Town of Sharon, MA
ENERGY COMMITTEE
Minutes
Wednesday, 5/2/07 7:30pm
Members present:
George Aronson, Ed Connelly, Thomas D’Avanzo, Ernest
Kahn
David McCabe, Rosemary Tambouret, Lynn
Wolbarst
Member absent:
Joan Spiegel, Arnold Wallenstein
This was the third meeting of this committee.
Items Discussed:
- The options for input by the energy committee to the Brickstone
Sharon Hills project
- Recommendations of energy related standards
- Development of a bylaw to be presented at fall Town
Meeting
- Meet with the standing building committee
2. Tom D’Avanzo offered information about energy
efficient building resource at www.buildinggreen.com
and www.nexusboston.com ; we can visit
the Nexus Center at Downtown Crossing, 38 Chauncy St, 7th floor. The center was designed by Cambridge based ADD,
Inc.. NEXUS is part green building museum, green building tradeshow
and includes a print and on-line resource and samples library, networking and
events space.
Tom also provided information on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (www.gasb.org)
whose mission is to establish and improve standards of state and local
governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful
information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public,
including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports. GASB 34 is a
comprehensive financial reporting standard that has been adopted by many cities
including Newton and Boston. Saco, ME has a comprehensive discussion of GASB 34 at the town
website (http://www.sacomaine.org/departments/finance/gasb34.shtml).
Information on NASEO, the National Association of State Energy Officials, was
also distributed (www.naseo.org).
- Update on analysis of town energy use:
- Don Hillegas will consider creating a global data base
for the town
- Display of data should begin with summer months to create
a smooth graph
- Ed Connelly has only 8 months of Sprague gas data for the
library; Sprague data is listed by reading date and Baystate Gas is
displayed on the web by billing date
- Joan Siegel met with Marie Cuneo of the DPW who helped
Joan decipher the gas bills
- George Aronson stressed that ultimately the useful data
needed will be cost per kilowatt per square foot for the town buildings
in a spread sheet
- Discussed energy used by town wells; need to determine if
NSTAR has funded projects to put VDS water pumps for other towns; we need
to determine if there is motor inventory for the water pumps; Tom D’Avanzo
and George Aronson will contact E. Hopper of the DPW with a few specific
questions
- Report on visit of the newly constructed energy efficient
private home in Easton by several committee members. Features included:
passive solar design with tremendous solar gain; concrete floor provided
great mass for radiant floor heating; 97% efficient gas furnace; 2 x 6
inch studs provided extra space for isonene insulation; use of pellet
stove to supplement heating system; heat recovery ventilator; LED lighting
(no mercury but no more efficient than fluorescent)
- Ed Connelly will visit an energy affordable home in Colrain,
MA on Sat May 5.
Next meeting: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 7:30 PM