Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee

Minutes of Meeting: April 11, 2011

2011-04-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Regular Meeting
Monday April 11, 2011

Members in attendance: Michelle Veasey, Judy Wainwright, Michael Mascola, Jim Garrity

1)Committee meets with the Selectman Friel to discuss feedback on the Energy Audit Report.

2)Regular committee meeting to discuss future meetings and priorities.

3)Michelle gave feedback on the Local Energy Committee Workshop.

4)Jim will send the report to Unitil and ask them to work on solutions.

5)Discussion about future educational opportunities.

6)Meeting adjourned at 8:20pm

Monday, March 21, 2011

2011-03-21T21:15:00.000-04:00

Presentation of Energy Audit to Board of Selectmen
Monday March 21, 2010

1)Elmer Arborgast of Arborgast Energy Auditing presented an executive summary of the Town Building Energy Audits, accompanied by members of the Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee.

- Energy Conservation Measures (ECM) were highlighted to show some potential savings.
- Discussion of reprogramming the mechanical and air handling systems at the Kimball Public Library.

2)The Selectmen listened and asked questions of Mr. Arborgast. He will make updates based on questions and suggestions from the Board.

3)Final report will be submitted to the Selectmen in electronic and paper format. The Committee will then distribute portions of the larger report to individual town departments.

Minutes of Regular Meeting: March 14, 2010

2011-03-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

Minutes from March 14, 2011
Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
Atkinson Town Hall
7:05pm - 8:40pm

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity

AGENDA:
1) The Committee reviewed in detail the latest version of the report from the Energy Auditor. Changes were suggested. We will communicate with the Energy Auditor our needs for the presentation to the Selectmen on March 21.

2) We will send the current version of the Audit Report to the Selectmen tonight.

3) Jim Garrity will prepare the committee to commission documentation for the Selectmen for April. (7 members and 2 alternates)

4) April 2 is the Local Energy Solutions Conference.

5) Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm

Minutes from October 11, 2010 Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee

2010-10-11T20:47:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 11, 2010
Minutes from October 11, 2010
Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
Atkinson Town Hall
7:05pm - 8:17pm

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity

AGENDA:
1) Michelle reviewed communications which she has had with NH OEP regarding our bid award and how we will use it. They have approved of our plan to add Atkinson Academy to our list of buildings. The amended bid from our winning vendor has been received. The committee will meet with the Board of Selectmen tonight to make recommendation of the winning energy auditor.

2) Update given by Michelle on the potential contract with the winning bidder.

3) Update on Atkinson Energy Fair
- Sat Nov 6, 10am - 1pm at Kimball Public Library
- Rotating 10 minute presentations will include:
a) MyEnergyPlan.net by Julia Dundorf from Clean Air Cool Planet.
b) Unitil's energy efficiency, audit and rebate programs.
c) Atkinson's energy audit grant award and project plan overview.
d) Current rebates, tax credits and incentives (State & Federal).
Light refreshments will be served.
Judy will print posters and place around town.

4) Atkinson Volunteer/Club Expo: next Wednesday night 6-8pm at Kimball Library. We will have a table and talk about the AEEC.

5) Atkinson Tree Lighting at Atkinson Country Club: we have been asked to have a table; we will.

6) Energy Committee Vs. Energy Commission: Jim Garrity explained the new enabling state law allowing towns to establish Energy Commissions and the differences between committees and commissions. The committee voted 4 - 0 to ask the Board of Selectmen to create an Atkinson Energy Commission (to replace the Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee) before the end of 2010. Jim Garrity will prepare the request.

7) Meeting adjourned at 8:17pm

Atkinson Energy Fair - November 6, 2010

2010-09-22T13:53:00.004-04:00

Learn about ways that you can save energy at home! The Atkinson Energy Fair will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2010 at the Kimball Library Conference Room from 10 am until 1pm. Drop in to learn about great tools, tips and opportunities to save on your energy bills!

Minutes from August 9, 2010

2010-08-09T18:02:00.001-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
August 9, 2010 bidder interview. Atkinson Town Hall
4:30pm - 6:30pm

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity
- Guest: Vendor bidder

AGENDA:
1) The committee met with one of the Energy Audit vendor finalists for an in-depth interview. Discussed were capabilities, training, potential project plan. The meeting was productive and educational.

2) Next meeting to be held at the call of the chair.

3) Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm

2010-08-08T19:04:00.000-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
August 2, 2010 bidder interview. Atkinson Town Hall
5:00pm - 7:00pm

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity
- Guest: Dave Weymouth, Atkinson Maintenance Supervisor
- Guest: Vendor bidder

AGENDA:
1) The committee met with one of the Energy Audit vendor finalists for an in-depth interview. Discussed were capabilities, training, potential project plan. The meeting was productive and educational.

2) Next vendor interview meeting will be held on Monday August 9, 2010 at 4:30pm at Atkinson Town Hall.

3) Meeting adjourned at 7:00pm

Minutes from July 26, 2010

2010-08-08T18:56:00.000-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
July 26, 2010 meeting. Atkinson Town Hall

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity
- Guest: Dave Weymouth, Atkinson Maintenance Supervisor

AGENDA:
1) Feedback from Dave Weymouth: Dave shared his impressions of some of the vendor bid responses he has reviewed. He stressed that the winning vendor needs to provide the town with specific, measurable, achievable energy reduction actions with projected costs and savings.

2) Feedback from committee members on 3 finalists: The committee discussed further findings about the 3 finalists and reviewed their sample reports in detail. The committee agreed that it needs to conduct in-person interviews with two of the final vendors. Interviews will be scheduled in early August.

3) Next regular meeting will be held in late August after interviews.

4) Meeting adjourned just before 9 pm

Minutes from July 12, 2010

2010-08-08T18:43:00.000-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
July 12, 2010 meeting. Atkinson Town Hall

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity

AGENDA:
1) Feedback on 4 remaining vendor-bidders:
A) Each member reported back with results of the research on their assigned vendors. The committee held lengthy discussions about the qualifications of each, voted to eliminate one vendor and agreed on three finalists.
B) The three finalists will be asked to submit sample Energy Audit reports of recent projects they have worked on, and the members will do further research on each vendor.

2) Next meeting: July 26, 2010 at Atkinson Town Hall

Meeting adjourned just before 9 pm

Minutes from June 24, 2010

2010-08-08T17:56:00.001-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
June 24, 2010 meeting. Atkinson Town Hall

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity

AGENDA:
1)EECBG Grant update: Michelle is working with TRC to finalize contract details. Since this is ARRA funding, there are many record-keeping requirements. The winning vendor will need to be willing and able to meet the paperwork/filing requirements of this program.

2) Review of EECBG Bids as submitted to the Atkinson Board of Selectmen. The Selectboard recorded all bidders and bids. The Selectboard then gave the bid responses to the Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee with instructions to review them all, and make a final vendor recommendation back to the Selectboard. Thirteen bidders submitted proposals.
The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee took the following actions:
A) Bid amounts higher than our bid award were immediately disqualified; 5 bidders were eliminated for this reason.
B) The remaining 8 bids were divided among the committee members and each member read each bid and made comments about the bid and vendor qualifications. Each bid response was ranked by each member. When rankings were tabulated and discussed, the committee decided to take the top 4 scores by ranking and those vendors will go on to the second round of consideration.
C) Each member was assigned one vendor on which to do research. Each vendor and their references were to be contacted before the next meeting and asked series of questions (to be developed by the committee). Each member will come back to the next meeting ready to discuss their results.

3) Next meeting: July 12, 2010 at Atkinson Town Hall

Meeting adjourned just before 10 pm

Rebates for Replacement of Hot Water Heaters, etc.

2010-05-27T10:12:00.002-04:00

Rebates are now available through the Appliance Rebate Program to NH residents who are replacing existing home heating systems, including hot water heaters, boilers and furnaces, with more energy efficient models. Included in this program are solar thermal hot water systems, with rebates between $1,350 and $1,650, when combined with other state incentives. The program has been enormously popular and has exceeded its expectations. In the first three weeks, more than 10% of the funds have been issued. For more information on the program, please visit the program’s website.

Draft Minutes of April 12, 2010 Meeting

2010-04-12T20:27:00.000-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee
Regular Monthly meeting. Atkinson Town Hall

Attendees:
Judy Wainwright
Michelle Veasey
Michael Mascola
Jim Garrity

AGENDA:
1)EECBG Grant Award: Atkinson was award a grant of up $23,900 for the deep dive energy audits of 8 municipal buildings. A public hearing will be held with the Selectmen on Monday May 3. After the Town accepts the contract, the Town must issue an RFP for the actual work.
- the AEEC will develop the RFP document and scoring sheet
- Timing: work must be completed by March 2012
- Michelle will develop the document draft

2)Spring Workshop: maybe we can get the UNH Cooperative Extension to talk about greening up our yards, etc. We could plan it for next March.

3)Fall Workshop: maybe we could do a workshop on thermal heating safety, thermal tune-up (fire dept thermal enrgy, chimney cleaning, gas/oil tune-ups, pellet/wood-stoves, etc.) sometime in September.

4)Other social networking ideas were discussed such as "Go Green Night" an EPA program for PTO/PTA NightOwls

Meeting adjourned at 8:23pm

Energy Committee Meeting on Monday, April 12th

2010-04-06T12:28:00.003-04:00

The Atkinson Energy Committee will meet on Monday, April 12th at 7pm at the Town Hall.
Agenda:
EECBG funding,bid process and action items
Spring Workshop
Community Outreach
Other Business

Atkinson Energy Committee Meets 3/8/10 - Join Us!

2010-02-23T14:22:00.002-05:00

The Atkinson Energy Committee will meet on Monday, March 8th at 7pm in Town Hall. The agenda will cover future educational opportunities and ideas for future events. We invite all interested residents to attend!

Button Up NH DVD Available

2010-02-10T22:21:00.002-05:00

Interested in learning how to tighten up your home to lower your energy bills? Check out the Button Up NH DVD available at Kimball Library! Kill-a-Watt meters are also available for check out. These meters help you to measure appliance and electronic device energy use - find out what's increasing your electricity bills.

2010-02-10T22:09:00.002-05:00

The next meeting of the Energy Committee will be held on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 7pm. The committee meets in the back room of the Town Hall. We invite community members with ideas or interest in reducing the town's energy use to attend!

Button Up NH Workshop

2010-02-03T10:58:00.002-05:00

Join the Atkinson Energy Committee on Saturday, February 6th from 10am - Noon at Kimball Public Library for a workshop conducted by an energy experts on how to do an energy audit on your home and make simple changes to save money on your energy bills THIS winter! The workshop is free! Button Up NH is sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet and the New England Carbon Challenge.

Public Meeting Notice: July 13, 2009 7pm Atkinson Town Hall

2009-06-30T09:41:00.004-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee

Next Public Meeting:

Monday July 13, 2009

Time: 7:00 pm

Place: Atkinson Town Hall

Purpose: To draft Energy Efficiency chapter for the Master Plan and 2008 Energy Report in preparation for presentation to Board of Selectmen.

The public is invited.

Meeting Minutes of June 29, 2009

2009-06-30T09:18:00.006-04:00

ATKINSON ENERGY EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE
June 29, 2009
7:00pm
Atkinson Town Hall

Attendance: Michelle Veasey, Judy Wainwright, Michael Mascola, Jim Garrity

Agenda: The committee met with Julie LaBranche, Senior Planner, Rockingham Planning Commission to review the draft Chapter of the Master Plan Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development and to review the 2008 Atkinson Enery Study draft.

Detailed discussions were held on both document. Julie will make final changes and submit final documents to the committee within several weeks.

Meeting was adjouned.

Next meetings: Monday July 13, 7pm at Atkinson Town Hall to review the final documents. Notice was duly posted. Monday July 27, 7pm at Atkinson Town Hall to present Energy Study findings to the Board of Selectmen.

Respectfully submitted by Jim Garrity, Clerk

Meeting Minutes of June 8, 2009

2009-06-29T17:30:00.007-04:00

ATKINSON ENERGY EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE
June 8, 2009
7:00pm
Atkinson Town Hall

Attendance: Judy Wainwright, Michael Mascola, Jim Garrity

Agenda: The committee met with Julie LaBranche, Senior Planner, Rockingham Planning Commission to review the draft Chapter of the Master Plan Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development.

Detailed discussions were held and the committee and Julie agreed to meet again on Monday June 29 to look at a (hopefully) final draft.

Meeting was adjourned.

Next meeting: Monday June 29, 7pm at Atkinson Town Hall. Notice was duly posted.

Respectfully submitted by Jim Garrity, Clerk

Public Meeting Notice: June 29, 2009 7pm Atkinson Town Hall

2009-06-26T11:42:00.001-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee

Next Public Meeting:

Monday June 29, 2009

Time: 7:00 pm

Place: Atkinson Town Hall

Purpose: To meet with Julie from Rockingham Planning Commission to review draft Energy Efficiency chapter for the Master Plan.

The public is invited.

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Fair - Pictures

2007-10-27T17:14:00.001-04:00

Atkinson neighbors discuss energy-saving techiniques (and pick up free energy-saving bulbs) at the Unitil/EnergyStar display.

Thank you to Palmer Gas / Ermer Oil for their support.

State Rep. Jim Garrity's Toyota Prius Gas/Electric hybrid which averages 50 miles per gallon of gas.

On display outside the Fair. New England Wood Pellet shows off their 10 ton bulk wood pellet delivery truck.

Ira Toyota of Manchester, NH shows off a new 2008 Prius Hybrid.

Free Energy-Saving Light Bulbs at Energy Fair

2007-10-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

Unitil Electric, in cooperation with NHSaves and the Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee, will be providing free energy-saving Compact Florescent Bulbs to the first 250 attendees at this Saturday's Atkinson Energy Effieciency Fair. The fair will be held from 9am - 1pm at the Atkinson Community Center.

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Fair - October 27

2007-10-22T12:06:00.000-04:00

Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee Kicks Off Work with Community Fair

Atkinson, New Hampshire - The newly formed Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee will host an Energy Fair at the Atkinson Community Center on Saturday, October 27th. The fair will run from 9am until 1pm and will feature ideas for saving energy dollars this winter - from simple energy efficiency measures to alternate energy source opportunities in Atkinson. The fair will also include a fun crafts table for children. There is no charge for admission.

The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee (AEEC) was formed by the Board of Selectmen this summer based on the resolution passed by voters last March asking for leaders at all levels of government to address the issues surrounding global warming. The AEEC is working with Unitil to evaluate town buildings for potential money-saving energy efficiency opportunities. Results of these audits will be presented to the Board of Selectmen.

Community members interested in lessening Atkinson’s energy use are encouraged to attend the fair. Unitil/nhsaves personnel will be available to explain rebate programs and lighting opportunities. Vendors will also be available to talk about exciting technologies like geothermal heating and cooling (which we have at the Town Hall – Atkinson was an early adopter of this energy efficient temperature control), wind power, solar photovoltaic and water heating systems, energy efficient boilers, and much more.

Atkinson is one of the first communities in the area to take action on the resolution. The AEEC invites all interested surrounding community members to attend to learn more about we can individually make a difference for New Hampshire.