Helping people save money through efficiency Connecting with overlooked demographics Understanding people’s priorities and tailoring options for reducing consumption accordingly Instilling a sense of urgency around energy and climate issues Creating ripple effects from personal actions Targeting a large energy-reduction / renewable energy project for 2017 Knowing that we can make a difference At out November meeting, we discussed 1) what purpose do we serve in our community, 2) how we can further that purpose, and 3) what excites us about being part of the committee This list represents what EXCITES us Energy Burden These items largely fall into two categories – education & outreach and project-based work – both of which will be undeniably supported through the Dashboard.

Education and Outreach In terms of education and outreach, all dashboard tools support this body of work but I want to highlight the story portion of the dashboard as a particularly useful tool and as an example of how our energy committee was able to partner with college students. Senior seminar in environmental studies partnered with EC and EAN (stories, built surface analysis for solar, and gathering additional town energy data) This was a way to bring a younger generation into the local conversation on energy...helping them (students) learn what is possible and pragmatic in their own community and generating stories that no one else might have thought of given their unique perspective It was an inspiring experience for the students as well with one student continuing efficiencywork as a program assistant for Efficiency Maine This is a flyer they created and if your community would like to use or replicate for work with high school or college students, we have it posted in the Middlebury analysis section of the dashboard

Middlebury Energy Stories Diverse sample Renters Low-income earners Retirees Early adopters Landlords Businesses Faith communities Participants were drawn from Middlebury community members who have reduced their total energy use, via efficiency measures or other heating, transportation, or electricity choices – flyer respondents + seeking out diverse interviewees Diverse sample by increasing the diversity of our profiles, we increase the diversity of community members inspired to make changes themselves through peer to peer interactions. Spur conversations about energy use across many facets of our community

Education and Outreach – Moving Forward Continue increasing the diversity of demographics represented through stories Implement students’ communications plan Physical dashboard in new town office building Dashboard as homepage for public computers – e.g. town library Social media campaigns to increase dashboard visibility for teens and young adults Home dashboard launch parties Social media / youth = who represent our future decision makers on matters of energy usage

I’ll next share a few project ideas and how we plan to use the Dashboard to further those projects within the three areas of focus for our energy committee: 1) Efficiency First, 2) Ways to Go, and 3) Renewable Energy)

Efficiency First Goal 1: Weatherization push around deep-energy retrofits through a community banking model Goal 2: Approval for an “Efficiency Budget” Dashboard tools to be utilized: motivate through progress, community support through stories & analyses, track & assess through statistics & actions Two primary goals for 2017 and beyond - #1 – reduce energy burden - #2 – save town money (while reducing E usage), will be based on current assessment of all municipal buildngs, notion of department heads submitting proposals to EC for funding efiiciency and maybe even having town members vote on top 3 proposals after vetted by EC community buy-in for financing (co-op member loan drive example) and budget support at town meeting Sharing efficiency project ideas through analyses tracking our progress toward goals set in energy section of town plan stories of savings ($$ and energy) and increased comfort

Ways to Go New England Grassroots Environment Fund Grant for collaborative work around transportation Trip Diaries Based on the results of a transportation survey, we will start this work in East Middlebury Dashboard tools to be utilized: share trip diaries and survey through analyses as tools that can be utilized locally to statewide, track changes through actions, inspire peers through stories. We are a partner with the Town of Weybridge Energy Committee for the grant they recently received from NEGEF Part of this work involves “trip diaries” that help participants map their transportation behaviors and then are used to facilitate conversations around possible behavior / habit changes

Renewable Energy Several ideas for large projects include a solar array for the town office building or a solar project to offset the electricity use of our waste water treatment plant Dashboard tools to be utilized: atlas to assist with identifying solar sites, progress to portray renewable energy generation as a major town contribution to meeting state goals, and analyses to show electricity ($$) savings Town office was built with solar ready roof WWTP would be paired with efficiency improvements Why WWTP: 1/3 of town electricity budget spent here! Dashboard atlas could help with identifying solar sites in addition to the town office roof A major efficiency + renewable energy project for the town would likely need to be bonded, so dashboard could assist with raising awareness and buy-in (progress to portray renewable energy generation as a major town contribution to meeting state goals and analyses to show electricity $$ savings)