Button-Up Vermont Regional Workshop

Information Session

on

Organizing a Community

Button-Up Workshop

September 30, 2009

Rutland Regional Planning Commission Conference Room

The Opera House - Third Floor

67 Merchants Row

Rutland, VT

6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Snacks will be provided

Rutland Regional Planning Commission will be sponsoring a regional public information sessions for community and civic groups who are interested in holding a Button Up workshop in their community. These information sessions are designed to provide local Button Up workshop organizers with guidance on how to organize a workshop, provide copies of educational materials, and explore opportunities for regional cooperation in holding workshops.

As before, the workshops will be facilitated by representatives from the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network working with the Central Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity.

2009 Vermont Transportation Energy Report

Vermont Clean Cities News

The 2009 Vermont Transportation Energy Report has just been released!

Excerpt from the report's conclusion: "Transportation represents the largest source of Vermont's greenhouse gas emissions (57 percent) and is the largest user of energy by sector (33 percent). Understanding Vermont's transportation energy use is critical to tackling the challenges presented by global climate change, dependence on foreign oil, future energy demands, public health and the implications for accessibility and mobility."

Local Energy Committee Forum

Representatives from local town energy committees will get together to discuss how to organize and how to be more effective.

Local Energy Committee Forum

Tuesday – September 9, 2009
Nella Grimm Fox Room-Rutland Library
Center Street – Rutland, VT

Hosted by the
Rutland Regional Planning Commission
and the
Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network

Purpose: Representatives from local town energy committees, town energy coordinators, and others will share information on efforts to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy generation at the local and regional levels. Food and beverages will be provided.

Agenda

5:30 Gather, eat, and socialize
5:45 Welcome
· Meeting purpose and Agenda review
· Brief introductions
6:00 Updates
· Statewide activities
· Regional activities
· Local Activities
6:45 Local Energy Committee Roundtable
· Updates from town energy committees on past, present, and future local energy projects and activities
· Needs
7:30 Break
7:45 Workshops
· Funding opportunities for community energy initiatives –
Paul Markowitz, VT Chapter of the Sierra Club
· Forming and strengthening town energy committees --
Deb Sachs, Community Climate Action
8:30 What’s Next?
· Explore topics for future meetings
· Set dates
8:45 Adjourn

Webinar August 27 - Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Jobs in the Buildings Industry

DOE Webinar August 27: Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Jobs in the Buildings Industry—Workforce Overview

August 17, 2009

The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program is offering a webinar on Thursday, August 27 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. EDT titled "Energy Efficiency and Retrofit Jobs in the Buildings Industry—Workforce Overview." This webinar is geared toward community colleges and workforce agencies and will provide an overview of jobs involved with retrofitting existing homes to improve energy efficiency:

• Job skills and scaling up training
• Partnering between community colleges and workforce agencies
• Overview of certifications
• State and local workforce practices

The presenters will be Michael McCabe from the Department of Energy, Debra Rowe from Oakland Community College, Charles Segerstrom from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Jennifer Troke from the Department of Labor, and Jerry Weber from the College of Lake County.

The webcast is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call-in phone number. Learn more about the webinar.

Reminder! Food talk in Rutland TOMORROW

On Tuesday August 18th, RAFFL will host sustainable food systems author Jill Richardson, who will give a free talk at 6:30 at the UU Church of Rutland (on the corner of West and Cottage Streets across from the Transit Center in Rutland City). The event is co-sponsored by Sustainable Rutland.

Enjoy a tasting of locally grown and produced food!

Click here to read more!

Documentary Screening in Middlebury

Middlebury – The award-winning film Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America, which provides simple, practical, affordable solutions to America’s energy crisis, is touring the United States. The public is invited to view Kilowatt Ours during a special screening at the Addison County Regional Planning Commission at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, 2009. This acclaimed film advocates energy conservation and renewable power sources as alternatives to the high costs of energy.

When: Thursday, August 27, 7 PM
Where: ACRPC, 14 Seminary Street, Middlebury
Admission: Free

Kilowatt Ours is the story of filmmaker and conservationist Jeff Barrie's journey across the U.S. to document our energy-related problems and present practical, cost-saving solutions for consumers. Widespread problems revealed in Kilowatt Ours include mountaintop removal, air pollution, global warming, childhood asthma, and mercury contamination. The film illustrates practical solutions that can help homeowners save approximately $1000 per year on energy bills, while helping the environment and protecting human health.

“I hope this film sparks an energy conservation movement across America, while boosting demand for clean renewable power sources,” says filmmaker Jeff Barrie. “Many people are unaware that we’re still burning coal to generate most of our electricity in America, creating serious consequences to the environment and human health. The need for conservation is urgent,” says Barrie.

According to the Department of Energy, the average American home consumes more than 900 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month. More than 50% of our nation’s electricity is generated in coal-fired power plants, amounting to nearly 6 tons of coal burned to generate electricity for the typical American home each year. By using products marked with EPA’s Energy Star label, purchasing power generated from renewable resources, more effectively insulating our homes, and utilizing natural energy sources like sunlight, wind, and geothermal power, consumers can reduce the impact of their energy usage, while saving money.

Kilowatt Ours is sponsored by: ACRPC Energy Committee, Johnson Controls, The Sierra Club Foundation, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Stonyfield Farm, Mother Earth News, Utne Reader, and Renewable Choice Energy. For more information visit www.KilowattOurs.org or contact Elizabeth Golden at (802) 388-3141, egolden@sover.net.

Smart Gird Update: State looks to future with 'smart grid' technology

Whether the state is successful in its application for $66 million worth of federal funding or not, Vermont's utilities and regulatory agencies will move forward in an effort to create a "smart grid" for power distribution, state officials and industry executives said Thursday. However, without the federal assistance, it will take much longer to complete the ambitious project, they said.

The smart grid proposal would involve installing new electric meters in Vermonter's homes and creating the fiber optic pathways and technological links. That, in turn, would allow those meters to "talk" back and forth with utility computers, coordinating when electricity is used and reducing how much electricity is used and how much it costs.... Read more: State looks to future with 'smart grid' technology: Rutland Herald Online

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Reducing our Energy Costs: Food Production Talk in Rutland

Approximately one third of energy costs in the State of Vermont is in the transportation sector. While we do talk about taking the bus, carpooling, and biking to work, we at the Planning Commission have much fewer discussions about another important aspect of reducing transportation costs: local consumerism.

Luckily, we have a chance to learn from one of the experts, thanks to the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link (RAFFL). Next Tuesday, August 18th, RAFFL will host sustainable food systems author Jill Richardson, who will give a free talk at 6:30 at the UU Church of Rutland (on the corner of West and Cottage Streets across from the Transit Center in Rutland City). The event is co-sponsored by Sustainable Rutland.

Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: why our food system is broken and what we can do to fix it. Come hear her ideas for a new recipe for America's food systems. You will also learn what RAFFL is doing to create a sustainable food system right here in the Rutland region, and how their work relate to the bigger national picutre.

Enjoy a tasting of locally grown and produced food!

A review of Richardson's book:

“America’s food system is dominated by agribusiness and corporate farms, whose destructive practices pollute the environment, are cruel to animals, and offer us unhealthy food choices. Despite this dire situation, most people have little idea how to eat differently, or healthier.

In Recipe for America, food activist Jill Richardson shows how sustainable agriculture—where local farms raise food that is healthy for consumers and animals and does not damage the environment—offers the only solution to America’s food crisis. In addition to highlighting the harmful conditions at factory farms, this timely and necessary book details the rising grassroots food movement, which is creating an agricultural system that allows people to eat sustainably, locally, and seasonally.

A call to action for those who are concerned about what they eat and the health of the planet, Recipe for America shows how sustainable eating nourishes our bodies, our economy, and our environment, and how it is the best hope for the future of food in America."

www.rutlandfarmandfood.org
www.sustainablerutland.org

Bennington couple hopes to restart hydro power: Rutland Herald Online

Bennington couple hopes to restart hydro power: Rutland Herald Online

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What to do about renewables in Rutland County?

For a variety of reasons, energy conservation and generation are hot topics in our region these days. As we try to make sense of all the complex factors influencing our energy situation, perhaps it would help to check out what other folks around the country are doing from a regional planning perspective.

The New Rules Project, an educational website, offers the example of Klickitat County in southern Washington state. The New Rules Project article argues that if "a proliferation of small-scale power plants serves the interests of the general community, cities and counties should include this concept as an element in their general plans and zoning ordinances."

That is exactly what Klickitat County has done. They studied the potential impacts of future energy projects within the county borders and came up with a plan to help direct any future projects to the most appropriate areas. Their process resulted in the creation of a county-wide "Energy Overlay Zone", a zoning tool aimed at expediting renewable energy development. Understandably, the establishment of this zone had many critics - maybe one person's renewable energy site is another person's treasured natural area or backyard.

When we are planning for our energy future here in Rutland County, there are many important questions to ask. How much energy do we need? How can we work together to reduce energy demand? Do we agree that increasing energy generation within our borders is an appropriate goal? What impact do we have on the larger national or regional community when we draw power from remote sources? How can we balance our environmental concerns with our economic goals and aesthetic preferences? Who are willing to ask to make sacrifices on behalf of our energy needs?

The Rutland Regional Plan (2008) states four major unmet needs in terms of the region's energy needs: full consideration of environmental impacts of productions; reducing emissions from energy use; rising costs of fuel; and widespread availability and use of alternative energy sources. Meanwhile, the plan points to several future trends in energy use: we are likely to see increased use of electricity and fossil fuel energy, unstable energy supplies and cost increases, and uncertain electricity supplies and costs.

Is the development of renewable energy sources within the region the best answer to these issues? Or should we focus more on efficiency and conservation? The Rutland Regional Planning Commission will hold a Regional Energy Meeting, with the assistance of VECAN, to explain what towns can do and are doing to address these questions in Vermont. Come join the discussion:

September 9, 2009
5:30 pm
Fox Room, Rutland Free Library

Worried about energy? Think Weatherization.

Although winter is still a few months away, it is not too early to start planning a weatherization project for your town energy committee. VECAN is a network of statewide Vermont organizations helping communities across the Green Mountain State to reduce energy costs and climate impacts through conservation, increased energy efficiency and conversion to renewable energy sources. Check out their tips for tackling weatherization in your community:

Community Weatherization Projects

"Why It Matters
Vermont, as the rest of the nation, is facing unprecedented increases in fuel oil prices – with an estimated doubling of fuel oil prices in the last year alone. Tightening up homes by stopping air leakage is an effective way to save energy. Some weatherization techniques can help your family pay for an upfront investment of weatherization materials in one heating season and many can be easily installed in a few hours by an individual. No-cost or low-cost weatherization measures - such as caulking and weather-stripping - coupled with education for behavior changes can reduce fuel costs between 5-15 percent! In the early 1980s, Vermont implemented a statewide weatherization campaign, known as “Button-Up Vermont” which organized weatherization activities in more than 50 Vermont communities. Today, this model is again gaining traction at the local and state level, offering a unique opportunity for Vermonters to implement self-help energy efficiency measures to reduce their energy use. At the same time, residents can learn about how their homes lose energy, the value of having an energy audit, and the enormous savings available from implementing extensive energy retrofit measures.

How to Do It
A Community Weatherization Project (CWP) is a locally designed and administered community energy conservation program. The scope of the project may vary within each community, depending upon local resources, leadership, and creativity. The major goal of a CWP is to educate and mobilize a significant number of citizens to undertake low-cost conservation measures in their homes.

A CWP usually occurs during a concentrated 2-3 month effort; often in the fall as people prepare for the winter. Keeping the program simple and clear are the keys to success. The main focus of a CWP should be clearly evident and easy to understand in all publicity, outreach, and activities of the project. A CWP can help build a local constituency of leadership and residents to address more comprehensive energy problems and needs over the long term.

A low cost or no cost CWP revolves around promoting a series of workshops designed to cover the following topics:
• Conservation measures which involve only minor lifestyle adjustments and no money;
• Areas in the home with air leakage;
• The installation of materials to block air leakage.

Information and Resources
• Efficiency Vermont: For a list of energy auditors, energy efficiency tips, and other efficiency resources.
• Sustainable Energy Resource Group: For information on how to save energy in your home. "

I found these tips on VECAN's website, www.vecan.net.

July Fuel Price Report

The Vermont Department of Public Service publishes a monthly fuel price report. Click here to see all the reports. This graphic was taken from their July report, which can be downloaded here (pdf).

Wind roject makes progress in West Rutland

The Rutland Herald reported a new development for the wind farm project on July 29:

"The Select Board voted unanimously Monday to sign a 30-year lease with Vermont Community Wind Farm to put turbines on municipal forest land West Rutland owns in Ira. The company is seeking to build an 80-megawatt wind farm in and around Ira.

In return, the company will pay the town a total of $3,000 for the three-year "development phase." ...

The project has proven more contentious in other towns, particularly in Ira, where meetings on the proposal have drawn large, hostile crowds. Select Board Chairman Sean Barrows said after the meeting that he suspects the project has plenty of supporters but that their voices are not being heard."

Read the full article: West Rutland signs lease on wind turbine: Rutland Herald Online

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