January 2011 is Energy Awareness Month at The Barkhamsted School
Students will be learning about energy sources, uses of energy and how can we save energy at school, home and in our community.
The schedule of events for the month include:
January 4 at a kickoff assembly for students in grades 3-6 Superintendent Jeff Linton and North West Conservation consultant Tony Mitchell introduced the theme of Energy Awareness and set the stage for the month's activities with students.
January 11 Wesson Energy Inc. will present the House of Pressure and thermal imaging exhibits to the students during grade level assemblies.
January 18 during the week students will become Energy Detectives using energy scavenger hunts at school or at home.
January 25 ending assembly What Do We Now Know About Energy?
Parents look for a packet that will be sent home with students tthat will have Energy tips as well as, information on the town of Barkhamsted's "free" home energy audit which is on the town web site!!
THESE ARE DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED AT THE NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING AND POSTED ON THE OFFICIAL TOWN WEBSITE AT http://barkhamsted.us/BoardsCommissions/EnergyConservationCommittee/tabid/176/Default.aspx THE MEETING MINUTES ARE POSTED BELOW AS A SERVICE TO THE TOWN
ENERGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE – October 19, 2010
BARKHAMSTED TOWN HALL
Attendees: Don Stein, Scott Lefcheck, Andrea Fancher, Mike Schulde, Tom Cook, Tom Nelson, Ray Pech, Storm Connors, Jim Becktel
Absent: Jeff Linton, Dan Pinton
The meeting was called to order at 5:37 PM.
Minutes from the September 8, 2010 meeting were reviewed and accepted with no changes.
The meeting focused on a discussion with Tony Mitchell of the Northwest CT Conservation District regarding the services they can provide to the town as a result of a grant they received to help Town Energy Committees get started. Their energy website is
http://www.conservect.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.conservect.org/energy, although they are primarily a natural resource conservation organization with a focus on soil science and GIS mapping.
Tony presented a chart listing the percentage of homes per town within the district choosing a clean energy option, towns participating in the EPA Community Energy Challenge, and the Northwest CT Conservation District top ten. Barkhamsted currently ranks somewhere in the middle.
Some of the support they can give the town is to help the town sign up for the Northeast Utilities Energy Options program and to help with educational programs. Tony Mitchell offered to meet with school administrators, tour the building, and develop a “green” program specific to the location. This would be in conjunction with the current “Energy Detective” program set to kickoff in November. He will contact Jeff Linton to schedule a meeting.
There was also discussion on town events and how to publicize energy activities (advertising, PTO flyers, town wide festivals, roadside signs, etc.). Tony provided a flyer on the benefits of the town becoming a 20% by 2010 town and the procedures that will needed to be followed. He also suggested that there could be grants from the CT Clean Energy Fund for the town garage project to pay for energy savings/green features in the new building. This could provide a cost savings to the town for this construction project.
The group also discussed using the Conservation District as a central point of contact and information for other energy committees. The District posts town specific links and energy-related news in the Your Town section of their website.
Tony asked to be included in our email distribution of meeting agenda, minutes, announcements, etc. and will attend future meetings based on availability. His email is energy@conservect.org.
Energy Conservation Projects
There was group discussion on the Senior Center project focus changing from insulating the basement to replacement windows when feedback from contractors did not match the audit recommendation. Tony Mitchell asked to tour the Senior Center basement as he may have ideas on making the space more energy efficient. Date and time TBD.
10-10-10 Event
Andrea Fancher and Scott Lefcheck briefly discussed this event which took place behind Town Hall. There was a small turnout, but we added four households to our audit reimbursement/clean energy list. There was also discussion on how the CT Energy Efficiency Fund Representative can assist with future events providing publicity, literature, and designing a lecture specify to our needs.
Next Meeting
The next meeting date will be set after Scott Lefcheck receives a time when Katherine Freygang is available to meet with the committee. She is from the Cornwall Energy Committee, which has been very successful in promoting energy programs in Cornwall. Once the availability of the guest speaker is verified, a meeting date will be locked in.
Respectfully submitted,
Donald S. Stein
First Selectman
http://www.tcextra.com/news/publish/winstedjournal/Optiwind_project_moves_forward/1159700.shtml