Regarding the Eagle Tribune article - disappointing. I guess I have to write a letter to the editor , or go in front of the Selectmen to correct the numerous errors she put forth in this article. Why do I even talk to her!?! It's like she already had this article in her mind and wanted to force fit our conversation into it with broad editorial privileges.
I tried to emphasize getting residents involved in the challenge. She wanted to talk about town buildings.
I told her we only had Unitil walk through on a high-level electricity audit and that few recommendations came from that. I did NOT say the library was efficient, since the library wasn't even included in the walk-through! I said the only recommendations that Unitil verbally gave in the audit were to replace a strip of lighting in the Town Hall with EE lighting (nothing about the police station, other than that is one of the older buildings, so a possible candidate for an energy audit). She asked about the Historical Society - I said there wasn't a lot we could do in the short term - possibly adding thermal shades. I talked about my meeting with the Hist Society - wished I hadn't. I did NOT say the recommendation was to close it down only that we (me and the Historical Society board members) talked about it. SHE asked about doing more extensive audits - I explained they would require funding and that would be the responsibility of each department, not that we are planning on asking. Next time, I am going to insist on sending a press release, period. Of course that wouldn't guarantee accuracy in the final report either.
I have been too busy with work to move forward on the more definitive benchmarking tool (the EPA's) and will not have time until mid-November to get the remaining data needed to complete it. This tool is not a comprehensive energy audit - audits cost money - this only evaluates each building's use against others in our region in regard to their energy intensity.
Michelle
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:53:24 -0400
From: mascola1@verizon.net
Subject: Energy Committee wants residents to reduce their carbon footprint
To: mascola1@verizon.net; mveasey@msn.com; jim.garrity.atkinsonsunshine@blogger.com; jim.garrity@leg.state.nh.us; maj2002@comcast.net; hike4000@comcast.net
Here is an article from the Lawrence Eagle Tribune…
Published: October 29, 2008 01:12 am PrintThis
Atkinson challenges Hampstead to save energy and money Energy Committee wants residents to reduce their carbon footprint
By Meghan Carey
mcarey@eagletribune.com
ATKINSON — Atkinson to Hampstead: Who can save the most?
The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee is pushing town officials to issue a challenge to their neighbors to see which town can reduce its carbon footprint the most. The challenge may even trim some tax bills.
Selectmen plan to host a workshop to talk about energy savings and the challenge, but Chairman Paul Sullivan said they haven't scheduled it yet. They are waiting for the results of an energy audit the selectmen asked the committee to have done on all town buildings, which he said has been completed.
Once the selectmen call the challenge, the library plans to get onboard, Kimball Library Director Diane Heer said yesterday.
The library and fire station are pretty efficient because they are new buildings, energy committee member Michelle Veasey said. She took someone from the Unitil electric company around to do the energy audit and they had a few suggestions for how the town could cut its bill.
The community center has been refitted with energy-efficient lights, and Unitil said the same should be done at the police station and Town Hall.
The Kimball House, which is where the historical society meets and has its museum, was the least energy-efficient building, Veasey said. The recommendation to save money there was to close the building and shut off the heat for a couple of winter months, she said.
But the house has too many antiques in it to have the heat shut off, Veasey said. She met with historical society members and talked about buying thermal shades as an efficient method to help heat rooms when the museum isn't open.
The Atkinson Energy Efficiency Committee members plan to ask the selectmen to allocate money in next year's budget to do a more thorough audit of the buildings, Veasey said.
They are still researching the costs, but she said it should be reasonable and save money in the long run. The audit would check to see if buildings are airtight, but have proper circulation.
