study session memo, reminding them that last month they discussed
the transportation piece and that this meeting's discussion will focus on the remainder of the document.
Sarah Van Pelt with the Office of Environmental Affairs presented to the board the remaining portion
of the CAP study session. In 2006, council decided to adopt the Kyoto goal requiring Boulder to
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 407,320 mtC02 by 2012. The four main sources of GHG
are from the use of electricity and natural gas, the accumulation of solid waste and vehicle emissions.
In 2007, city staff began implementation of programs focusing on energy conservation, increasing
renewables, reducing vehicle miles traveled, and will continue to intertwine with the existing
residential Green Points program. The intentions of the programs are to facilitate and incentivize
voluntary action on behalf of the community. In 2008, city staff would like to enhance existing
programs, add new programs and provide rebates and financial incentives for increasing energy
efficiency and conservation. Examples are providing more assistance to the residential and commercial
Approved: ~~// ~
r .. (:..- ,ti's c. ` Q'(_,, 1 CL"' • ~ ' C.3 ~
Leah Kukowski, Chair Date
sectors for implementing the recommendations they receive from their energy audit, launching a
Refrigerator Retirement program, and using city and county bond funds to provide low to no interest
loans for making energy efficient improvements (staff informed the board that the state legislature is
working on a bill that will allow the city and county to use private activity funds for these loans). At
this point in the presentation, Sarah asked the board for their stance on (1) creating a full scale
commercial green building code that addresses Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) or a code that addresses additional Green Building elements, and (2) further evaluating
regulatory options on existing residential buildings for energy efficiency (the current residential Green
Points program only regulates new buildings, additions and remodels). Sazah encouraged the board to
consider that commercial buildings are a big contributor to the GHG inventory, and although they are
currently trying to incentivize business owners, an ordinance may be required for compliance. Staff
intends to go to council in the 2"d quarter proposing options for their consideration, which may include
a suggestion of being 30% above the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. The board recommended that staff work toward creating a full scale
commercial green building code, and supports an interim code to address energy. With respect to
question 2, Sarah informed the board that about half of the existing housing in Boulder is rental
property. Staff has met with the rental housing association and they are currently evaluating the
Residential Energy Conservation Ordinances (RECD), yet the association has made it clear that they
would like to exhaust all options of incentives before regulations are mandated. The board urged
caution and sensitivity in developing building codes and regulations that might impact the business
community or economic vitality, but agreed that regulatory options would be necessary if voluntary
changes don't occur. Continuing the presentation, Sarah addressed renewable energy sources noting
that city staff initially focused on small scale options, such as providing rebates for onsite solar
systems, and they just launched their Windsource program, which advocates Green E Businesses.
Larger renewable options, such as a Colorado Retewable Energy Strategy, are not a focus of the CAP
at this time. Moving on, the ClimateSmart brand was launched in 2007 as a marketing and outreach
tool for the city. The beClimateSmart.com website is a tool for the community to Team more about
reducing their carbon footprint as well as provide feedback on what staff can do to further engage
them. Boulder County recently adopted the brand for their Consortium of Cities. Sarah, again, asked
the board for their stance on (3) enhancing CAP programs and services, and (4) increasing the CAP tax
to enhance programs and services. Sazah explained that when CAP was first proposed and analyzed
council was aware that meeting the GHG reduction goal in 2012 would potentially require the
purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset any shortfall. At that time, council approved
the CAP but made it clear that they did not want to purchase RECs in 2012, suggesting that staff be
more aggressive and continue to consider raising the CAP tax as necessary. With an increase in the
CAP tax, staff proposes to use those additional funds for new construction and commercial building
energy audits, and increasing the marketing budget, as costs analyses show that energy efficiency has
the highest cost to benefit ratio and marketing impacts the behavior changes needed to achieve GHG
reduction goals. The board generally supports an enhancement of the CAP programs and services, and
they support increasing the CAP tax. The last topic for discussion was the proposal of longer term
GHG reduction goals. Many other city organizations, states and countries are setting more aggressive
goals that go beyond 2012, such as 2020 and/or 2050. Staff wants to give council options for setting
goals further into the future, while staying on track with the 2012 goal, and to use 2005 (versus 1990)
as the baseline data for these long term goals. The reason for using 2005 data is because that is what
other cities are using, and there may be an advantage to being on the same time line and metrics as
other organizations and communities. The board supports the setting of longer term GHG reduction
goals, using both 1990 (as required for Kyoto goal) and 2005 baseline data as appropriate, setting
benchmarks to reevaluate the goals as needed, and highlighting the replacement cycle for buildings and
the impact these have as a rationale for picking the long term goal dates.
Approved:
Leah Kukowski, Chair
Date
6. MATTERS FROM STAFF. None
7. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD. None
H. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
9. TIME & LOCATION OF NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 1300 Canyon Blvd, 6
Approved:
Leah Kukowski, Chair
Date