Turning energy resolution into reality
By David Harry
Staff Writer
South Portland councilors unanimously passed a resolution last month calling for the creation of a sustainable city environment to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and save energy and money.
Ann Archino Howe, a civil engineer now serving as the energy and sustainability coordinator in South Portland and Scarborough through a grant from the federal Department of Energy, spoke this week about making the resolution a reality.
Howe said tangible steps already have been taken, including using longer-life bulbs in traffic signals and more efficient motors in equipment at the municipal water treatment plan. She praised city officials for their enthusiasm and detailed how the city may achieve goals outlined in the resolution.
The resolution can be found online in the Aug. 16 City Council agenda at www.southportland.org. />
Q: Tell me about your background
A: I’m a civil engineer. I have my own company called Sustainable Design Studio. I’ve been working in sustainable site design for years. Probably the thing that is more important to this position is my involvement with the U.S. Green Building Council. I was an organizer of the Maine chapter, have been on the regional council and am right now on the national board. The U.S. Green Building Council is much broader than civil engineering – it is the whole realm of sustainability and in particular how buildings have affected climate change.
Q: Did you help create the resolution or are you on to help implement it?
A: The city had already dedicated itself by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in 2007 and doing many of the things that are outlined in the “whereases.” It started the process that led to this resolve. I helped the council and manager’s office to frame the words of the resolve. But all of the actions came out of things that are already going on or that people are dedicated to seeing happen in South Portland. I didn’t invent anything.
Q: How extensively do you view the challenges?
A: I think there are a lot of people in South Portland already on board with many of the things. So the challenge is extending that group. There is already an Energy and Recycling Committee that has been working for years in the city. They are working on this climate action plan and the Planning and Codes Department has already been having extensive meetings for the revision of the comprehensive plan and there has been a very good turn out for the revision meetings. So I think the city is already well-positioned to further implement more things that will reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
Q: How simple is some of this?
A: I think everybody needs to be on board to take the simple steps. The city has already done some of those – changing out bulbs, putting in room sensors. On the municipal side, the city committed to doing more by having hired Siemens to do an audit of 14 of the municipal buildings.
Q: Please explain fee for savings.
A: Fee for savings is a process where Siemens does an audit of the building and suggests upgrades and changes that will have the largest savings in greenhouse gas emissions and – one hopes – costs. Then the city decides what to go ahead with, Siemens installs those things and the savings are the way Siemens gets paid. It is an incentive program on all sides. The second thing is the Energy and Recycling Committee is creating a base inventory, based on the 2007 year, to compare energy use in municipal buildings. This will help determine how well each of these things in each of these buildings reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”
Q: So the money not spent on fuel is spent on the improvements?
A: Yes, the savings pay for the work that has been done. But Siemens is looking for things that may have a two- or five-year payback, which probably isn’t replacing windows. So those kinds of larger, longer payback things will be things the city will have to look for other ways to do.
Q: What else may be done?
A: A council workshop where the idea of a South Portland energy supply company was introduced. That’s another thing being contemplated as a way to reduce energy costs and potentially bring in renewable sources of energy for municipal buildings, residents and small businesses. This is just in the conceptual phase.
Q: What is the purchasing policy about?
A: It can be as simple as buying locally. We are working on this now. We will be looking at cleaning supplies, everything the city buys. What is the best way to buy computers so they are using less energy? I think we will be discussing how things are used. Can we reduce the amount of paper we have to buy? There are a lot of things that go into it.
Q: Is this also about seeking the least toxic alternatives?
A: Yes. Sustainability is one of the terms that covers such a huge range of issues. It really comes down to asking “am I doing this in a way that 20 or 50 years from now, I can still think about doing it this way?” That’s the kind of mentality that has started in the city – we need to foster that.
Q: Is there a correlation between the price of gas and ridership on mass transit?
A: That’s the big catch-22, and I’m not a public policy person. I think it is obvious that price is one of those triggers. One of the things that is true about changing people’s minds about anything is they have to feel a personal pinch. Operating a vehicle, all the costs, not just gas, might be another. The commute another way program will take a lot of discussion because the way we live in Maine is not conducive to that.
We have people driving in from Limington. But if it just gets people thinking about how the way they are living affects the world we are handing on to our children and grandchildren, it may be enough for them.
Q: Is there a tipping point where people may just roll their eyes?
A: In the public realm, we have a great bully pulpit with the council and manager behind this and providing leadership. I think the way change happens behind that pinch point is through some of the things like “Warm Homes, Cool Cities,” the PACE program the city is gearing up to add, are great ways to make people more aware.
Say someone gets a PACE loan to get new windows and a neighbor sees it. Somebody doing an energy efficient thing and talking about and a neighbor says “Oh – so you are saving x dollars,” that’s the way change happens. We have to have people out there who have taken the plunge and done things.
Q: Is this something where people need to understand the effect on their bottom line?
A: I think it is one of the things. It is so much harder, unless somebody has asthma they realize is caused by increased pollution or they have a child with asthma. There are a lot of ways people come to this – illness, cost, ordinances passed. It isn’t just putting out pamphlets and standing up and talking about it. It is a whole bunch of things that make people aware.
Q: Are particular goals more challenging than others?
A: I think anything that is brand new, including ways of collecting data about energy usage using cost rather than gallons – the things that are longer-term that aren’t part of this yet and will come out of climate action plan. Changes of behavior are going to be hard for all of us, and some of those things require changes of behavior.
Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219.
Staff Writer
South Portland councilors unanimously passed a resolution last month calling for the creation of a sustainable city environment to reduce pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and save energy and money.
Ann Archino Howe, a civil engineer now serving as the energy and sustainability coordinator in South Portland and Scarborough through a grant from the federal Department of Energy, spoke this week about making the resolution a reality.
Howe said tangible steps already have been taken, including using longer-life bulbs in traffic signals and more efficient motors in equipment at the municipal water treatment plan. She praised city officials for their enthusiasm and detailed how the city may achieve goals outlined in the resolution.
The resolution can be found online in the Aug. 16 City Council agenda at www.southportland.org.
Q: Tell me about your background
A: I’m a civil engineer. I have my own company called Sustainable Design Studio. I’ve been working in sustainable site design for years. Probably the thing that is more important to this position is my involvement with the U.S. Green Building Council. I was an organizer of the Maine chapter, have been on the regional council and am right now on the national board. The U.S. Green Building Council is much broader than civil engineering – it is the whole realm of sustainability and in particular how buildings have affected climate change.
Q: Did you help create the resolution or are you on to help implement it?
A: The city had already dedicated itself by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in 2007 and doing many of the things that are outlined in the “whereases.” It started the process that led to this resolve. I helped the council and manager’s office to frame the words of the resolve. But all of the actions came out of things that are already going on or that people are dedicated to seeing happen in South Portland. I didn’t invent anything.
Q: How extensively do you view the challenges?
A: I think there are a lot of people in South Portland already on board with many of the things. So the challenge is extending that group. There is already an Energy and Recycling Committee that has been working for years in the city. They are working on this climate action plan and the Planning and Codes Department has already been having extensive meetings for the revision of the comprehensive plan and there has been a very good turn out for the revision meetings. So I think the city is already well-positioned to further implement more things that will reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
Q: How simple is some of this?
A: I think everybody needs to be on board to take the simple steps. The city has already done some of those – changing out bulbs, putting in room sensors. On the municipal side, the city committed to doing more by having hired Siemens to do an audit of 14 of the municipal buildings.
Q: Please explain fee for savings.
A: Fee for savings is a process where Siemens does an audit of the building and suggests upgrades and changes that will have the largest savings in greenhouse gas emissions and – one hopes – costs. Then the city decides what to go ahead with, Siemens installs those things and the savings are the way Siemens gets paid. It is an incentive program on all sides. The second thing is the Energy and Recycling Committee is creating a base inventory, based on the 2007 year, to compare energy use in municipal buildings. This will help determine how well each of these things in each of these buildings reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”
Q: So the money not spent on fuel is spent on the improvements?
A: Yes, the savings pay for the work that has been done. But Siemens is looking for things that may have a two- or five-year payback, which probably isn’t replacing windows. So those kinds of larger, longer payback things will be things the city will have to look for other ways to do.
Q: What else may be done?
A: A council workshop where the idea of a South Portland energy supply company was introduced. That’s another thing being contemplated as a way to reduce energy costs and potentially bring in renewable sources of energy for municipal buildings, residents and small businesses. This is just in the conceptual phase.
Q: What is the purchasing policy about?
A: It can be as simple as buying locally. We are working on this now. We will be looking at cleaning supplies, everything the city buys. What is the best way to buy computers so they are using less energy? I think we will be discussing how things are used. Can we reduce the amount of paper we have to buy? There are a lot of things that go into it.
Q: Is this also about seeking the least toxic alternatives?
A: Yes. Sustainability is one of the terms that covers such a huge range of issues. It really comes down to asking “am I doing this in a way that 20 or 50 years from now, I can still think about doing it this way?” That’s the kind of mentality that has started in the city – we need to foster that.
Q: Is there a correlation between the price of gas and ridership on mass transit?
A: That’s the big catch-22, and I’m not a public policy person. I think it is obvious that price is one of those triggers. One of the things that is true about changing people’s minds about anything is they have to feel a personal pinch. Operating a vehicle, all the costs, not just gas, might be another. The commute another way program will take a lot of discussion because the way we live in Maine is not conducive to that.
We have people driving in from Limington. But if it just gets people thinking about how the way they are living affects the world we are handing on to our children and grandchildren, it may be enough for them.
Q: Is there a tipping point where people may just roll their eyes?
A: In the public realm, we have a great bully pulpit with the council and manager behind this and providing leadership. I think the way change happens behind that pinch point is through some of the things like “Warm Homes, Cool Cities,” the PACE program the city is gearing up to add, are great ways to make people more aware.
Say someone gets a PACE loan to get new windows and a neighbor sees it. Somebody doing an energy efficient thing and talking about and a neighbor says “Oh – so you are saving x dollars,” that’s the way change happens. We have to have people out there who have taken the plunge and done things.
Q: Is this something where people need to understand the effect on their bottom line?
A: I think it is one of the things. It is so much harder, unless somebody has asthma they realize is caused by increased pollution or they have a child with asthma. There are a lot of ways people come to this – illness, cost, ordinances passed. It isn’t just putting out pamphlets and standing up and talking about it. It is a whole bunch of things that make people aware.
Q: Are particular goals more challenging than others?
A: I think anything that is brand new, including ways of collecting data about energy usage using cost rather than gallons – the things that are longer-term that aren’t part of this yet and will come out of climate action plan. Changes of behavior are going to be hard for all of us, and some of those things require changes of behavior.
Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219.
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