City of Lowell - Office of the City Manager
DIVISION OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
JFK Civic Center/50 Arcand Drive Lowell, MA 01852
Adam Baacke, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director
Anne M. Barton, Deputy Director.


Green Building Commission Minutes
February 13, 2008 6:00 P.M.
Mayor’s Reception Room, Lowell City Hall
375 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA

Note: These minutes are not completed verbatim; they are merely intended to provide a general
overview of the proceedings of the meeting.

Members Present

Others
David Turcotte, Chairman

Stephen Greene, Resident
Joy Onasch, Member
Paul Welcome, City of Lowell, Insp. Services
Will Arvidson, Member
Lisa DeMeo, Lowell City Engineer
Fred Faust, Member
Robert Gagnon, Member
Jay Mason, Member
Marc Horne, Member


The following are the results of the February 13, 2008 Green Building Commission meeting held in the
Mayor’s Reception Room, City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street at 6:00 p.m.

Introductions

Develop and Staff Sub-Committees

The commission discussed the creation of sub-committees in order to address the various aspects
of Green Building programs. A spreadsheet highlighting a draft list of subcommittees with a
rough estimation of the elements to be considered was distributed to commission members prior
to the meeting (please see attached list). The three sub-committees proposed to the Commission
were policy development, communication, and technology/design.

Member M. Horne questioned the creation of subcommittees prior to developing a clear agenda.
He suggested short-term actions and goals be developed by the commission in entirety rather
than having subcommittees developing them separately. Other members suggested that
apportioning the workload to subcommittees would allow the commission to use its time more
efficiently, and that although a subcommittee would develop actions and goals in separate venues
the Commission as a whole would have the opportunity to approve and formalize them during
the regularly scheduled meetings. It was noted that the line between subjects targeted for each
committee was not intended to be hard and fast; each committee should have the flexibility to
address concerns that relate to all of the committees.

L. Demeo suggested that smaller working groups might foster an environment of engagement
from all commission members. Member F. Faust proposed each subcommittee be charged with

---

Green Building Commission – February 13, 2008
Page 2
the task of coming up with short term actions that the Commission should prioritize and carry
out. As far as logistics, member W. Arvidson suggested committee meetings meet on separate
days so that those interested in multiple concentrations could plan to attend multiple meetings.

Jay Mason motioned and Bob Gagnon seconded the motion to create three subcommittees to act
as working groups to address the various aspects of green building; the three committees include:

Policy Development
Communications/Education
Technology/Design

The motion was passed with 6 members voting in favor and M. Horne voting against (6-1). The
following meeting dates were scheduled for the initial committee meetings (see the attachment
for committee rosters):

Policy Committee; Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
Communications Committee; Monday, Feb. 25, 2008
Technology/Design; Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008

Develop Short-Term Actions

The Commission worked through a brief brain storming session to identify potential short-term
actions that could be further developed and executed in a relatively short period of time. The
following items were identified and briefly discussed:

Develop and implement a green building checklist similar to the LEED standard introduced
by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Greenhomes Northeast. The Checklist
would be made incorporated into the building permit application where development
professionals would complete the checklist identifying green building elements that will be
incorporated into the project. The program would be voluntary and the granting of a permit
would not be subject meeting a minimum standard.

Concern was raised regarding the creation of the additional requirement of filling out
paperwork for development professionals. The checklist should be easy to understand and
not terribly cumbersome. It was agreed that the checklist should serve primarily as an
educational tool, and it was suggested that supplemental material should be developed to give
additional information on each technique identified in the checklist. On a policy matter F.
Faust suggested a staff member in the inspectional services department should be LEED
certified to help guide professionals when attempting to address green building techniques in
their projects.

Commission Education – W. Arvidson suggested meeting with staff in Boston who
developed the Boston Green Building program. J. Mason has contact information of staff at
BRA who may be able to guide the Commission to the right people to talk to.

S. Greene suggested targeting relatively simple steps that have a short payback period such
as lighting and weather stripping. He pointed out this could be achieved by education and
policy changes the change the building code.

---

Green Building Commission – February 13, 2008
Page 3

The Commission should take part in the Green Drinks event March 11 to promote the
creation of the Commission and its mission.

M. Horne identified educating neighborhood residents of the benefits of green building
techniques as the most important short-term action. He suggested developing a presentation
and pamphlet describing 10 steps to energy conservation that could be delivered to residents
at neighborhood group meetings.

Develop or identify an organization that has a demonstration project that can be displayed at
cultural events such as the Folk Festival. The demo project could also go on a “road-show”
to different locations such as schools to allow people to interact with some of the
technologies available.

J. Onasch noted the list developed was a good start and that the subcommittees should be
given the responsibility to further develop short-term actions and report back to the
Commission the following meeting. It was agreed that the committees would include in the
initial agenda the following items:

1. Identify additional short-term actions and prioritize those that are the most deemed
the most important and feasible.
2. Develop general goals and framework for which the committees will work.

The Commission identified the development of a web page to begin promoting the Commission,
its mission and goals. The following elements were identified as content to be included in the
web page:

GBC Mission
List of Members
Link or copy of the “Benefits of Building Green”
Energy Audits, resources for obtaining an audit
Energy Guide for Lowell residents previously developed by Lowell DPD
Links to national grid, energy star, TURI, and DESIRE
Green Calendar of events happening in the City.

_____________________________________________________
Aaron Clausen, Associate Planner/ Green Building Commission Administrator

---

Document Outline

• ��

---