sustainableportsmouth.org

Energy

SUSTAINABLE PORTSMOUTH

FIVE-YEAR PLAN

ENERGY PLANNING

FINAL REPORT

March 18, 2010

GROUP MEMBERS:

Sandra Bissett

Ann Bliss

Michael Bliss

Laura Burbine

Aubrey Gewehr

Roger Harris

Skye Maher

Michael Mark

Regan McCarthy

James Petersen

William Swayze

I. Our vision for Portsmouth in five years will be that:

“Portsmouth is an energy conscious community that continually minimizes consumption and maximizes renewable resources”

II. The baseline for energy use in Portsmouth is not currently available, within the focused residential and commercial community.  The City of Portsmouth participated in the Cities for Climate Protection during the summer of 2007 and had an inventory done by an intern from the University of New Hampshire. The estimate is for greenhouse gas emissions and was created from the calculations and formulae from the ICLEI study (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) as part of that participation. These figures are estimates of the gross energy being used. While it is not a complete assessment of what our community energy consumption is, we can use this data as a baseline against which we might be able to determine change in five years. Especially important is the concept that the ICLEI study is intended to be a follow-up program with periodic reviews. We could receive the same kind of information from this review and analysis every two years, or as long as the city continues to participate.

We would prefer to establish a real and workable baseline of information that relates to individual households, using data that acts as a guideline that homeowners will find useful and educational. Our goal is to conduct a survey that is both professional and statistically appropriate which can be administered within the community, to develop a workable baseline for us to publicize and monitor. It would be our hope that several study groups needing information could collectively create a set of questions that would be succinct and supply us all with good data.

III. To achieve the vision, the baseline survey will have to be:

• Simple to accomplish and record
• Easy to update
• Clearly itemized by energy source

We will need to determine how energy is being used in residences, provide educational opportunities for the community to promote engagement for conservation and awareness. Once buildings are able to be viewed with their own signature energy pattern, building owners can begin to focus on energy reduction. Awareness will be an important part of the purpose of the survey.

IV. We are proposing the following actions to achieve the Vision:

• 1. Develop a Survey – we will need to
     • create assessment tools to gather data
     • create awareness and interest
     • Establish a schedule for the survey to be done, and repeated on a periodic basis – random sampling survey
     • Create a survey that is not very technical or intimidating and provides educational opportunities.  It will need to be both a technical/engineering survey but one that also includes the social/psychological aspect of sustainability awareness.
  2. Create an Assessment Tool for structures that will
     • be a guide as an energy index – could be used both for random survey and/or demonstration project.
     • Be an Energy Index that can be used by homeowners as a guideline, as a sales promotion and as a conservation indicator.
     • Provide educational measures for conservation and sustainability
  3. Develop Community Incentive programs, challenges within the community and more educational opportunities
     • Demonstration projects – Proof of concepts
     • Comparative challenge – neighborhood to neighborhood
     • Voluntary community data base for homes and businesses
     • SEAREI efforts to add energy sources to more homes
  4. Develop a Financial Incentives Program for energy conservation for our community through public and private means. We want to have a low interest community loan fund available to homeowners to help pay for energy conservation and creation projects. The fund will not be a financial burden to the city, but will be secured through municipal bonding or by grants. There may also be some tax structuring that will assist our city in the goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, by some relief for measures taken by homeowners to improve their building’s energy index.
  5. Create a Continuous Engagement Program through
     • Branding,
     • Marketing and
     • Community initiatives.
     • More education, more education, more education.
  6. Develop Renewable Energy and Green Technologies Education in schools to create skilled trades’ people for our region.
     • Become a regional center for students interested in skills for the current energy environment
     • By developing the programs here, we continue to provide adult education for the community about the importance of the energy changes and challenges of our times.

V. For each action, set out the following:

• The measure of our baseline will allow us to have a definitive, quantifiable set of data for individual buildings. Our vision is to be able to measure and re-measure buildings to permit owners/users to see the amount of progress that is being made in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• The results of the action will be monitored and measured by repeated surveys. By establishing a voluntary data set that might be put online, owners/users will be able to monitor their own progress between surveys.
• The resources needed to go from baseline to vision are primarily a more aware population that will be willing to engage in a community wide effort to reduce our carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
• The following groups, individuals, institutions, etc. are already involved with this action; State and Federal government programs offer some rebate initiatives. All are truly insignificant in addressing widespread and deep energy conservation. The State of NH ESSE (Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy) Board is establishing measures and coordinating funders for energy conservation and creation efforts. We also have educational organizations like Piscataqua Sustainability Initiative and The Interfaith Sustainability Network already engaged in this work.
• We will synergize everyone to achieve each action by having lots of zero waste pot luck suppers.
• How will each action impact the environmental, economic and social aspects of Portsmouth?

We will protect our Atlantic coastline, reduce our fossil use dependency, harness the natural energy of the sun and winds of our planet, create skilled jobs for valued workers, create a generation of green-collar workers who will design a new way of living with Mother Earth.

We will be the hope of the socially conscious world!