Climate Action Plan Standing Committee

Minutes Climate Action Plan Standing Committee Regular Meeting November 16, 2022 A. Call to Order – Attending: Robin Paone, Liz Records, Alan Tiefenbach, Karin Hilding, Paul Tschida (DEQ), Lydia Fahrenkrug (connected by Teams). B. Approval of Minutes from October 19, 2022 Meeting – The minutes were approved C. Communications/Outreach/Education – Presentation by Paul Tschida, DEQ Energy Resource Specialist on Montana Statewide Energy Code. He provided us with a Residential Buildings Energy Code Summary and a pamphlet on “Energy Code Guide for New Home Construction”. Builders self-certify for compliance with the Energy Code. Outside of the Montana cities there is very little compliance. Since there are no building permits required it is difficult to enforce. Energy efficiency labels are required by code to be filled out by the builder and placed in each home. With the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) there will be a Solar Ready $5,000 tax credit starting next year. To receive the credit a home will need to be certified as solar ready. Flathead Builders Association was supplied with the Blower Door Test equipment and an infrared camera. Also, Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana has the equipment to do the blower door test. Locally Mark Van Everen and Todd Krost of (Krost Home Inspection) can do the blower door testing. Paul also discussed Radon testing. 39% of Flathead Valley homes do not meet the recommended Radon level. He gave out Radon test kits. Paul’s salary is paid by NEEA (The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance). He works half time. Paul provided a more detailed presentation the following day to 21 builders and building inspectors at city hall. At the December 21st committee meeting Mountain Line Transit of Missoula will do a presentation on operation of their E-Bus system in cold weather. D. Nominate a new committee chair to replace Kate in January. This was delayed until the December meeting after the new member joins the committee. E. Coordination with Climate Action Plan • Budget FY23 – type and cost of vehicles in budget? Karin recently received vehicle information from Lanie, our finance director. Karin will summarize this information for the next meeting. She will also check with the police department about the hybrids. F. Project Updates • Existing Projects o Community Solar Project (Karin) – The project has stalled with FEC o Landscaping Standards – Planning Department update – Alan sent out the draft to the departments. Will be discussed at Dec. 1st meeting. Drought  tolerant plants incentive or mandatory. Alan will wait to send it to our committee. o EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) Risk Assessment Application for Water Utilities. Presentation to this committee at the beginning of next year. Results should be done by the end of the year. o Council consideration of making the Sustainable Tourism Committee a standing committee • Proposed Projects o Pamphlet for Zero Waste events at Depot Park (Liz) contact Robin Kelson – Maria and Liz will follow up with Robin Kelson. o Proposed Electrification Strategy (Robin) – Robin and Lydia have a draft white paper. They will email it out. F. Other Committee Status Updates Karin will send an email with Paul’s PowerPoint presentation. Citizens Climate Lobby is expanding their advocacy to include building electrification and efficiency, clean energy permitting, and healthy forests. G. Public Comment H. Adjournment