Manchester Green Energy and Sustainability Master Plan

8/7/2019 Manchester Green Energy and Sustainability Master Plan

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Green Energy and

Sustainability Master Plan

for

Manchester, CT

A Proposal by the

Citizens for a Greener Manchester



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ABOUT the group

CITIZENS FOR A GREENER MANCHESTER

MISSION STATEMENT

Citizens for a Greener Manchester was formed to promote awareness

of our impact on the natural world and to encourage action in creating a

sustainable relationship with our environment.

HISTORY

In August 2007, members from three faith communities in Manchester

met over concern for our town and the extended environment. From

those initial meetings, C4GM was born, evolving into an inclusive,

secular citizens’ group. Citizens for a Greener Manchester gives voice to

environmentalists, energy efficiency enthusiasts, and all residents who

are concerned about a sustainable future for Manchester and the world.The group works to promote clean energy, recycling, conservation, and

a sustainable future for our community.

One of its most well-known accomplishments is the solar panels on top

of Manchester High School, but the group has been involved in

community clean-ups, agricultural renewal, the transition to single-

stream recycling pick up, and the Town’s (recently disbanded) Citizens’

Energy Advisory Committee.

Citizens for a Greener Manchester also advocates for sound energy andsustainability policy at the state level, such as the 2010 effort to pass the

Omnibus Energy Bill and PACE Bonds.



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C4GM OBJECTIVES & INITIATIVES

1. Promote conservation of energy and other natural resources

2. Encourage use and development of clean, renewable energy

3. Support increased participation and improvements in recycling

4. Promote reduction in pollution

5. Develop educational programs

6. Collaborate with other local and regional grassroots organizations

7. Advocacy before the local, state and federal government

8. Share information and accomplishments of individuals and communities

9. Participate in area activities promoting sustainable living

10. Offer tours of Manchester homes featuring alternative energy use

PAST EVENTS & HIGHLIGHTS

1. Hosted a Home Energy Conservation forum for area residents

2. Participated in MCC Earth Day and Farmers Market programs

3. Participated in Wethersfield Energy Summit II Fair

4. Provided information and opportunities for residents to sign up for CT

Clean Power Options

5. Organized tour of CT Resource Recovery Authority Trash Museum and

recycling operation

6. Presented a Home Energy Retrofit program

7. Presented program on residential requirements for good solar installation.

8. Advocated for PACE legislation in 2010 (which passed legislature)

OUR MEETINGS

If you are Interested in working with Citizens for a Greener Manchester, we

would love to see you at our next meeting. They are open to the public, andall members from the community are welcome. C4GM meets at 7PM on the

4th Thursday* of each month in The Arbors’ meeting room, 403 W. Center St.

*We meet the 3rd Thursday in November and December.



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A GREEN ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY MASTER PLAN

FOR MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT

Index

Introduction ……………………………………………………………. 1

A. Transportation & Green Renewal

Goal 1: Reduce Transit Emissions ………………………………… 3

Goal 2: Sustainable Neighborhood Renewal ……….……………… 4 Goal 3: Public Transit Improvement …………..……..……………. 4

B. Green Energy – Green Buildings

Goal 1: Analysis & Measurements ………………………………… 6

Goal 2: Public Energy Efficiencies ………………………...……… 6

Goal 3: Private Energy Efficiencies …………………………..…… 7

Goal 4: Town Green Building Services …………..……..……….… 8

C. Greenspace, Recycling & Water Resources

Goal 1: Green space ……………………………………………… 9

Goal 2: Trash, Composting & Recycling ……….…………..……… 10

Goal 3: Water Resources …………………………………………. 11



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D. Green Businesses, Jobs & Purchasing

Goal 1: Green-collar Business Development Task Force ….….…... 12

Goal 2: Green Workforce Development …………………………… 12 Goal 3: Green Purchasing ………………………………………… 13

E. Green Marketing & Community Education

Goal 1: Education ………………………………………………… 14

Goal 2: Sustainability Outreach …………………………………… 15

Goal 3: Promoting Sustainable Living …………………………….. 15

F. Green Program Administration

Goal 1: Energy Program Coordinator …………………………..… 17

Appendix:

Other Ideas for a Greener Manchester …………………………..… 18



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A Green Master Plan for Manchester, CTA Proposal for the Board of Directors

by the Citizens for a Greener Manchester

This plan is the result of a nearly yearlong effort to sketch out a green,

sustainable future for the Town of Manchester. While we, as a community are

beginning to make great strides, there is still much to be done. After submitting

a petition to the Board of Directors in the summer of 2010, which over 200residents signed in only a few short days, members of our group met with Town

staff in September 2010 to discuss our desire for a more sustainable future. In

early November, when a Green Energy Master Plan was put on the agenda, the

Board of Directors discussed how to create this plan, and the Citizens for aGreener Manchester group was asked to help. After consulting Brooks Parkerin January, (who was assigned to oversee the creation of this plan by the

General Manager), we met every week as a Core Committee beginning in the

winter of 2011. After this work, we submitted a first draft to our Review

Committee for input, in sections, for seven consecutive weeks. The Review

Committee then presented the plan over a two-month period as our regularmeeting agendas, for further input, editing, and review. This final draft is the

culmination of thousands of hours of work by members of the community, and it

incorporates many forward-thinking, innovative ideas.

This final, draft plan can serve as a blueprint for the future of Manchester ʼsefforts to become the greenest, most sustainable community in the state. Our

goal is to become one of the leading communities in the nation, pointing the

way to a bright, more sustainable society. We look forward to the Board of

Directors input, discussion, revision, and adoption of a final plan.

Sincerely,

Christina Bailey-Edelwich

PRESIDENT , CITIZENS FOR A GREENER M ANCHESTER



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Core Committee:

Kathleen Dargan

Diane DeJoannisGene DeJoannis

Mary Ann Ettinger

Michael FarinaJanet Heller

Review Committee:

Amanda Becker

Marianne Cornish

Kathleen Dargan

Diane DeJoannis

Gene DeJoannisChristina Edelwich

Mary Ann Ettinger

Michael Farina

Janet Heller

Jillian Lopez

Jennifer Nelson

Joan TroyJoan OʼLoughlin

Kim Watts

Members of Citizens for a Greener Manchester:

John Weeden

Susan Barlow

Amanda Becker

Sarah Cinquemani

Nicole ClemonsMarianne Cornish

Jane Czaporowski

Kathleen Dargan

Natalie Dark

Diane DeJoannis

Gene DeJoannis

Christina Edelwich

Amanda Elizabeth

Mary Ann EttingerMichael Farina

Laurie Gardner

Anne Goodin

Eric Heinrich

Janet Heller

Holly Hood

Eric Horan

Sarah Jones

Jillian Lopez

Barbara McConvilleGeorge Nelson

Jennifer Nelson

Ashley Odell

Joan OʼLoughlin

Ginny Ouellette

Jeff Ouellette

Gordon Plouffe

Frank Reischerl

BettyLou SandyMichelle Terry

Joan Troy

Mary Lou Tuchols

Kim Watts

Joseph Wik



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A. Transportation & Green Renewal

Goal 1: Reduce Transportation Emissions

To reduce automobile trips, vehicles miles traveled, and the

townʼs transportation emissions through coordinated landuse and transportation planning.

Objectives:

1. Using newly released home-to-work transportation (LEHD) data,

determine current vehicle miles traveled originating in and destined to

the Town, public transit ridership, and per capita transportationemissions as a baseline measurement tool.

2. Build upon previous planning efforts of the Manchester 2020 Plan toimprove transit options for Manchester that include not only mass

transit, biking routes, and trails/paths within Manchester (See A.Goal

3: Public Transit Improvement), but especially out-of and in-toManchester with benchmarking of per capita emissions reductions.

3. Engage neighboring communities for regional development of transitoptions.

4. Recommend zoning adjustments and capital improvement prioritiesnecessary to implement the Manchester 2020 Transit Plan.

5. Task the planning department to encourage expansion of existing

commercial clusters in town to facilitate walkable access to

necessities and determine where new commercial clusters areneeded for walkable communities.



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Goal 2: Sustainable Neighborhood Renewal

To encourage improvement of blighted, unused sites andconvert them to neighborhood amenities and LEED Gold-level mixed-income housing and business units.

Objectives:

1. Compile a Town-wide list of underutilized sites and identify their

particular barriers to redevelopment, including but not limited to,environmental remediation.

2. Use the coordinated land use and transportation plan as a filter to

identify those sites that yield the greatest potential for redevelopmentthat will reinforce neighborhood character and provide tax revenue.

3. Develop a strategy that will result in the redevelopment of those

targeted sites and neighborhoods, and their potential increase to theTownʼs tax roll.

4. Identify funding sources for the initial phase environmental testing of

the highest priority Town-owned sites, or through partnerships with

private owners.

Goal 3: Public Transit Improvement

To provide Town residents, workers, and visitors with a wide

range of mobility options that connect origins with desireddestinations with least carbon use.

Objectives:

1. Identify areas without walkable access to public transit and developimproved service options to propose to CT Transit.

2. Create a prioritized list of mass transit capital and operatingimprovements with a financing strategy for those within the Townʼs



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control and an advocacy plan to institute those that are not (such astransit to MCC, UCONN-Storrs and Hartford).

3. Identify deficits in the Townʼs pedestrian infrastructure, prioritize

improvements for safe access to commercial destinations, and createan implementation plan.

4. Create a bike plan for the Town with prioritized improvements and animplementation strategy emphasizing a complete network of routesthat make biking safer and more practical.

5. Change town regulations to require property owners to remove snowat bus-stop access points and crosswalks, from sidewalk to street.



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B. Green Energy - Green Buildings

Goal 1: Analysis / Measurements

To promote energy conservation and renewable productionas a driver for economic development; to generate costsavings for municipal facilities, businesses, and residences;and reduce Manchesterʼs carbon footprint.

Objectives:

1. Create a carbon footprint analysis for the town and benchmark all

municipal buildings, schools and Housing Authority units as abaseline measurement tool.

2. Determine the potential costs and savings from the renovation of

existing municipal facilities by improving their energy efficiency toLEED Gold standards.

3. Evaluate the savings from developing potential renewable energyprojects in the town, both small scale and larger integrated projects.

4. Evaluate the benefits of establishing additional Energy ImprovementDistricts.

Goal 2: Public Energy Efficiencies

To improve the energy efficiency of public (Town / BOE / Housing Authority) facilities to create real dollar savings.

Objectives:

1. Determine the potential costs and savings from broad-basedweatherization / energy efficiency programs for public facilities(municipal buildings, schools, and Housing Authority).

2. Implement a plan which develops potential renewable energy projectsin the Town.

3. Implement a plan to do energy-efficiency retrofits to Town buildings,schools and Housing Authority units.



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4. Identify key sources of public sector funding, shared savings

programs, and loan assistance mechanisms to support the Townʼsenergy efficiency goals.

5. Engage local educational groups (MCC, Cheney Tech, MHS) to

develop building energy audit training programs and the opportunityto practice by auditing Town and local non-profit buildings.

6. Adopt LEED Gold standards for all new Town construction and allrenovation projects, and coordinate this with the BOE.

7. Encourage every company, Town department, school, faithcommunity to establish Green Teams to find and help implementconservation opportunities in their own buildings.

Goal 3: Private Energy Efficiencies

To improve the energy efficiency of private sector facilitiesand residences, to create real dollar savings.

Objectives: 1. Determine the potential costs and savings from broad-based

weatherization / energy efficiency programs for residential, small &medium-sized businesses.

2. Facilitate green/sustainable energy investment in the townʼs EnergyImprovement District.

3. Identify key sources of private sector funding, shared savings

programs, and loan assistance mechanisms to support the Town'senergy efficiency goals.

4. Create energy-improvement financing programs, such as BenefitAssessed Clean Energy (BACE) loan funds.

5. Encourage all residents in private homes or apartments to participatein the Home Energy Solutions Program.

6. Require all new residences to meet a HERS rating of 75 by 2013, 50by 2016 and 25 by 2019 (100=current conventional home energy use).

7. Require all new commercial buildings to meet LEED silver standardsby 2015



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Goal 4: Town Green Building Services

To ensure the Town Building and other Departments

become leaders in requiring and promoting moresustainable buildings.

Objectives:

1. Develop and have available at the Building Dept and Customer

Service Office, a Green Construction Manual to help homeowners

and builders plan green upgrades.

2. Make a home energy information resource sheet available on the

Town web site with links to conservation and renewable energyinformation.

3. Offer incentives for new construction to have a solar-ready roof

orientation.

4. Request town libraries to expand their collections of green buildingpublications.

5. Create incentives to promote documented high-thermal- resistance

building shells (e.g. R-5 windows, R-10 foundation, R-20 floor, R-40

walls, R-60 roof).



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C. Green Space, Recycling,

& Water ResourcesGoal 1: Green Space

To ensure that Town residents have access to attractive,

interconnected open spaces that foster community cohesion,and healthy, safe recreation.

Objectives:1. Charge the Conservation Commission, or other body, to lead the

implementation of this plan for green spaces and waterways.

2. Develop a Green Space Master Plan that includes an inventory of

parks and open spaces, protected and unprotected agricultural land,

which includes management and maintenance budgets, and designguidelines.

3. Promote the protection of undeveloped open spaces.

4. Encourage the creation of new open spaces through zoning,

particularly along waterways.5. Identify opportunities for small-scale community green spaces suchas community gardens and parklets, and assist local residents in their

development.

6. Create connections between green spaces through greenways, urban

trails and public transportation routes such as the Bigelow Brook

Greenway, Linwood-area-to-Parkade, East Coast Greenway, OakGrove Nature Trails, Case Mountain, Center Springs Park, Union

Pond, Saulters Pond and the Hockanum River Trail.



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Goal 2: Trash, Composting & Recycling

To improve recycling rates and reduce overall solid waste

output, while expanding opportunities for recycled and solidwaste industries.

Objectives: 1. Develop strategies for improving recycling rates by residents,

businesses, condos, apartments, non-profits and Town agencies.

2. Ensure that demolition and construction projects recycle eligible

materials and that the Town landfill recycles these separated bulk

materials.3. Help to drive the market for recycled materials by encouraging their

purchase and encouraging their increased use in new construction.

4. Propose strategies to reduce town-wide solid waste.

5. Develop a composting program involving the parks department,

schools, community gardens, food service businesses andneighborhood groups.

6. Create a compostable-material receiving facility at the landfill for

public use.7. Add a wet-compostable trash collection by 2015 to town residential

collection services (a 3rd stream) collected weekly in air-tightcontainers.

8. Reduce trash collection to bi-weekly, alternating with recyclablecollection, for significant collection savings.

9. Require retail sales outlets to charge for each bag that a customerneeds (5 to 10 cents).

10. Institutionalize electronic-recycling beyond the four CED's (TV, printer,monitor, computer) to include VCRs, radios, stereos, cell phones,record players, DVD and CD players, audio tape players, etc.



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Goal 3: Water Resources

To ensure that residents have access to safe, clean andhealthy waterways.

Objectives: 1. Provide incentives for use of grey water & drought-tolerant plantings.

2. Promote use of pervious paving and less curbing to reduce storm-water runoff and downstream waterway pollution.

3. Require dual-flush toilets in new construction and renovation to lower

per-capita water use.

4. Extend Haz-waste collections to include old prescription drugs.

5. Eliminate the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers onall school grounds, as well as parks and town properties.

6. Encourage the use of natural and organic methods of lawn care, pestand weed control throughout Manchester.



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D. Green Businesses, Jobs, & Purchasing

Goal 1: Green-collar Business Development Task Force

To assist Green Businesses to grow and prosper, creategreen-collar jobs and help the Town diversify its businessbase.

Objectives:

1. Create a Green Business, Jobs & Purchasing Task Force, involving

the Chamber of Commerce.

2. Identify existing barriers to green business growth and work toeliminate them.

3. Create a green business “Incubator” to support the growth ofenvironmentally friendly business enterprises.

4. Identify existing local, state and federal incentive programs and

policies to grow small, green businesses and create new green-collar jobs.

5. Research best practices in other U.S. municipalities to determinerelevant business possibilities.

Goal 2: Green Workforce Development

To create 250 new green-collar jobs by 2018 by recruitinggreen businesses and training workers for the new green

economy.

Objectives:

1. Charge the Economic Development Commission with this task.

2. Create an inventory of existing green jobs and identify potentialsectors for expansion.



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3. Bring educators from Cheney Tech, MHS and MCC together tocreate training opportunities at these institutions.

4. Create and/or utilize federal, state and local policies and incentiveprograms to stimulate green jobs creation.

5. Research best practices in other U.S. municipalities to determinerelevant opportunities.

6. Work with state legislators to protect Clean Energy Fund programs.

Goal 3: Green Purchasing

Use the purchasing power of the public & private sectors tobuy green products, including recycled materials, greencleaning products, sustainable energy, etc.

Objectives:

1. Work with the Conservation Commission to identify the universe of

materials, products, and services that fit this criteria and determine

whether green products are readily available and in a reasonablysimilar cost range.

2. Encourage public, private and non-profit buying groups to reducecosts and increase green purchasing power.

3. Create green recognition and rewards programs to encourageparticipation.

4. Research best practices in other U.S. municipalities to determinerelevant applications.

5. Task the Town Engineering Dept. to transition to LED street-lightingwithin 5 years.



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E. Green Marketing & Community Education

Goal 1: Educational

Create a working group, including the BOE, Youth Services,

Department of Neighborhoods and Families & faithcommunities, to nurture the desire and skills for all ourcitizens to lead a greener, more sustainable life.

Objectives:

1. In conjunction with a Green Business, Jobs & Purchasing TaskForce, develop a green jobs career ladder for students, who can act

as a conservation group of energy auditors to perform audits of theirschools & homes.

2. Develop a database of educational resources to use in secondaryschools, including such as CL&P, DEP and EPA programs, etc.

3. Develop promotional items for students with a “Green Manchester”

theme to use as prizes for energy conservation efforts (such as back

pack, shopping bag, aluminum water jug, infrared thermometer, LEDheadlight, etc.).

4. Focus student attention in schools on “A Greener Manchester” at

specific time periods (EARTH DAY programs etc.) and continuethroughout the school year.

5. Partner with community based organizations to develop interactive

opportunities that will engage the youth in energy-saving &sustainable living activities using hands-on, real-world projects.

6. Work with school officials to identify opportunities to incorporate

sustainability into the Manchester School curriculum; e.g. communitygardens, recycling, energy use, etc.

7. Work with Cheney Tech to develop training programs for building

low-energy homes, such as Net-Zero homes, Passive Housestandards, super-insulation and sustainable de-construction ratherthan demolition.



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Goal 2: Sustainability Outreach

Increase the awareness and introduce best practices toManchester residents about living in a more sustainablemanner.

Objectives:

1. Develop promotional materials regarding “A Greener Manchester”.

2. Develop resource materials that will provide residents withinformation about programs that assist in energy and cost savings.

3. Develop a Neighbor-to-Neighbor outreach program through the

Office of Neighborhoods and Families to help residents take stepstoward living more sustainably.

4. Encourage the library to invite authors of their most popularsustainability books to speak at regular intervals.

5. Work with the Chamber of Commerce to develop programs to have

“green teams” in every member-business of more than 20 people, tofind ways to improve the sustainability of their own workplace.

6. Provide adult-education options to train residents to audit their own

homes and make energy-conserving improvements (such as ACitizens Green Academy similar to other Town academies).

Goal 3: Promoting Sustainable Living

Brand the Greener Manchester initiative as a vital

component of the Manchester 2020 planObjectives:

1. Create “A Greener Manchester” logo (within 3 mos of adoption).

2. Have students, though the Youth Commission, design materials that

use the logo and pass the message within the community (within 6mos of adoption).



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3. Develop an overall marketing plan to generate awareness andsupport for the Greener Manchester initiative that involves all sectorsof our Town. (in 6 mos).

4. Identify and involve all community groups active in promoting

sustainability. (within 3 mos of adoption)



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F. Green Program Administration

Goal 1: Energy Program Coordinator

Ensure timely implementation of Manchesterʼs Green Energyand Sustainability Master Plan.

Objectives:

1. Create a full-time position in town government to coordinate and

promote the widespread adoption of the town's plan. Goals would be

a full-time employee by July 2012.

2. Establish a pilot program through CDBG to lead a Neighbor-to-Neighbor volunteer campaign to weatherize tenant and owner-occupied dwellings. (Arlington, MA, HEET model)

3. Make the former Citizens Energy Committee a standing committee

with broader citizen representation to advise and propose goals tothe Energy Program Coordinator and to be available for specialprojects.

4. Review and improve this Master Plan every 2 years.5. Have town departments report quarterly to the General Manager to

assess progress.



APPENDIX:

Other Ideas for a Greener Manchester

1.

Establish a voluntary green rating system (such as DOE Energy Star) bywhich owners can rate the energy performance of their property online andwork with town Realtors to assess the value of this rating for sales prices.

2. Have news about high performance building materials available, such as theUS DOE high performance (R-5) Windows Volume Purchase Program onTown website and at the Building Dept.

3. Provide a DIY rainwater collection manual on Town web site.

4. Develop legal models for leasing of Town and non-profit roof space for solarelectric power, since these groups cannot directly use tax incentives(reference: solar power purchase agreements).

5. Create incentives for home sellers to provide to the buyer a report ofbuilding envelope R-values and tested air leakage rates.

6. Reduce use of paper by allowing residents to opt out of paper tax/water bills

and town paychecks. Optional email billing and e-pay bank transfer (with noextra charges). Purchase only recycled paper products for town admin.

7. Arrange for volume purchase of rain barrels and composters to sell to residents

8. Include a link on the Town web site to the Federal DOE home Energy-Star

rating tool, so residents can easily find out how their home scores in termsof energy use versus similar homes in our region.

9. Utilize the US-DOE FEMP scoring tool to prioritize energy conservation retrofitopportunities, to easily assemble a group of building retrofit opportunities.

10. Work with Opower.com (through CL&P or directly) to make their

motivational home-energy-use reports available to households to help themmake behavior changes that reduce energy use.

11. Adopt a more stringent Town energy code than the State code, such as

ASHRAE Standard 189.1-2009, Standard for the Design of GreenBuildings (http://www.ashrae.org/publications/page/927)

12. Promote the use of the Passive House Standard for new Construction, with

a goal of having one certified Passive House residential or commercialbuilding in town by December 2014. www.passivehouse.us

Documents

Manchester Green Energy and Sustainability Master Plan