Minutes - Environmental Advisory - September 3, 2008 CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING SUMMARY
NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Environmental Advisory Board
DATE OF MEETING: September 3, 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, Francoise
Poinsatte -Chair, Leah Kukowski Martinson and Suzanne Jones
Board Members Absent:
Staff Members Present: Sazah Van Pelt, Office of Environmental Affairs
Public Present: None
OUTLINE OF AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m. by acting chair Suzanne Jones
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. July's meeting minutes were unanimously approved with
corrections. August's meeting minutes were unanimously approved.
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. None
4. UPDATE. Sarah informed the board that the Boulder County Clean Energy Options Local
Improvement District was presented to council at the Tuesday, September 2 meeting. The item
included two parts; an ordinance to include the city of Boulder in the district and a resolution to assign
the city's 2008 Private Activity Bonds (PAB) allocation to Boulder County for financing the program.
Boulder County is asking voters to approve issuing bonds for the financing program on the November
ballot (Ballot Measure 1 A). Sazah explained that the bond capacity allocated to a community by the
federal government for PAB depends on the size of that community, so the city of Boulder, Boulder
County and the city of Longmont all receive approximately the same amount ($4 mil). She further
explained that the county is asking all cities in its jurisdiction to approve inclusion in the district. She
clarified that for the past several yeazs the city has not used its PAB, and as a result, assigned the
allocation to the state housing authority to be added to their pool for state wide housing funding. The
board asked staff to explain any negative raznifications that might result from using the PAB
allocations for this program. Sarah made it clear that there are no negative ramifications in the event
that the measure is approved and all of the money is used, and she fiuther explained that if the measure
is not approved then the city can work with the county to use the funds locally or the county can assign
the allocation to the state. The board also asked for more clarification about total bonding capacity for
the program. Sazah indicated that the initial bonding capacity will correspond to what the communities
are able to contribute but the ballot measure will include a higher amount to allow for high levels of
participation. Furthermore, Sarah informed the boazd that council approved the ordinance on first
reading and a second reading and public hearing is scheduled for October 7. The county is looking at
all the details for a residential loan program and looking for a consultant to do analysis for the
commercial sector. Their goal is to have the details finalized by January 2009 and stazt issuing loans
in the first quarter of 2009. Staff will be heavily involved in the program design process and will
bring information back to the board, possibly in December, to get input on the program design.
5. MAIN AGENDA ITEMS. Sarah updated the board on the status and progress of the Climate
Action Plan (CAP) work plan, Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance (RECD), and the
greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. With respect to the CAP work plan, Sarah informed the board that
in 2009 Xcel will offer customers most of the programs that the CAP currently offers, or had planned
to offer in the future, such as home and commercial energy audits, refrigerator recycling, low flow
shower head rebates, etc. As a result, staff sees this as an o ortunit to ad ust their work pl//~~an so that
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Francoise Poinsatte, Chair Date
they can help promote participation in the Xcel programs, as well as fill in gaps in services and
programs that might exist. Furthermore, Boulder County and the Governor's Energy Office (GEO) are
also adjusting their priorities for programs and services in 2009. Once staff has thoroughly examined
all the new programs and services coming from Xcel, Boulder County and GEO, they will look to the
boazd and the CAP advisory group to provide input on options to promote participation in these
programs and fill in the gaps. Xcel posted an executive summary on their website giving a synopsis of
proposed services (the summary does not list all of the programs or rebate amounts). Another factor
influencing the CAP work plan is the opportunity to maximize on Smart Grid technology. City staff is
working with Xcel's Smart Grid staff to investigate prospects of providing supplemental funding to
enhance Smart Grid programs. Thus faz, Xcel's Smart Grid staff proposed the vehicle to grid (V2G)
option, and at this point staff has determined that option to not be a cost effective investment. The
board inquired if homeowners will need to make more investments to take greater advantage of the
Smart Grid. Sazah affirmed the boards' inquiry and let them know that city staff hopes to address this
matter with Xcel's Smart Grid staff as well.
Moving on, Sarah informed the boazd on the status of the research to evaluate options for requiring
energy efficiency in existing housing, similar to a residential energy conservation ordinance (RECD) in
place in several cities. Staff hired consultants to analyze options for a Boulder code and should
receive the final report in the coming week. Upon receiving the analysis, staff will hold public
meetings, bring the topic before the boazd in November and likely present it to council in November or
December. The boazd voiced concern about inadvertently penalizing people that have already made
energy efficiency improvements in their homes. The boazd supports creating different options for the
different types of residential properties, as well as having a sliding scale or energy budget approach.
Sarah informed the boazd that the consultants were asked to analyze many different options, including
approaches that couple the options with rebates and the potential financing program with the county.
She then asked the board for their input on using CAP funding to help streamline the process, for
example, city staff or a consultant could coordinate contractors working with homeowners to
implement energy efficient remedies. The board voiced support for streamlining the process, and
noted that it will likely help gain support from the community on the RECO.
Lastly, Sarah updated the board on the GHG inventory for 2006 - 2007, where electricity consumption
increased by 2%, natural gas consumption increased by 13% and transportation emissions decreased by
3%. The board asked if staff knows why natural gas consumption went up by so much. Staff is
working on a thorough analysis of the data and should be able to answer some questions about the
trends. Sazah added that the city may not have access to enough specific data to pinpoint the reasons
for all of the changes. The board then asked how staff tracks alternative fuel use, and Sarah infonned
the board that staff tracks the amount of biofuel sold in Boulder and assumes that it is used in Boulder.
For general transportation emissions, staff gets data from the state on the average vehicle mix for
privately owned vehicles across the state, which can be broken down into vehicle class. Then staff uses
local vehicle counts and the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) modeling tool to
determine local transportation emissions. The board also inquired about the 2% increase in electricity
use and wondered if it is attributed to increased growth or the use ofnon-energy efficient appliances
such as plasma TV's and home electronics. One board member suggested creating a residential per
capita history to help determine if the increase in electricity use is growth or appliance related. Sazah
agreed that in spite of many of the new energy efficiency appliances, many consumers are unaware of
phantom loads that continue to draw electricity even when in standby mode. She further indicated that
using a kilowatt meter or power cost monitor is a great way to see the amount of phantom loads one
has in their home, and told the board that she would follow up about loaning them power cost
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Francoise Poinsatte, Chair Date
monitors. She also informed the boazd that the Erettter for Resource conservation checks out kilowatt
meters to the public. She mentioned that staff is looking at options to offer discounts for equipment
like power strips, kilowatt meters, or programmable thermostats to provide energy education and assist
the community with decreasing their phantom loads in their homes as part of Energy Awareness
Month in October. The board suggested staff do profiles on the average household highlighting how
much energy goes to your phone charger and other standby mode appliances as an education outreach
tool. Sarah let the board know that staff is paztnering with CU to educate student renters about energy
efficiency, and that staff just started a new program with Boulder Housing Partners to do tier one
energy audits in lower income rental units.
The board then asked if staff expects to see a time when energy consumption will go down. Sazah
replied that staff hopes to see that trend by next year, but it will depend on growth in the residential
and commercial sectors. She also noted that it takes a few years for the audits to turn into results.
Staff is starting to see a lot of implementation with the commercial audits, and even if staff sees an
increase next year they should be able to normalize the data to reflect the results of city programs. The
boazd asked if staff can compaze their data to other communities to determine if Boulder is making
progress. Sazah indicated that this is a good idea but may not be possible or would be very time
intensive to complete. Boulder is the only community that she is aware of that tracks their inventory
annually and each community includes different information or uses different methodologies for their
inventories, making comparisons difficult. Sazah added that comparing the inventory to a business as
usual scenario might be worthwhile and the board supported this idea as it would show where Boulder
would be without implementing the CAP strategies. Finally, the board suggested that it would be nice
to see how the Eco Pass changes will affect CAP's progress.
6..MATTER5 FROM STAFF. None
7. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD. Brian mentioned that he recently met with a Boulder non
profit, the ISLE Project, which is educating lazge institutions and the community about lawn care
emissions and best management practices to reduce emissions and noise. Brian asked the board and
staff if this is,an area of interest and if it should be pursued given departmental priorities and work
load. The boazd and staff agreed that it is an azea of interest and if pursued should be coupled with
outreach and education. Sarah further mentioned that there were city staffworking on air quality
issues in the past but council eliminated that position and funding several yeazs ago. Given the shift in
work plan it is challenging to devote much time to air quality initiatives unless they link to other
priorities like greenhouse gas emissions. She also mentioned that she and a Pazks and Recreation
employee met with this non profit organization as they requested the city to participate in a pilot. After
looking into the matter, the city determined that they could not commit to the pilot. However, Sarah is
under the impression that Naropa and possibly CU are participating in the pilot.
8. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
9. TIME & LOCATION OF NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 1300 Canyon Blvd,
6 p.m.
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Francoise Poinsatt ,Chair Date