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<br /> <br /> 3 <br />Bouma said it may be years before the Town of Chapel Hill has enough of experience <br />with this incentive program to determine the effectiveness of the program. He answered <br />questions from CFE members. <br /> <br /> O’Connor asked if developers are required to take the incentive. Bouma said no, <br />they are not. Neal said it may be unlawful to require that. <br /> <br /> Neal asked if the town staff knew how large a project needed to be to justify (or <br />pay back) the cost of the green building features. Bouma said he did not know, <br />but he noted he and other County staff are looking at potential green building <br />practices for the construction of the planned new County jail in Hillsborough. <br /> <br /> Sassaman asked if there are any guarantees that future operators of the green <br />buildings will maintain them properly. Neal and Bouma said they did not think so. <br />Neal said he attended a recent conference and learned that human error <br />accounts for many failures in the operation of green building features. He noted, <br />however, there are new technologies for monitoring the performance of energy- <br />saving devices in buildings. <br /> <br />Neal suggested the CFE inform the BOCC that although there has not been enough time <br />to assess the effectiveness of the Town of Chapel Hill’s commercial green building <br />incentive program it may be worthwhile for Orange County to establish a similar <br />incentive program for large commercial development projects. Bouma suggested the <br />County may also want to include some large-scale residential development projects. <br />Neal and other CFE members agreed with that idea. <br /> <br />Sassaman asked if Neal was suggesting the CFE write another memo to the BOCC. <br />Neal said he thought it may be better to craft a CFE resolution, and that he is willing to <br />prepare a draft resolution for CFE consideration at the November meeting. <br /> <br />Sassaman thanked Bouma and Neal for the report and the proposed next steps. <br /> <br />VI. Collaborative Energy Conservation/Management Projects – Saunders and Bouma <br />reported on the third meeting of the interagency committee working to collaborate on <br />projects to address energy conservation and management projects of mutual interest <br />and where there may be opportunities for collaboration among the entities, OWASA, <br />Orange County, UNC, and the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. <br /> <br />Saunders reported the group selected five projects, and for each one the group has <br />identified a “champion” and some initial next steps. The five projects are as follows: <br /> <br /> Biogas to energy at OWASA wastewater treatment plant <br /> Technical evaluation of solar PV opportunities at public facilities/land tracts <br /> Street lighting coordination (particularly lighting under direct control of agencies) <br /> Fleet management opportunities <br /> Joint energy and carbon tracking and reporting <br /> <br />Saunders said the next meeting will be October 28, during which the group will discuss <br />the five projects and determine where to go next`. Bouma said the group members seem <br />to be collaborative and the meetings have been productive thus far. <br /> <br />Sassaman thanked Saunders and Bouma for their report. <br />