HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-05-SLC-minSustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of November 5,2024
A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC)was held by Zoom conference.A
quorum of eight was present throughout.
Members Present:Cindy Arens (Chair),Celis Brisbin,Lin Jensen,Andy Joynt,Rick Reibstein,
Todd Rhodes (Vice-chair),Dan Voss,Paul Chernick
Members Absent:none
Staff Present:Maggie Peard (Sustainability &Resilience Officer),Melissa Battite (Recreation
Director),Mike Cronin (Director DPF)
Other Attendees:Joe Pato (Select Board liaison),Tina McBride,Mark Sandeen (Select Board),
Andy Olderman (SMMA),Martine Dion (SMMA),Anthony Jimenez (SMMA),Jacob Greco (Dore
and Whittier),Wendy Heiger-Bernays (Chair,Board of Health),Marcia Gens,Kavitha
Venkatesan,Arturo Cordova,Yolanda Huang (SustainabLY),Ricki Pappo
Cindy called the meeting to order at 6:03 pm and polled the SLC members to ensure that they
could be heard.
Minutes were approved for the October 23,2024 meeting.
After a request for public comments or new business,we discussed:
-Todd mentioned that we have received automated emails regarding the applicants for
the open position on SLC.
Research/testing developments with plastic turf:
-Further investigation and discovery is ongoing into the risks of PFAS,it has been found
in plastic turf components.
-When there is rainfall,PFAS in the turf escapes the playing surface into our wastewater.
-Activated sludge is being found to contain PFAS and wastewater treatment facilities are
not able to properly process it which prevents its use.
-Artificial turf cannot be used above a certain temperature and rising temperatures will
limit its use.This diminishes the main proposed benefit of artificial turf,which is the
ability to use turf fields longer and more often than natural grass.
-Disposal remains a concern as it is expensive and hard to do safely.
-A new study has shown 15%of plastics found in coastal waters is artificial turf,
increasing the concern about the dangers of microplastics to humans and surrounding
ecosystems.
November 5,2024
-We discussed that the turf working group will be meeting later this week to discuss.
Support for curbside food waste pickup in FY26 budget:
-Maggie gave a presentation to the League of Women Voters recently.
-Our current compost pilot ends in July 2025 unless it is folded into the town budget and
approved.
-Our waste tonnage is declining but tipping fees for the incinerator are going up by 25%.
-Some of the cost of the Black Earth program can be offset by the savings from lower
tipping fees from less tonnage.
-Cost from Black Earth is staying the same and we are asking to continue with a 4,000
household program.
-Cindy made a motion to support the line item for FY26 budget to fund the curbside
program.Rick seconded the motion and it passed by unanimous vote.
SMMA LHS Update:
-Reconvening after our Oct 23 meeting
-Updated estimated costs and incentives for ASHP and GSHP which indicate that GSHP
is more cost effective due to incentives in the IRA.
-The payback period for both ASHP and GSHP is immediate with incentives when
compared with installation costs of traditional AC and natural gas heating.
-Estimated annual energy cost savings are still being refined since we are still relatively
early in the design process.
-One test borehole has been drilled and some initial test results gathered.Initial thermal
conductivity is relatively low and unstable at 190 feet at Bloody Bluff.
-Looking for additional test boreholes to confirm bedrock conditions and thermal
conductivity.
-Solar PV Assessment
-Continues to be updated for peak harvest output analysis and peak load demand
-System design may impact load
-Currently projected at 1,200 -1,300 kW (winter and summer)
-Met with Eversource last week to discuss demand response
-Connected Solutions is offered in the summer months allowing
Eversource to draw from battery storage
-2-3 hr events from 30-60 days in July and August
-Payment of $200 per kW applied to a total max of 150%of the
building energy peak demand
-Assessing the potential savings of Alternative Energy Certificates and SMART
Program
-Examining the additional cost of PV and canopies to accommodate enough solar
for EV stations.
-Discussion of which vehicles should be included in the calculation of need for EV
charging.
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November 5,2024
-Eversource has indicated that the sizing of the building’s energy needs (15-20
watts per SF or a 6 MW total electric connected load)will determine how it
provides service to the building.
-Eversource needs to determine which substation it will use to service the
school.
-Cindy asked if SMMA has access to peak data from new schools SMMA
has built.The 6MW total electric connected load does not jive with the
estimated 1.3MW peak load estimate for solar.Perhaps the 15-20 W/sf is
not a good value to use.The National Electric Code (NEC)has multiple
ways to estimate peak load.
-Update to the embodied carbon analysis uses very high level tools
-Using recycled steel and low carbon cement is a start
-Further reductions can occur with mass timber but it comes at a
significant cost
-Interior materials is not currently envisioned given the initial stage of
design
-Cindy asked about sharing SMMAs methodology for embodied carbon
estimates.They have used Early Phase Integrated Carbon Assessment
(EPIC)and Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3).We also
asked if SMMA could evaluate and share the estimated embodied carbon
of the existing LHS buildings.
-Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy (IDP)
-Mark Sandeen presented on the IDP
-The first priority of policy is to design for excellent indoor air quality
-The Board of Health recommends a CO2 level of 600 ppm or less
-This may come at an increased energy load for the school but there may
be a good balance between air quality and energy load we can find
-Mark showed compelling figures supporting the notion that low EUI,maximizing
solar combined with energy storage will create a high school building that
generates revenue from its systems beginning in year 1
-Adding solar without energy storage does nothing to limit our peak load because
we turn our buildings on before sunrise
-Eversource may not allow us to interconnect this much solar because it is so
much dumped onto the system,this is why a well-sized storage system is critical
to the design,makes the energy loads much more balanced and more palatable
to Eversource
-The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm.
-Next meeting is Dec.17 at 6pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Joynt
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