HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 15Environmental Initiatives Committee
Minutes
DATE: Monday, September 15, 2008
TIME: 7:30pm
LOCATION: Parks & Recreation Building
26379 Fremont Road
Los Altos Hills
Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Environmental Initiatives Committee regarding any item of the open
session portion of this agenda will be made available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s office located at 26379 Fremont
Road, Los Altos Hills, California
during normal business hours.
1.Roll Call: The following were present: Mark Jensen, Ian Earnest, Peter Evans, John
Harpootlan, Steve Schmidt, Jay Shideler & Walt Wilson. Guest: Margaret Suozzo
and Mark Stiving
2.Committee acceptance of the minutes: All present acceptance the August 18, 2008
Minutes as is.
Energy:
1.Energy Renewable & Consumption Reduction Initiatives – (H-H) Steve:
•Initial $500+ proposal was approved by PG&E. Papia still looking for her
replacement so effort on this program has somewhat stalled. Submit more
comprehensive proposal (Climate Action Plan) for more money – (H-H)
Steve.
•ICLEI – Government info on Town government is “tight” but sectors of
automobile and air travel for the community contribution are mere estimates.
ICLEI program can make estimates for these segments but until more solid
data can be obtained, the community carbon footprint reduction should be
voluntary. The committee expressed reservation about setting mandatory
goals and limits but expressed a desire to guide its efforts via educating the
town to obtain a reduction of the Town’s carbon footprint al la AB32.
1.Prepare a 15 minute presentation based on ICLEI data for the Town
Council for informational/educational purposes only (no mandatory
guidelines) – present at the October Town Council meeting - (H-H) -
Steve
2.Residential audits for LAH by Actera is currently on hold waiting for
PG&E’s replacement of Papia. Go ahead for GHG grant certification for
GHG inventory – (H-H) – Steve.
Town Hall energy monitoring:
• FSI took more data and published a new report. Report included much asked
for data and analysis such as pie charts but still lackes the specific details the
EIC was looking for:
1. Carefully study RFQ to see if FSI followed it. If so, release
authorization for payment (H-H) – Mark/Walt.
2. The EMS (Energy Management System) would probably work
best for energy improvements. Are the funds available? (H-H)
Peter
3. Town Hall Energy Star Certification for $580 – should we do
this or try for a LEED certification? Evaluate and make
recommendations to the EIC – (H-H) Mark/Walt
4. Data room outside cooling and other changes – make
recommendations to the EIC on which should be done
(assuming that EMS will be used) – (H-H) Mark/Walt
3. Solar Energy Generation:
1. Solar website monitoring: No new information (M-L) - Jay
2. A PowerPoint report titled, P.V. Solar System Purchase Options,
distributed to the Town Council and to the EIC was well received. Mayor
Jean Mordo wants this report (possibly simplified) and other like reports
to be distributed to residents/contractors when they apply for
new/remodeling permits.
• Incorporate AB811 CA which allows funded energy sustainability
projects to be funded and recorded on property tax rolls (H-H) Jay.
• Mark Stiring talked about his company’s service to assist residents
in selecting a solar contractor, taking away the time and
uncertainty in the selection process.
Green Construction and Demolition (H-H) - Raj:
1. Build-it-Green proposal was submitted and approved on a 5 to 0 volt. Thanks
to Debbie and Raj for a terrific job well done. Proposal will go on consent
calendar for approval on October Council meeting. Council expressed
concern about cost of auditor ($1,200 to $2,500) and warned about bringing
proposals to Council that require mandatory compliance. (H-H) – Raj.
Recycling:
• Green Waste Recovery’s proposal: Check refuse trucks and make sure the
contract changeover will be seamless come October 1 (H-H) - Jay
• LAG Co. residential recycling/landfill data – June figures show recycling by LAH
down to ~58% - (M-M) – Jay
• Evidence exist that many landscape maintenance contractors are not recycling but
are instead, taking the trimmings directly to the landfill – investigate (H-H) Jay
• Green Waste needs to disclose what happens to recycled material sent to 3rd world
countries (M-H) Jay
Water Consumption, S.O.D. and Fire Prevention:
• Documents for both S.O.D. (Sudden Oak Death) & Fire Prevention for LAH
were submitted to the Town Council – need updates and
comments/recommendations from the Town Council (M-H) – John
• Landscape Water & Conservation Guidelines – guidelines will be given to
residents/contractors at time of permit submission
• Permissima’s water bill statement of resident water usage percentile is
confusing at best – contact Patrick of the water district and rectify (M-M) –
Walt
• “Gray water” utilization in LSH – permitting difficult and application
difficulties make it somewhat impractical at this time – investigate and make
recommendations to the EIC – (M-M) – Margie
• Pool, fountain/waterfall discussion – EIC discussed size, type and efficiency
requirements for these appointments. The EIC feels that design is much more
important than size. Poor designs and high volume/vertical lift waterfalls can
be very wasteful. Put together a guideline for design of efficient pools
including proper sizing of pool pumps to be submitted to residents/contractors
at time of permitting – (H-H) - Ian
Miscellaneous:
• EIC Website–Town – still waiting for Town staff to go-ahead (H-M) Lew
Next Meeting: Monday, September 13, 2008 at 7:30PM (Parks and Recreation
Building). Note that this is the second Monday of the month – chosen due to conflicts on
the third Monday of the month.
Concept for establishing Goals and setting Priority: These minutes, henceforth, shall
follow this format of denoting priority as (Value-Time) until further notice. “Value” and
“Time” are expressed as one of three letters: “H” – high, “M”- medium or “L” – low.
JAS 9-15-08