Institute for Sustainable Energy
Board of Advisors
Board Meeting November 9, 2004

Members present:
Arthur Diedrick, Board Chairman
Donald Downes, Chairman, Dept. of Public Utility Control
Shirley Bergert, Public Benefits Taskforce Director, CT Legal Services
John Mengacci, Undersecretary, Strategic Management Division, OPM
Emily Smith, Managing Director, Government and Corporate Relations, CT Innovations

Guests:
Dr. Michael Pernal, Vice President, ECSU
William Leahy, Associate Executive Director, ISE
Dana Kubachka, DPUC

Dr. Fred Loxsom, Professor of Sustainable Energy Studies at ECSU
Bette Giordano ISE, Acting Secretary

The meeting was called to order by Arthur Diedrick at 9 :03 a.m.

Old Business:
Arthur Diedrick requested that Advisory Board members consider the meeting minutes of October 4, 2004. John Mengacci requested corrections to the draft minutes. The minutes were amended and accepted as amended.

New Business:
Bill Leahy presented the 3 rd quarter goals report:

• the municipal outreach benchmarking program has worked with the towns of Windham, Derby, Stamford, Hartford, Essex, Waterford, Norwich and Trumbull. In addition, a grant from OPM is being implemented to complete a benchmarking study of 6 State of Connecticut office buildings and benchmark 30 additional state facilities. The ECMB subcommittee requested that the ISE curtail outreach to the Municipal sector because the municipal conservation program is oversubscribed.

• the ISE benchmarking studies show that Connecticut has a predominance of energy inefficient schools that were built between 1950 and 1975. Bringing schools up to “average efficiency” could save a school system of Hartford’s size approximately $2 million a year.

• the Institute has applied for an EPA grant to promote recycling by creating a model program on the ECSU campus.

• the Institute has partnered with Waterford schools to create a pilot high school energy education program through its high school civics class. The goal is to create an energy conservation education model for use at other schools.

• regarding the goal to integrate renewables with conservation, ECSU has secured approximately $2.3 million for the installation of a 850 KW fuel cell on campus. The remainder of the funds for this $3.8 million project is being sought from the Dept. of Energy, Homeland Security, the CT Energy Conservation Fund through RD&D and ECSU. To utilize state funding, the competitive bidding process must be used.

• ECSU’s new science building is scheduled to start construction during the Spring of 2005. The building will have a Silver or possible Gold LEED rating.

• The Green Campus Model is moving forward. There is a meeting with other universities on December 10 th in New Britain to discuss this initiative. The United Nations is naming the years 2005 – 2015 the decade for education in sustainable development.

 

2005 Budget:
The 2005 ISE budget recommended by the ECMB to the DPUC is $766,000. The concern for future funding is being dealt with very seriously.

Shirley Bergert noted that she would like to see the ISE be viewed as an independent group that can serve in part as a research repository and library with diverse consultants. She also noted that she would like to see outside parties become dependent on the ISE for energy information.

2005 Goals:
Bill noted that the ECMB subcommittee suggested the following goals for the ISE in 2005:

• develop high school curriculums and education workshops in coordination with the utility companies’ program.

• develop building inspector training materials and conduct seminars on energy related changes in the Connecticut Building and National Electrical Codes.

• develop a multi-family residential customer initiative and provide implementation support for the marketing to promote and secure leads for the Customer Initiated Program, the third party RFP program for residential customers in multi-family housing.

• evaluate and audit at least 3 of the State University campuses to identify and implement the most cost effective energy efficient measures available

 

Sustainable Energy Studies:

Dr. Fred Loxsom, Professor of Sustainable Energy Studies at ECSU was introduced to the Board.
Dr. loxsom explained the new interdisciplinary Sustainable Energy Studies program. A Certificate in Sustainable Energy Studies and Bachelor of General Studies Program with a concentration in Sustainable Energy Studies Program are planned. Related programs at ECSU will also include a Certificate in Environmental Management and Policy (for learners who already have a degree) and a Bachelor of General Studies Program with a Concentration in Environmental Management and Policy. Dr. Loxsom is hopeful that his students will have internship positions with the ISE and with Connecticut’s energy industry. A 10 day field experience course titled Sustainable Energy and Sustainable Development will be offered in Costa Rica during ECSU’s 2005 Winter Session.

Upcoming Events:
The Connecticut Energy Advisory Board (CEAB) and the ISE are co-sponsoring the “ Connecticut’s Energy Future” conference December 2, 2004 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the LOB. The Conference is designed to introduce the newly formed CEAB, the State Energy Plan and to assist Connecticut’s legislators, their staff and agency policy makers in addressing energy issues in the 2005 legislative session. National and regional experts will present technical information and best practices from other regions of the country. The last portion of the program will be an open forum. Bill is hopeful this will become an annual pre-legislative event.

On November 18, 2004 John Ruckes from OPM and Bill will present a peer exchange for municipal leaders in Southwestern Connecticut. Officials from 20 towns have been invited to the program that will be held from 8 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Fairfield Board of Education office.

The Connecticut Green Campus Initiative conference will be held December 10, 2004 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Institute for Technology and Business Development at CCSU, New Britain. The conference is co-sponsored by the Connecticut DEP and the ISE. The feature presentations are the 12-point modes for developing a sustainable campus (developed by the ISE) and best practices from facility managers and sustainability coordinators at Connecticut schools. In addition, there will be breakout sessions on conservation, student involvement, transportation and purchasing green products.

 

Website Messaging Information:

ECSU will house the Connecticut Energy Information website. Sean Condon from the DPUC will design and have access to the site for updates. The site will initially links to 28 other state energy sites There will be a three click maximum for users to link to energy related events and information. Statistics will be kept of which sites the users link to. A bulletin board will eventually be placed on the site. The site will also list a phone number for asking questions. January 1, 2005 is the expected live date.

The Board suggested that the 2005 Advisory meetings be held bi-monthly.

The meetings will continue to be held from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Connecticut Innovations in Rocky Hill.

The next meeting will be held on Monday, December 6, 2004 at 9:30 a.m.

A motion to adjourn was made by John Mengacci, seconded by Donald Downes. Meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Bette Giordano

Acting Secretary