Warwick Buildings & Energy Committee Annual Report for FY 2013

The purpose of the Warwick Buildings and Energy Committee is to assess
town buildings and maintenance needs, research options for the select
board and Warwick citizens to encourage efficient energy consumption and
optimal maintenance of town properties, and encourage Warwick
townspeople's own efforts in renewable energy production and carbon
footprint reduction.
	
Members as of the end of FY 2013 are:
Janice Kurkoski '14 - chair		Dan Dibble '13			Matt Sheldon '15
Steve Kurkoski '14- scribe		Jim Toth '13 			Jack Cadwell '15

Warwick Town Hall:  Several more window sashes were rebuilt and
installed. Winserts are still needed in the main hall. There is
insufficient hot water during large events, especially during winter
months. Pipe insulation is still needed and perhaps re-install the 80
gal tank. 

Warwick Community School:
The WBEC continued to struggle with the idea that the school district
could somehow reimburse the town for energy saving capital expenses from
the proven savings within the annual operation budget. We recommended
unanimously that the selectboard engage Bales Energy Associates to
prepare a framing statement that addresses the recovery of the capital
expenses for energy savings construction through operational credits at
the Warwick Community School. 
Bart Bales of Bales Associates prepared a statement and spreadsheet with
examples of how the payback and borrowing would work, showing how it
costs less to implement energy upgrades than to do nothing, how energy
saving expenses could be categorized as operational expenses because
improvements that are a net reduction in operational expenses should be
considered part of the operating budget and should be funded by the
district. 
He also pointed out that new controls would generate enough electrical
savingss to get  National Grid get involved and have them pay for some
of this work. 
The snow melting pattern on the gym and stage roofs indicate that warm
air is leaking throught the roof panel seams.
Bart mentioned that there is money available for all of this sort of
work through the Green Communities program. 

Highway Dept: After noticing a spike in the heating oil use at the
equipment garage due to more staff hours, the town approved $20,000 for
remediation in the form of insulation. Research into insulation options
and installation details are ongoing.

Fire Dept: In January, we received concept drawings for the new safety
building. After reviewing, several questions arose. In February, Fire
Chief Ron Gates invited our committee to present our questions at the
next Firemen's Association Safety Building Committee meeting. As of
June, there has been no word from the Association after repeated
attempts for followthrough.

Fire station, Police station, and Library  - Building performance
assessments are still needed to determine extent and types of air
sealing and additional insulation (especially in all attics and library
basement.) Winserts are still needed in these buildings. Simple
inexpensive things could be done here with some initiatives taken by the
tenants.
General Items: 
We continue to track oil and electric consumption using the MASS Energy
Insight on-line program. Tracking energy usage helps us decide where to
put our energy going forward. 



NOTE: The Warwick Community School continues to use more than twice as
much electricity and heating oil as ALL of our other municipal buildings
combined.