Appendix A: Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy
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Appendix A: Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy EC&RE Questionnaire .................................................................................................................... 2 Organizations/People Interviewed .................................................................................................. 3 Whatcom County Planning Department – Nick Smith & Mark Sniffen .................................... 4 Whatcom County Facilities – Rob Ney & Craig Cummings ...................................................... 7 Puget Sound Energy – Lynn Murphy ......................................................................................... 9 Cascade Natural Gas – Alyn Spector, Kary Burin, Monica Cowlishaw, & Kristin Forck ....... 12 Whatcom County PUD & Planning Commission – Atul Deshmane ........................................ 16 Silfab Solar – Dave McCarty .................................................................................................... 19 EcoTech Solar – Dana Brandt ................................................................................................... 21 Western Solar – Markus Virta .................................................................................................. 24 Sustainable Connections – Emily Kubiak................................................................................. 27 Building Industry Association of Whatcom County – Rob Lee & Jacquelyn Styrna .............. 30 Spark Northwest – Mia Devine & Jaimes Valdez .................................................................... 33 Opportunity Council – Ross Quigley & Mark Schofield .......................................................... 37 RE-Sources for Sustainable Communities – Eddy Ury ............................................................ 42 Phillips 66 – Lauren Turner & Tim Johnson ............................................................................ 46 Convivium Renewable Energy - Terry Meyer .......................................................................... 48 Noteworthy Information ............................................................................................................... 50 Recommended Speakers ............................................................................................................... 50 Available Data .............................................................................................................................. 51 EC&RE Summary of Recommendations and Barriers ................................................................. 51 EC&RE Questionnaire • The two overarching goals of our effort are to understand what has been accomplished since the 2007 County Climate Action Plan, and to collect information and ideas on mitigation and adaptation strategies for a revised County Climate Action Plan. We also want to know about any perceived barriers to implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies. • We anticipate the interview will take about 45-60 minutes • We are interviewing many organizations and businesses, and we are one team among many who are collecting information and ideas. • A draft of the interview write-up will be emailed to you for your review, to ensure we have accurately captured what you’ve communicated prior to publishing the report. • The Whatcom County Climate Impact Advisory Committee’s stated timeline is to complete the report by the end of 2019. It will be posted on the Advisory Committee’s website. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 1. The updated Whatcom County Climate Action Plan will define necessary actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) county-wide and the adaptations for expected climate impacts. What can you share with us about your organization’s plans for GHG mitigation and adaptation? 2. As you probably already know, the State Legislature has passed into law the 100% Clean Energy and related bills, which commits our state to a rapid transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. How will this new law affect your organization/business, specifically in Whatcom County? 3. What actions have you taken to reduce energy use in your facilities? (Please define which facilities you are referring to.) 4. The efficiency of your operations must be central to business performance, but what can you tell us publicly about facility efficiency over time? 5. Of the energy consumed at your facility, approximately what proportion is electrical energy from the grid (either Whatcom PUD or other sources)? 6. Are there current plans to reduce energy use that lack budget or willpower to implement? 7. Can you describe what your organization plans to do regarding the promotion and support of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy within Whatcom County? 8. Other than solar and wind energy, does your organization have plans to support greater energy conservation and renewable energy within Whatcom County? 9. What other new innovations would you like to see that would lower energy use and/or increase renewable energy production? 10. What did we not ask you, but you think is important for us to know? 2 Organizations/People Interviewed The following organizations and people were interviewed. The notes from each interview were assembled by the interviewers and then sent to the people interviewed for correction and comment. Organization/Source (15) Name (24) Title Whatcom County Planning Dept Nick Smith Permit Center Specialist Mark Sniffen Division Manager, Dpty. Fire Marshall Whatcom County Facilities Rob Ney Facilities Manager Craig Cummings Facilities Maintenance Lead Puget Sound Energy Lynn Murphy Sr. Government Affairs Rep Cascade Natural Gas Alyn Spector Energy Efficiency Policy Manager Kary Burin Supervisor, Conservation Mgr, Energy Efficiency & Community Monica Cowlishaw Outreach Kristin Forck Energy Efficiency Analyst Whatcom County PUD & Planning Commission Atul Deshmane PUD Commissioner, District 2 Silfab Solar (ITEK) Dave McCarty General Manager and COO EcoTech Solar Dana Brandt Founder and Owner Western Solar Markus Virta Dtr., Sales and Business Development Sustainable Connections Emily Kubiak Energy Advisor & Program Coordinator Building Industry Association Rob Lee Executive Officer Jacquelyn Styrna Government Affairs Director Mia Devine Project Manager Spark Northwest Jaimes Valdez Policy Manager Opportunity Council Ross Quigley Director, Home Improvement Mark Schofield Manager, Community Energy Challenge RE-Sources for Sustainable Communities Eddy Ury Clean Energy Program Manager Lauren Turner Business Performance Engineer Phillips 66 Tim Johnson Dtr., Public and Government Affairs Convivium Renewable Energy Terry Meyer Founder 3 Whatcom County Planning Department – Nick Smith & Mark Sniffen Interviewee name and title: Nick Smith, Permit Center Specialist and Mark Sniffen, Division Manager/Dpty. Fire Marshal Interviewee organization: Whatcom County Planning Department Interview date: 3/29/2019 Interviewers: Betsy Gross, Dave Hostetler, Paula O'Brien, Karen Dalenius 1. What actions have you taken to reduce energy use in County facilities, businesses and residential homes? • The County Dept. enforces energy codes through permitting and inspections. Codes mostly emanate from the state level. If they become more stringent re: carbon emissions, the Dept. will enforce them. • Current energy codes, implemented in 2015, are based on 2009 SB 5854. Codes set minimum standards to improve insulation, window and HVAC performance and efficiency in all new building and home construction, as well as remodels (additions <500 feet are exempt).1 • Energy star appliances and lighting are promoted. • Codes are updated every three years. 2018 codes must be implemented by 7/2020. WA does not adopt the ICC (International Code Council) model codes/standards. State codes are more stringent and set by the State Building Code Council. The County adopts the codes, or gets permission from the council to deviate from them. • The County Dept. uses cost-benefit analysis to balance improvements to efficiency with the ‘law of diminishing returns’ and the need for affordable housing. • The Dept. allows for virtual inspections in remote locations via skype, speeding processes, lowering costs of inspectors, and conserving transportation energy. • The Dept. has purchased software that will allow citizens to apply online for building permits and is moving towards becoming paperless. The Dept. hopes to implement the new online permitting software in late 2019. 2. Are you tracking the amount of energy reduction that have resulted from these actions? • No, WSU does this for commercial/residential buildings and they report their data every 3 years to the state as required by law. They use a formula to figure out the reduction. This info does not come back to the County. The dept. believes WSU and the State of Washington Building Code Council are the best agencies to review this data, since they adopt the State Energy Code. • The 2009 SB 5854 target of 50% reduction in energy consumption by 2019 was not attainable and therefore not reached. 3. Are you able to collect electricity/natural gas usage information from all industrial facilities in Whatcom County? If not, estimate? No. 4. Describe incentives for green building and remodeling (residential, private businesses, and public buildings). And what are the barriers to increasing efficiency? (collect information on passive house standards, net zero remodels, and energy efficiency penetration in the rental market) 1 2009 Senate Bill 5854: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5854&Year=2017.