Announcements:

• The Athol Agricultural Commission has been officially established and has started meeting.  There are plans to start a farmers market in Athol, among other activities.
• Bruce’s Browser will be showing the film Gasland on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Proposed PV Projects in North Quabbin:  Joe Zorzin and Susan Pepper visited to talk about their concerns over the Memory Lane solar farm project in Orange.  We discussed the issues they raised and continued our discussions about the draft NQE statement on solar farms.  There was consensus that the statement should go out with just some minor additions and editing.  It includes a general statement of support for solar farms with some caveats and recommendations.  The group felt that we should think about ways to go beyond just stating those reservations, and so we will work on getting hold of and posting the solar overlay zoning bylaws from nearby towns that have approved those.  We will also encourage people on North Quabbin area town energy committees to bring this idea before their town governments, if this hasn’t already been done, so that towns are able to consider potential problems with solar farms before there are proposals already in the approval pipeline. Cathy will get contact information for the towns that we know have solar overlay districts (New Salem, Montague, Gill, Northfield) and Aimee will contact them to get their bylaw language.  Neil will get the Mass. DOER templates for solar and wind siting.

We talked about several other issues that have come up around the proposed solar farms.  It is not entirely clear whether towns can pass bylaws that challenge Green Communities’ as-of-right siting for renewable energy projects, which may be a possible snag.  Several people noted that it is also very difficult to get information from electric companies about where their feeder lines actually are, which makes it hard to coordinate possibly competing projects that may need to connect to the same feeder (which may in some cases serve more than one municipality).  We also discussed how environmental regulations might be mobilized in opposition to a solar farm that threatens sensitive wildlife habitat.

Garlic and Arts Festival Debrief:  Janice asked for input from the group for ideas and speakers for the festival. They hope to have the lineup in place by April or May.  It seems that high-tech topics don’t pull as big an audience as some others.  Solar thermal power always seems popular, as do food topics and hands-on workshops.

The “Power of Solutions” forum for town energy committees included people from eight of the nine North Quabbin towns plus Barre.  We all felt the forum was quite successful and that it was encouraging and useful for people to meet, share experiences, and begin to move toward some potentially coordinated regional projects. It is clear that each town is dealing with quite different circumstances and issues, but even just recognizing that fact and being aware of the range of potential ways to approach this can be helpful.

As discussed at the forum, NQE will aim to convene two of these gatherings annually, one at the Garlic Festival and one in early spring at a location to be determined each year.  Aimee will approach Al Rose at Red Apple Farm about the possibility of convening in their big meeting room this coming spring.  We felt it would be appealing if we were to meet in various places around the area (eg. the Wendell library’s community room, etc.).

Other ideas for upcoming events:

River Rat weekend:  There was interest in being part of the River Rat parade again, as we did two or three times when NQE first started.  Aimee and Donna will serve as a sub-committee to work on this idea.  They may approach other groups that use MREC about the idea of creating some big puppet figures (or using those created by kids’ groups at the Y in previous years) relating to environmental and energy themes.

Films:  There was interest in showing at least one film in the coming months.  One possibility is Hooked on Growth, which Pat has a copy of.

Home Show:  This was just mentioned briefly as one potential event in the spring.

Electricity campaign:  Janice is still collecting data from NQE members and tracking our electricity use.  The sub-committee working on this project will meet again and decide what the next step is.

Future meeting dates: We talked about whether we should establish a regular meeting time (eg. fourth Wednesday of every month) and stick with it.  The problem with this is that people’s schedules change and that there appears to be no evening that is consistently good for everyone in the core group.  We decided to continue with our meeting-by-meeting setting of dates, using a Doodle poll as we did this past time.  Cathy offered to host a potluck the week of December 12 and will set up a poll to pick a date for that.

Announcements:

• Warwick Arts Council is sponsoring a film screening of Islands in the Wind and Ocean Energy Innovators on Saturday, Oct. 22 in the Warwick Town Hall.  The filmmaker, David Conover of Maine, will be in attendance.
• There will be a Seeds of Solidarity farm tour on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Solar farms:

We talked more about concerns and issues relating to the proposed solar farms in the area:

• Are wind and solar generation capacity similar?
• What responsibilities do the companies have to upgrade equipment or dismantle it if it becomes obsolete or worn out?
• How reputable are these companies and will they be in business over the long haul?
• How does this affect wildlife habitat?
• Should towns all establish a solar overlay district?
• How do privately-owned solar farms benefit a town or region?  (Selling electricity into the grid doesn’t necessarily benefit us per se or contribute to making our area more energy self-sufficient.)
• Are there adequate labor and environmental safeguards in the manufacturing processes for the panels that are being used?
• Will National Grid add more capacity for renewable generation as time goes on?

Cathy will draft a general statement about our group’s position on these kinds of projects and we will send it around to the core group for comments.

Possible next meeting dates:

Cathy will set up a Doodle poll to choose between these dates:

Monday, Nov. 14, Wed., Nov. 16 – potluck at 6 p.m., meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Announcements:

• Athol just formed an Agricultural Commission to be filled shortly.

Garlic Festival planning:

We talked about various ideas for our electricity-reduction campaign, including ways to use our “fake” electric clothes dryer and real “solar dryer” (i.e. clothes drying rack).  Cara will make the electric dryer and will help Cathy and others with signs and info for the rack.  Aimée will make a tie-dyed T-shirt to hang on the rack.  We need to put together a list of resources for people at the table to consult if people ask questions about specific topics;  Pat will update the list from previous years.

Volunteers are needed for the Friday before and Monday after the festival, as well as for raising tents on the Tuesday before.  The festival organizers are particularly looking for groups of people to help with parking, and are offering incentives for this.

Electricity data-gathering project

Janice sent around an email with a spreadsheet attached for us to put in our electricity use data.

Solar farm proposals

We had an open-ended discussion about the various solar farm proposals currently on the table in Athol, Orange, and elsewhere in the region.  National Grid is allowing only 3 MW per town of solar capacity to be added through these large-scale projects, so those that are already being proposed may take up most or all of that.  There are differences of interpretation about the extent to which towns can control this;  State Law 40B says towns can’t regulate solar production, but some people argue that “reasonable” regulation is allowed, with consideration for health and environmental impacts.

The proposed project for a 3 MW solar farm on a 17-acre private property on Memory Lane in Orange has prompted some opposition on environmental grounds (mostly relating to wildlife habitat).  Opponents are unhappy that the buffer zone, which is already cleared, is much smaller than the state recommendation.

We did not reach a conclusion about what to do in terms of making a public statement or other decision about this, as our group includes both those with an active role in developing solar farms and those who are opposed to some of the current proposals. Janice pointed out that Montague, Northfield, Gill, and some other area towns have created solar overlay districts that specify appropriate places for large-scale solar production, and we talked about whether NQE should recommend to North Quabbin town governments that they do the same (which may be a moot point if the current proposals use up all the capacity allowed by National Grid, but it may be wise for future years).

We will continue this discussion at the next meeting.

Next meeting

Monday, Oct. 17, potluck at 5:30 followed by meeting.  Millers River Environmental Center.

Sunday, October 9th, 8 am -2 pm

6 Lockes Village Road, Wendell, MA (Across from the town common)

Turn your broken or unwanted techno-trash into a beautiful Edible Forest Garden. How? Bring anything that runs on a battery or has a cord, with a few exceptions* and for a small fee, you can drop your unwanted electronics or swap any that are in working order. The leftovers and items beyond repair will be properly recycled at GreenMonsterEcycling.com, a nearby electronics recycling center, which has a ZERO landfill policy. 100% of the materials are broken down and recycled in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Benefits the new Wendell Permaculture Edible Forest Garden.

Questions? Contact Betsy Ames at yagas_jai@hotmail.com or find us on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120868224684228

PRICE OUTLINE
(if your item is not listed, estimate according to these categories)

FREE
Cell Phones
Toner/Ink Cartridges

BY VOLUME
(When grouped together, these items will be priced according to the size of the box they fit in, e.g. toaster, microwave, or dryer.)
DVDs/CDs/VHS/Cassettes
All types of cables & wires
Other small items

SMALL ITEMS (Toaster or smaller)- $2
Phones/Answering Machines
iPods/Walkmen/PDAs
Alarm Clocks/Radios
Small Video Game System
Modems/Routers/Switches

MEDIUM ITEMS- $4
Printers/Scanners/Fax
Trash Compactors
VCR/DVD Player
Satellite Dish-small
Stereos/Speakers
Laptops/Computer Towers

LARGE ITEMS- $9
Computer Monitors/TVs
Stoves/Washers/Dryers

REALLY LARGE ITEMS- $20
Console TVs/Projection TVs
Copy Machines

*NOT ACCEPTED
Air Conditioners/Dehumidifiers
Refrigerators/Freezers
Large Satellite Dish

2011 NORTH QUABBIN GARLIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL
Renewable Energy Presentation Descriptions and Speaker Bios

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

10:15 – 12:30 pm

The 1st Annual North Quabbin Power of Solutions Forum

An open roundtable discussion with our Town Energy Committees

1:00 pm

Is Solar Domestic Hot Water Right For You?
Brandon Turner
This talk will be the very basics of solar domestic hot water. Many folks wonder if their home is a candidate for solar hot water, and we will walk through the steps to determine the answer. After some basic teaching of how solar hot water works we will go through what a typical solar hot water site visit looks like. Evaluate your home or business based on the information presented. There will be time for questions & answers.

Brandon Turner is the owner of Renewed by the Son, a solar energy system design and installation company in Erving, MA.

2:00 pm

How Infrared Thermography Can Lead You to Deep Energy Savings

Neil Anders

Come explore low cost and yet high impact techniques commonly available to home owners where they can save big money. These down to earth practices can be done by almost anyone and potentially yields a return on investment within a couple of winter months. Put your home on an energy diet without breaking the budget!

Neil Anders is a BPI (Building Performance Institute) trained energy auditor and the owner of Energy Ecotip, an energy auditing company from Barre Massachusetts.

3:00 pm

Making and Using Low-Tunnel Hoophouses

Daniel Botkin & John DiMatteo

Daniel and John will explain and demonstrate the building and using of “low-tunnel” hoophouse structures around the calendar. These low-cost, unheated greenhouses can be used for habitat modification and season extension by gardeners, foodies and other aspiring growers who seek to extend and enhance their harvests, spring, fall (and winter!). Used widely by professional growers, these low-tech structures can kickstart the intentions of serious growers of any size.

After a career in teaching, Dan Botkin now farms (and mentors newbies), following an eclectic, practical and intuitive approach to diversified, food production. He grows unusual heirloom vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers and runs a small CSA from his 3+ acre Laughing Dog Farm in Gill, Massachusetts.
John DiMatteo is an inspired carpenter and gardener living currently at Laughing Dog Farm. He has been bending pipe and refining a prototype 10′x6′x5′ hoophouse and teaching at-home pipe bending to interested partners.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

12:00 pm

Integrating Renewables Into Existing Fossil Fuel Homes

Paul Voiland and Jared Alvord

The duo from Sandri Energy will offer handouts that explore the relative operating costs of different types of systems. They will also have sample plans that spell out some of the costs of various system upgrades.

With over 20 years of experience in all manner of heating and cooling systems, Paul Voiland can help you figure out what is the most sensible way for you to figure out what you should do in your house; whether it is to get rid of all of your fossil fuel use or to cut it down to a manageable level. Jared Alvord, a native of Plainfield, MA, is a recent graduate of UVM where he studied renewable energy systems and business. He is well versed in Solar PV and Solar Hot Water systems and their finances. He works from the beginning lead intake, to follow up with site assessments, creation of quotes, financials, and all rebate and grant paperwork involved with each job.

1:00 pm

Converting Your Bike to Electric – real green transportation now.

Peter Talmage

Learn what to do, how to do it, and get results – BYOB (Bike!).

Peter Talmage is an engineer and teacher who has lived and worked with solar systems and energy efficiency since 1975. Currently he is teaching full time at Greenfield Community College in the Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency Program, commuting 30 miles round trip on his electric bike. When time allows he consults on energy matters.

2:00 pm

Bring Your House into the 21st Century (without selling the farm!)

Bick Corsa, Bick Corsa Carpentry, and Laura Biddulph, CET

Hear it from the horse’s mouth: an integrated “whole house as a system” approach to energy, durability and comfort improvements to your home. PLUS, Laura invites you to take a closer look at an old idea – do-it-yourself interior storm windows, or “winserts.”

Bick Corsa has built three passive solar, high performance houses. His focus is on practical, non-toxic, and affordable measures to construct or retrofit homes to a very high energy efficiency level. Laura Biddulph is the community outreach specialist in the Pioneer Valley for the Center for EcoTechnology (CET) and has a background in home energy assessments.

3:00 pm

Forestry as If the Future Mattered

Bruce Spencer

Our forests are self-sustaining ecosystems that provide us with vital services such as biodiversity, clean water, wildlife habitat, forest products, clean air, and places of spiritual value. Unfortunately, our consumptive and expanding society is slowly reducing forest ecosystem services even if we are not harvesting any forest products. Together, human sustainability and forests mean strict limits on consumption. Come learn the ins and outs of forestry with a conscience.

Bruce Spencer has a BS and MS from UMass and has spent 41 years as Chief Forester managing MDC/DCR’s Quabbin and Ware River Watersheds. Currently he manages his own woodlot as both forester and logger.

Return to main Garlic and Arts Festival website.

I had the opportunity to attend one day of the Slow Living Summit last month in Brattleboro, VT, and was excited to see the enthusiasm, activism, and hope of the people who attended. With a combination of focused concurrent sessions, plenary talks or panels, and additional open space sessions, there was plenty to learn about alternative energy, Transition Towns, organic food, slow money, and much more.

The day culminated with a talk by Bill McKibben, an extremely knowledgeable and entertaining speaker who had just finished a 2000 mile road trip and was happy to be close to home. He began his talk with very positive words about the progress of the local movement, citing encouraging facts such as the number of farms is growing for the first time in many years. However, he did transition into his ‘professional bummer outer’ role, as he put it, to discuss the facts about our global situation. The earth has already warmed up by one degree, and because warm air can hold more moisture, it sets the stage for the extreme weather we are already experiencing. Some areas get dryer, while other areas experience flooding. All of this affects crops and therefore food prices. With the current situation we are guaranteed another degree of warming, but if steps are not taken, it is likely this will be 3-5 degrees in the long term… Earth would be uninhabitable in those conditions, McKibben says. So McKibben’s take home message was that the local movement is great, but it might be moot if we don’t make significant changes globally as well. He created 350.org for this purpose, and encouraged people to try to act locally to have a global impact: some steps he suggested are the following (which can also be found on the 350.org website):

• Sept 24th 2011 is Moving Planet day – another day for people to come together and show support through action, with a focus on people-powered transportation.
• ‘The US Chamber of Commerce Doesn’t Speak for Me’ campaign. McKibben notes that 55% of the US Chamber of Commerce funding comes from 16 companies, and it has always opposed climate change reform. He is encouraging small businesses and local Chambers of Commerce to declare the ‘The US Chamber of Commerce doesn’t speak for me’. Learn more at 350.org.

As his talk came to a finish, McKibben asserted that even though some may feel this is a losing battle, if you are morally awake, you need to do what you can to better the odds.

~ Laurie DiDonato

Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis by Sandra Steingraber (Da Capo Press, 2011) is for me a well cited and documented moving call to arms, expose of our environmental crisis written from the heart of a mother/PhD biologist. The compelling depth of understanding of just how severe the environmental degradation is, comes not only from the world of a PhD biologist but more pronouncedly through the eyes of a mother trying to protect her children from a contaminated world. Within the later I feel lies a virulence of message hopefully heedable and understandable to the majority. Her son Elijah, named after a nineteenth century abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, is not only the subject of her concern but also the inspiration for Sandra’s action. May it be an inspiration for us all.

“I shall hold myself at liberty to speak” – Elijah Lovejoy

Available hard cover only
ISBN 978-0-7382-1399-6

I recommend this read,

Neil Anders

Garlic and Arts Festival
Steve and Janice have lined up speakers for the energy tent. Topics will include human/forest relationships, geothermal energy, permaculture, solar hot water, electric bikes, ice dams and building envelope improvement. Emphasis will be on hands-on, skills-oriented talks. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. NQE will have a table as usual. We will promote home energy audits, put out our petition asking people what they think about an electricity rate realignment to reward those who use less, have handouts about various topics + switchplate stickers about turning lights off, and have winsert demos (Brian). We will look for a good handout on phantom loads.

We will also convene a meeting of the town energy committees from 10 a.m. to noon. We will invite each committee to bring a poster highlighting what they’ve done in the past year or so. Hal will also work with a graphic designer to make a poster with a more regional North Quabbin focus. We will ask the committees if there is anything particular that they would like to see on the agenda. We will suggest that this include some discussion of regional cooperative ventures and communication among the towns. Pat will send out an email to committee chairpeople this week, and then Amee and Neil will follow up with phone calls. Hal agreed to moderate the gathering.

Electricity Rate Campaign
Janice passed around the latest chart showing how the “incentive rate” would look. We talked at length about how to present and promote the idea of a redistributed rate for electricity, and how to make this fair for large families and other people with special circumstances. The discussion moved toward the idea of trying to convince National Grid to attach some kind of community rewards to towns that meet the 3% a year reduction challenge promoted by the
“Power of Action” initiative. Genevieve will contact someone at National Grid and will let Judy know what transpires, and they will come back to the NQE group working on the idea (Steve, Janice, Cathy, Bruce).

North Quabbin Solar Power Project
Hal reported that three 2-megawatt sites have been proposed and one 9-acre site in Orange has been approved by National Grid pending some paperwork. The other two are moving more slowly, but the first one will likely be built in spring 2012. Town buildings and departments will be able to sign up to use the amounts of power generated by the fields, and area towns can still express interest in being part of the agreement.

Local Food Brochure
We handed out more copies of the brochure to distribute to various paces. We may print more if needed.

Announcements

• There will be a Smart Building Workshop taught by Bick Corsa in Athol at a date t.b.d., sponsored by the Athol town energy committee. Janice pointed out that it will be important to reach out to builders, carpenters, and others who are still anxious and unconvinced about the Stretch Code.
• Neil recommends Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis. Amee recommends John Seymour’s A Sustainable Life and How to Live It.
• Petersham’s town garden tour is taking place this coming Sunday.

Next Meeting
Monday, August 8, 5:30 potluck picnic at Silver Lake Park in Athol. Hal will check on the availability of the pavilion.

Announcements:

• Genevieve Fraser is part of Farm-to-School effort in Franklin County School Caucus working on getting local food into public school meals. A meeting of interested people is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 2, 8:30-1:30 at Greenfield Middle School. Genevieve and others see this as a way to begin building curriculum and regional/municipal projects (eg. greenhouses for year-round produce) and collaboration among various constituencies to address the various challenges to having more local food in the schools (eg. how to work with the government commodity program).
• Janice reported that Greenfield Community College is also developing curriculum around local food systems, agriculture, and permaculture. Sandy Thomas, who is now working at GCC, is spear-heading this initiative.
• Janice also reported that the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s big annual “Building Energy” conference is at the Boston World Trade Center on March 8-10.
  Nancy Hazard and others from Greenfield will be presenting a workshop on “greening your community” on the morning of March 8, for just $45 (much cheaper than most of the NESEA conference workshops).
• The Second Annual Food Forum hosted by Seeds of Solidarity and the Seed Garden will be held on February 26 at the Orange Innovation Center. The forum is free, but registration is limited.
• Orange is going to start work on its $1.3 million performance contract with its energy contractor. An RFP went out today for a PV system at the landfill system.
• There is a program at the Petersham School for all grades called “Corn to School” that will plant, harvest, and use corn next year.

North Quabbin Home and Energy Expo
March 19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We decided in December not to be a co-sponsor or be part of the planning process for the Home Show this year. Pat met with the new head of the Chamber of Commerce and passed along our list of green vendors and some other materials. The cost for a table in the hall, if we want to be there, is $100. Brian will check whether Plotkin Furniture might be interested in co-sponsoring winsert demonstrations at our table. It looks as though we have enough people to cover the table, so we will go ahead and sign up. CET may want to share our table (Pat will check). We still have light bulbs, Northeast Sun magazines, and various brochures to give out.

Possible town energy committee meeting in spring
We talked about whether we should host a follow-up meeting to the all-town gathering from December 2009. This seemed like a good idea, so we will aim for a date in May – possibly May 7. Hal, Janice, and Cathy will be a sub-committee to organize this.

Local food brochure
We got $250 from the Petersham Cultural Council to reprint our local food brochure. We need people to tell us about local food producers and sellers. Linda Paquet will send the current brochure to NQE people to pass along to town energy committee members, agricultural commissions, libraries, and others knowledgeable about local agriculture. Linda will take the lead on this and Cathy will help with printing.

Electricity reduction campaign
Janice has presented the average figures that we gathered for the North Quabbin towns in various places, including for an upcoming Greenfield Recorder article. We talked about ways to take the data and move somewhere with it, including perhaps proposing to state representatives and senators that they propose legislation mandating a tiered rate. Cathy has drafted a letter about this; Steve and Janice and Bruce will revise the draft for the next meeting and we will try to send it out by March. We will tie this to our Home Show table via a petition about the tiered pricing system and handouts about simple electricity-reducing strategies. We will also ask the town energy committees about circulating the petition.

We talked about some possible slogans to promote this:

• “When it pays to be below average!” or “Proud to be below average!”
• picture of a lightbulb saying, “It turns me on when you turn me off!”

January winsert workshop
We had seven people who all went home with winserts. Feedback was generally very positive. Brian is doing another workshop in Gill in February. Linda ran a workshop at the Petersham Town Hall. NESEA hosted a workshop in Greenfield that Steve and Janice ran.

News articles
Jinx Hastings wrote a good article about icicles and ice dams that was in the Barre Gazette, the Athol Daily News, and the Warwick e-list last week. Pat talked with Deb Porter at the Athol Daily News about having some kind of “presented by North Quabbin Energy” column in the paper, and Deb was very open to the idea. We will talk about this at our next meeting.

North Quabbin Solar Power Project
Hal and Kristin reported on their ongoing efforts to develop a multi-site solar photovoltaic (PV) project to meet 100% of the electricity demand of municipal buildings and facilities and schools throughout the region. Known as the “North Quabbin Solar Power Project,” the concept was inspired by the regional Green Communities Program collaboration during the last two years and the eight-part strategy released in June 2010 that called for a regional solar PV feasibility study.

Hal and Kristin have obtained letters of commitment from international investors and solar technology manufacturers to implement the first phase–a three-site, six-megawatt project with an estimated value of more than $30 million–on a design-build-own-operate-finance basis. They said they will be reaching out to local officials throughout the region during the next few weeks and are hoping that the towns of the North Quabbin will embrace the opportunity to demonstrate continuing clean energy leadership and to lower energy costs with solar-powered municipal and school buildings and facilities.

Next meeting
Monday, March 7, 6:30 at MREC


]]> http://northquabbinenergy.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/february-9-2011-meeting/feed/ 0 northquabbinenergy http://northquabbinenergy.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/meeting-minutes-nov-18-2010/ http://northquabbinenergy.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/meeting-minutes-nov-18-2010/#comments Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:39:50 +0000 northquabbinenergy http://northquabbinenergy.wordpress.com/?p=224 ]]> Attending: Neil Anders, Charles Bado (Energy Coach with Coop Power), Hal Gillam, Pat Larson, Judy Bennett, Brian Nugent, Tom Rich, Bruce Spencer, Cathy Stanton

Announcements:

• The Athol Senior Center, now being constructed in the former CVS store downtown, features several “green” construction elements, including solar tubes for lighting and a planned solar hot water system.
• Coop Power will be installing a solar hot water system in Athol’s Fire Station No. 2.
• There will be a Transition Town presentation with Tina Clarke at Wendell Free Library on Monday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
• Coop Power is busy constructing and fundraising for the Northeast Biodiesel plant
• Saturday, Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a family-friendly vendor fair at Athol Town Hall that incorporates a “Go Green” theme.
• New Salem has submitted its Green Communities application now that it has completed all of its requirements.
• The Orange town energy committee is working on outreach to residents, since the municipal side of things is now well underway. They are planning a workshop to make “draft-dodgers” to stop drafts under doors, and will hold some film screenings and a book discussion of Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy.
• Athol’s town committee has been discussing ways to build some electric vehicle charging stations in the town and also the region.
• Brian did a well-attended presentation at the Barre library on winserts and weatherization. He will also be doing a winsert presentation at the Athol Library on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 5:30 to 6:45.
• Neil is doing a presentation at Barre library on Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to noon on assessing your baseline energy use and thinking of ways to reduce that.

Coop Power discussion
We talked about how we might connect with Coop Power around some kind of community projects around weatherization or other projects. One stumbling block to having Coop Power do energy audits and weatherization in the North Quabbin is that it has not been working over the Worcester County line, but Charles will investigate whether this could be more flexible so that Athol and other Worcester County towns in the North Quabbin could be included. Some lobbying by NQE and town energy committees could be helpful here.
Hal talked about how this could help the current Athol campaign that includes a residential initiative designed to promote and facilitate weatherization in homes, targeting those who heat with electricity first. National Grid has been working closely with the town on this.
Neil mentioned Joe Biden’s recently-announced Home Energy Scoring program and wondered how this might relate to energy audits and installations.

Debrief from Oct. 23 winsert workshop
Feedback from participants was extremely positive. Several people have gone on and made additional winserts for their homes. Steve Kurkoski suggested having more tables if we do this again so that no one has to wait for their turn to do each step.

Book discussion
We will aim to meet on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. for a potluck and discussion of Tom Wessells’ The Myth of Progress. We will confirm this date soon.

Other business
Hal brought up the subject of potential funding and effort to help upgrade and continue weatherizing the Environmental Center, since it is a heavy energy user among the town buildings and burns a lot of oil considering how little it is actually used.


]]> http://northquabbinenergy.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/meeting-minutes-nov-18-2010/feed/ 0 northquabbinenergy