Energy-saving pilot program to start in city

Two efforts aimed at increasing energy efficiency in the city's many older homes and buildings have been embraced by the City of Eastport. At the April 27 special city council meeting an ordinance and contract for the Efficiency Maine PACE program was adopted, and a memorandum of understanding was drafted between the city and Minerva Partners for the "Thermal Efficiency: Eastport" project. City Manager Jon Southern says, "I believe the two projects could work side by side."
Thermal efficiency project
The Thermal Efficiency: Eastport project is "very, very early in its development," says Southern. The primary goal of the project is to "demonstrate the advantages gained by a small community when it adopts the best known approaches to staying warm" through energy efficiency measures and the use of heating and other technologies that should create significant cost savings. According to Minerva Founding Partner Jon Calame, the project is expected to take seven to nine years and will embrace buildings of all sorts: residential, institutional and commercial.
Minerva Partners is a nonprofit consultancy corporation, and Calame lives in Portland with his wife and two children. Later in the summer they will be moving to Eastport, where he will begin work as the project site coordinator. "We're really looking forward to it," he says. His wife is an artist, and his work allows for workplace flexibility. Other members of Minerva Partners will visit Eastport on a regular basis. "From the point of view of Minerva, we have done a lot of projects, but nothing like this... This is a big deal for us, and we really believe that Eastport could rewrite the book about a small east coast town and their relationship to energy needs."
Calame explains that the first step in the project will be to identify "two to three demonstration projects. One certainly will be an older wooden home and the other a mixed‑use brick structure." The pilot projects will be funded through grants. The goal "is to do a full upgrade best suited for Eastport. It's a chance to see it in action." From there Calame hopes that more home and building owners will be interested in participating in the project. Minerva will find funding sources from grants, low‑interest commercial loans, federal and state rebate programs and other efficiency programs. "We'll find the money we need to subsidize as many projects as we can."
Southern says that Eastport's wealth of older buildings coupled with the energy developments taking place in the area helped persuade Minerva to set its sights on the city. Calame confirms this observation but adds that it was also a "mixture of accident and serendipity." He is a commissioner of the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) and has known MAC Director Donna McNeil for years. He also knows fellow commissioner Hugh French of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art. When he told McNeil about the project idea, she sat down with him and discussed cities and towns in Maine that might be receptive. "She said, 'I can name five, but the first is Eastport.' I was all ears. Eastport was the first place we looked at, and when we got done talking... it became obvious that we should really run with this. Now it's our task to make good on it." Calame will be returning to Eastport at the end of May to begin the building candidate selection process.

PACE loan program for homeowners
Eastport resident Sally Erickson first brought PACE to the council's attention during the winter. The Efficiency Maine program offers up to $15,000 at an interest rate of 4.99% for 15 years for homeowners to use for energy efficiency measures, such as weatherization or heating system upgrades. Erickson says, "The loan is written to keep payments lower than the monthly savings that will accrue from doing the energy upgrades."
Erickson lists some of the steps a homeowner might take with the PACE program. First they would use loan funds to finance an energy audit at a cost of about $300 "to find out where they can get the greatest return for their money." Insulation and house tightening are usually the first step. She explains that a typical home can have its energy efficiency increased by up to 50% by "investing around $3,500 in attic and basement insulation and air sealing around windows, doors and to the attic."
Once a home is tight, then a number of options exist for the homeowner to explore with the remaining $11,000 or so in loan funds. The options range from solar water heating, a pellet or wood‑boiler to a hot-water storage system or an improved efficiency furnace. "With oil prices continuing to rise, it is not inconceivable that a family that opts to switch to a wood‑boiler from an oil boiler might be able to save enough easily in five years to pay off their loan," Erickson says.
Erickson also points to an added benefit. "Every BTU of heat that comes from some local source keeps the money used to purchase that source of heat circulating in the community instead of going to buy oil or gas from far away."
The Efficiency Maine website has additional information about the program at <www.efficiencymaine.com>.