Institute for Sustainable Energy
Board of AdvisorsBoard Meeting December 2, 2003
Approved February 2, 2004
Members present:
Arthur Diedrick, Chairman of Development, Office of the Governor
Donald Downes, Chairman, Department of Public Utility Control
Shirley Bergert, Public Benefits Taskforce Director, CT Legal Services
John Mengacci, Undersecretary, Strategic Management Division, OPM
Richard Barredo, Chief Operating Officer, CEFGuests:
Dr. David Carter, President, ECSU
William Leahy, Associate Executive Director, ISE
Dana Kubachka, Dept. of Public Utility Control
Martin Mador, High Performing Schools Advocate
Bruce Bockstael, CT State Architect, DPW
Laurel Kohl, Educational Specialist, ISE (acting secretary)Meeting called to order by Arthur Diedrick at 2:08 PM .
Arthur Diedrick requested Advisory Board members consider the minutes of the September 29, 2003 meeting. Motion by Donald Downes to accept, seconded by John Mengacci, motion carried.
2004 Budget: Bill Leahy presented the 2004 Budget. The ECMB had requested that budget items be broken out by program. On November 4, 2003 the ECMB filed their recommended 2004 budget which included a recommendation that ISE be funded for $850,000. ISE has accepted 2 grants totaling $35,000, including $25,000 from US-EPA to support 3 regional EnergyStar Benchmarking workshops. The first workshop will be held Dec. 11 at ECSU for CT and RI energy officials, followed by a workshop in Augusta ME for ME and NH energy office personnel. Representatives of the Canadian Provinces will also attend. The final workshop will be held in Boston in January 2004. Funding also supports the development of 4 case studies of municipalities benchmarking projects and 1 of state buildings. The $10,000 DOE grant will piggyback on the Benchmarking work, and provide workshops on using EnergyStar products to municipalities that have engaged in Energy Star benchmarking. Don Downes stated that the DPUC would be interested and able to arrange videotaping of the EnergyStar products workshops for cable TV distribution.
Arthur Diedrick asked about the prospects of future outside funding for ISE as ECMB has stressed this as a priority. Shirley Bergert discussed the ECMB's desire to have a portion of the funding for ISE come from CCEF as well as from the Energy Conservation Fund. She also stressed that the ECMB felt that in 2003 much of the work performed by ISE on the southwestern CT study and most of the work on the Long Island Sound study was outside of the Institute's mission and that current projects are more acceptable. She feels that establishment of the Expert Technical Advisory as originally promised is essential to ECMB's continued success and support.
Bill Leahy discussed the ISE recent collaboration with CCEF to seek a DOE Hydrogen Education Grant. In addition to CCEF and ISE, partners in the $3 million project include NREL and the UCONN Global Fuel Cell Center. ISE would provide the distribution and implementation activities of the program.
A motion was made by Donald Downes to accept the budget, seconded by John Mengacci. Motion carried.
Arthur Diedrick made a statement of thanks to the Institute and to the University for setting the overhead charge in the 2004 budget at 20% rather than the previous 40%.
William Leahy presented the topic of High Performance Schools. Similar initiatives have already been instituted in ME, NJ and PA as well as other states. At a prior meeting of the Board, suggestions had been made to create a fund to finance incremental improvements in new school construction, such as the revolving loan fund for Brownfields Programs, that would promote High Performance construction, renewable energy sources and application of "green" school standards. Arthur Diedrick stated that OPM funds are available to update public schools, although it is unclear whether funding is limited to new construction or includes remodeling. John Mengacci state that he would check on this funding.
Martin Mador spoke about how new school construction is funded in Connecticut . Martin is currently representing CT on a New England wide survey, sponsored by the Kendall Foundation in Boston , to determine how school projects are funded. The study will determine when the most effective time occurs to intervene in this process to encourage adoption of high performance school designs. Currently in Ct, towns are reimbursed through the Department of Education on a sliding scale that is dependant upon per capita income, varying from 20%-80% reimbursement. The town is aware of their reimbursement status prior to submission. VoTech and Magnet schools are currently 100% funded by the state. The process includes many steps, originating in the town with the local Board of Education, town governing body, or the appointing of a School Building Committee. Once preliminary plans are submitted to the state they must be reviewed by the State Department of Education, to be sure that they meet code, and by the CT DPW for life cycle analysis. After these assessments the town and the state must approve any funding modifications.
High Performing school designs generally increase building costs from current code construction, although the increment varies. Those projects studied by Martin only cost about 2% more. Nationally different standards are applied to "green building." Martin stated that it needn't be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified to be good, and that the city of New Haven has created its own system. Studies in New Jersey on green construction indicated a difference of $2 per square foot for LEED Certification ($130 vs. $132) while obtaining Silver LEED costs 7% more than regular construction. To obtain Gold or Platinum LEED typically requires the incorporation of renewable energy in addition to a high performance design. LEED Certification has produced buildings that use 20% less energy over standard code construction, while Silver LEED produced savings in the range of 30% over code. Bruce Bockstael from DPW stated that costs are expected to decrease as architects become more knowledgeable about green construction techniques, standards and materials.
It was stated that the means to achieve success in green building included education of the players in the process, the clients, or towns, the design and building professionals. The other requirement would be mandated high performance standards through state legislation. In 2003, three bills were introduced to require LEED certification of all State of Connecticut supported projects, including local school projects. None of the bills made it out of committee, and most were opposed by CCM because they would require additional spending by the municipalities without additional funding.
Arthur Diedrick suggested support of legislation for a self-sustaining revolving fund that would promote "Better Schools for Less," and suggested that the ISE target schools who are in the early stages of the process of design and construction for learning workshops.
"On the Path to Sustainability Conference": William Leahy reported that there were more than 100 attendees each day, including CT Climate Change Action Plan stakeholders, working group members, and representatives of 12 Universities. CTN taped the first day presentations. The conference was completed on budget. Evaluations were very positive, on both the topic and facilities. ISE has purchased sustainable energy and CO2 offsets for the Conference.
The CEAB Public Hearing will be held at ECSU on January 20, 2004 .
Laurel Kohl presented information about UN Children's Conference on the Environment to be held mid-July 2004. The event will bring 600 international students to New London . ISE is working with a faculty group from ECSU to arrange for the workshops, field trips and adult seminars for attendees. Arthur Diedrick requested that Laurel send him further information that he could share with Governor Rowland.
ISE Energy Survey: The survey will be conducted in early 2004. Questions are being refined.
A motion to adjourn was made by Donald Downes, seconded by John Mengacci, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 4 PM .
Respectfully Submitted,
Laurel Kohl
