HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-4-21 Climate Action Commission AgendaIowa City Climate Action Commission Agenda
Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Iowa City City Hall
410 E Washington Street
Meeting Agenda:
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Sept. 13, 2021 minutes
4. Public Comment of items not on the Agenda
-Commentators shall address the Commission for no more than 3 minutes. Commissioners shall
not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items.
5. Staff Announcements
a. Action items from last meeting
b. Climate Action and Outreach Updates (see attachment)
c. UI Homecoming Parade
6. Old Business:
a. Discussion of updated residential incentive programs for energy efficiency
7. New Business:
a. Presentation on Flood Resilience Action Plan for Coralville by Astig Planning
b. Updates on working groups (see reports in agenda packet)
i. Buildings (Krieger, Soglin, Grimm)
ii. Outreach (Krieger, Fraser, Holbrook, Bradley)
iii. Equity (Tate, Hutchinson, Hill)
iv. Adaptation (Bradley, Leckband, Giannakouros)
8. Recap of actionable items for commission, working groups, and staff
9. Adjourn
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact
Sarah Gardner, Climate Action Engagement Specialist, at 319-887-6162 or at sarah-gardner@iowa-
city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.
MINUTES PRELIMINARY
IOWA CITY CLIMATE ACTION COMMISSION
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 – 3:30 PM – FORMAL MEETING
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: John Fraser, Stratis Giannakouros, Ben Grimm (via zoom), Megan
Hill, Kasey Hutchinson (via zoom), Matt Krieger, Jesse Leckband
(via zoom), Becky Soglin, Eric Tate
MEMBERS ABSENT: Grace Holbrook
STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Gardner, Rachel Kilburn
OTHERS PRESENT: Jessica Doherty, Natalie Lehman, Steve Cardenas
CALL TO ORDER:
Fraser called the meeting to order.
APPROVAL OF JULY 12, 2021 MINUTES:
Soglin moved to approve the minutes from July 12, 2021 with minor edits.
Krieger seconded the motion, a vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0 (Giannakouros not
present for the vote).
PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• Gardner noted that Madeline Bradley has moved away from Iowa City and therefore
stepped down from this commission.
• Gardner noted in order to count as a public meeting they need to have six members
physically present at the meeting. Members can request to attend the meeting remotely
but will not count toward toward quorum.
Action Items from last meeting:
• Staff forwarded the equity report on to City Council.
• Staff was to coordinate with Cause Impacts to present on their phase one findings, and
they will do so today.
• Working groups were to review and advise on the use of ARPA funds in Iowa City and
staff forwarded the notes from the working groups on to City Council.
Climate Action Commission
September 13, 2021
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• Finally, staff was to determine the location for upcoming meetings. It has been decided
meetings will be held in Harvat Hall at City Hall, as the space is large enough for those in
attendance to socially distance and has the necessary tech equipment/support.
Updated Action Plan Report:
• The Update Action Plan Report was included in the agenda packet.
• Krieger noted there may be some updates from the Buildings Working Group that need
to be incorporated.
• Gardner noted staff would continue to share an updated report to the Commission every
other month.
Giannakouros joined the meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
Presentation of Marketing Plan Phase 1 Findings by Cause Impacts: This item was on the
agenda for August, but since the Commission was unable to obtain a quorum it was deferred to
today’s meeting.
Presenting for Cause Impacts:
Jessica Daugherty: Principal of Cause Impacts. Doherty noted Cause Impacts is a social impact
strategy consulting firm that has worked on social justice issues from environmental justice to
criminal justice reform across the United States. The Iowa City project is especially interesting to
them because of the fact that the City of Iowa City really is known as a hub of being innovative
and really trying to make a huge impact with climate action.
Natalie Lehman: Senior Research Analyst for Cause Impacts. Her background is in nonprofit
work and higher education, as well as social and environmental justice.
Steve Cardenas: Principal of ISCI Communications which is a marketing strategy and
consulting firm. They specialize in branding, messaging, communications programs, and
marketing programs for a variety of different industries.
Cause Impacts research was really focused on how to change people's behaviors, to change
activities, and make the most impact on reducing greenhouse gases. At the conclusion of the
study, they’re going to provide a comprehensive community based social marketing plan
strategy and a toolkit that the City can use to develop a robust marketing plan.
A copy of the presentation given was available in the agenda packet.
Krieger asked about the timeline for the next steps. Cardenas stated over the course of the next
four to six weeks they anticipate developing the next round of marketing strategies for review
and approval, and then from those marketing strategies they’ll present some campaign themes
to City staff.
Soglin noted there seems to be some significant gaps and lack of programs to make the
changes needed and asked if four to six weeks was an adequate amount of time. Daugherty
Climate Action Commission
September 13, 2021
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noted there are a lot of amazing things Iowa City is doing and having a unified theme will help
solve some of the gaps they identified. A unifying campaign and unifying brands is one of
solutions to help close the gaps.
Soglin noted from the research they learned that the top motivator for businesses is saving
money, but the concern about the environment is around 7%, and hopes it can be conveyed to
the business there is a climate crisis, and it needs to be addressed. Daugherty stated while the
main motivator was saving money, the second one was being part of/supporting the community,
and that is why messaging and marketing is so important. The messaging can convey the way
businesses can be a part of something and support their community is by being part of a green
business initiative.
Krieger asked if while going through this process they are able to identify not just opportunities
for further engagement, but also items that maybe should be weeded out, and how will they
prioritize initiatives. Cardenas replied if may not be about pulling back actual messaging but
figuring out what are the best messages or best media tactics to employ. They will figure out
what the uses of each particular communication, media communication, and marketing tool is
best and then figure out how best to make the calls to action work harder. Daugherty added in
their conversations many were interested in what could be done to make a big impact, so Cause
Impacts will identify areas of big impact rather than lots of smaller, less interesting ideas.
Cardenas stated Iowa City has a lot of great initiatives underway so they will figure out which
ones, whether it's Climate Fest, or the Ambassadors Program, or Earth Day, or Project 51, they
want to leverage and continue to speak to the community about over the course of the year, and
which can be frameworks around which there will be greater impact.
Fraser noted they don’t want to give any false impressions that the City has done so well and
been so successful that we’re now done. There’s always more work to do. Daugherty agreed,
staying why they need to communicate that and at the same time, in a very positive way, show
that the next steps are even going to be harder than the first steps. They can report about their
successes and take time to celebrate but also show people this is a first step that has another
30 years of work attached to it. That's why umbrella branding is really important.
Fraser also noted he and Gardner were discussing what they really need to attack to get big
gains. Though they certainly want to continue with recycling, that’s not where the gains are. The
more pressing focus should be on insulation and electric vehicles and the challenges there. As
pointed out earlier, landlords don't care as much about insulation because their renters pay the
bills, so it’s a real challenge on how they're going to market toward that. With EVs, students
don't see that as something they can do, but they can ride bicycles so they should promote that.
He urges Cause Impacts to look at those two areas.
Tate felt there should be a different focus. There is a blind spot on engaging the community-
based organizations and that one is a place where they could use particular guidance or advice
on how to best leverage those groups. He also had a question related to the segments that
were identified in the report, did they emerge organically from examining the findings, or did
they go in with these groups in mind? He also asked if they find a lot of agreement within
businesses or divergent views. Daugherty replied they first went in with ideas and assumptions
about what the segments were, but then they did further separate it. For example, they had a
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September 13, 2021
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slide just on immigrant populations, because they recognized that to group them in with other
people who were homeowners or renters was not going to give that population the attention that
they that deserved. Likewise, when they looked at differences between renters and
homeowners, whether they had similar perspectives or benefits/barriers, they realized there is a
further difference between resident renters and student renters, there is a difference, so they put
student renters into a separate grouping. Daugherty said the biggest difference between groups
is likely going to be between homeowners and renters as having such different concerns and
needs when it comes to taking actions.
Cardenas added there were definite trends with regard to adaptation but wanted to underscore
they haven't spent a lot of time discussing that yet because they've been focused on mitigation.
Giannakouros stated one of the things he has encountered in working sustainability for quite a
while is that the research in climate communication suggests they don't want to make people
feel like this is a threat that's beyond the pale. People get disengaged with that messaging.
They will think it's too big and too dire. He would like Cause Impacts to engage in a campaign
where they talk about climate changes opportunities with messaging that’s simple, serious, and
solvable. He noted communicating that messaging is hard and what they really need to address
if people understand what climate change is that they can be moved to actions. Cardenas
agreed and stated part of the reason that they believe that this needs a campaign is to balance
the notion of the looming threat with something that feels hopeful and to provide a context with
more tactical communications, for example utilizing something like a bill stuffer insert that might
speak to how to read a yellow tag when purchasing an appliance.
Gardner stated the information covered in the presentation was in the agenda packed so she
encouraged everyone to read it, and if they have any questions or follow up comments to send
them to her and she will forward them on to Cause Impacts.
NEW BUSINESS:
Update on Working Groups:
Buildings: report in agenda packet
Outreach: report in agenda packet
Equity: report in agenda packet
Adaptation: report in agenda packet
RECAP OF ACTIONABLE ITEMS FOR COMMISSION, WORKING GROUPS, AND STAFF:
No actionable items, but Gardner encouraged Commission members to attend Climate Fest
next week.
ADJOURNMENT:
Giannakouros made a motion to adjourn.
Krieger seconded the motion.
A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.
Climate Action and Outreach Office Updates: July/August/Sept. 2021
Recent Activity
Community-wide Climate Action
• Climate Fest
o Held Sept. 20-25; solid attendance at events and positive feedback from participants
and attendees
o Good coverage from Press Citizen, Daily Iowan, KWWL (and Sen. Rob Hogg newsletter)
o Stories gathered in storytelling booth being cleaned and compiled for use on
reconfigured Climate Action website
• Marketing RFP
o Phase 2 underway; Cause Impacts presented brand campaign strategy and 4 related
creative concepts to City communications staff for input and feedback
• Green Iowa AmeriCorps
o New team onboarded in September
o Home Energy Audits recommencing in October; team once again partnering with NDS to
provide audits for all applicants to the Energy Efficiency Home Loan program
• TIF-funded climate action incentive program
o 8 projects funded in original 3 districts, totaling $748,066: P&G/Oral B, Iowa City
Storage, Adamantine Spine Moving, Mondo’s New Union Brewery, United Natural
Foods, Earl May, Old Capitol Foods, and ALPLA; Moxie Solar pending
o Next phase program for Downtown and Northside commercial districts in development
• Climate Action at Work Awards
o Five awardees recognized during Climate Fest: ACT, Haunted Bookshop, Bicycle
Happiness, Urban Fuels Express, and New Pi Co-Op.
• Grow Solar Linn and Johnson County
o Program closed in September 30; nearing 500 kW milestone as of 9/29
• Energy Efficiency Building Projects
o Solar panels installed at demonstration rehab project at Taylor Drive
RECs purchased for both homes
• EV Readiness Plan
o First quarterly working group meeting held in August; group looking into best practices
for signage that could be utilized regionally.
Reporting and Analysis
• GHG Inventory
o 2020 inventory completed; preparing data for annual report
• Municipal operations
o Energy Manager data upload through August for all City facilities
o Public EV charging station usage being analyzed for possible expansion of stations
• ICLEI/Global Covenant of Mayors
o New CDP report submitted to Global Covenant of Mayors
Ongoing Projects
Communications (with part-time Sustainability Communications Assistance)
• Ongoing monthly Sustainability Newsletter
• City is finalizing contract for new web platform; anticipate reconfiguring Climate Action website
in 2022
• Final IC Area Business Partnership EcoSmart Series presentation scheduled for Nov. 4
Climate Ambassadors
• 11 (out of 35) Ambassadors participated in Climate Fest activities
• Next training being planned for January
Ongoing Sustainability Groups and Committees
• Urban Sustainability Directors Network groups
• Heartland (Midwestern) monthly calls
• Johnson County Sustainability Working Group, quarterly meetings
• Iowa Sustainable Communities, bi-monthly meetings
Date: September 30, 2021
To: Climate Action Commission,
From: Daniel Bissell, Climate Action Analyst
Re: Residential Energy Efficiency Incentive (REEI)
The City of Iowa City has stated ambitious goals to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the
community. To that end, a greenhouse gas inventory was conducted, and is updated at regular
intervals. The latest greenhouse gas emissions inventory (2020) revealed that 22% of
community-wide emissions are from residential sources. The two largest consumers of energy
in a residential setting are the HVAC and water heater. In accordance with the “Accelerating
Iowa City’s Climate Action Plan,” the City would like to implement a Residential Rebate program
to help homeowners address these energy issues.
This rebate program addresses actions from the Accelerated Action Plan under sections BE-1,
BI-6, and BI-9. Section BE-1 promotes energy efficiency to the public. Section BI-1 offers free
home energy assessments through Green Iowa AmeriCorps. Section BI-6 addresses energy
efficiency in construction. Section BI-9 addresses the electrification of appliances and home
heating and recommends incentives for such conversions.
In the July, 2021 Climate Action Commission packet, City staff provided responses to the
Building Working Group’s review of a proposed residential energy efficiency rebate program.
The following proposed rebate program is designed to incorporate the Building Working Group’s
recommendations. It also is designed to complement existing energy efficiency programs from
MidAmerican Energy, and loan programs through the Community Development Office within the
City of Iowa City.
In order to ensure equity, the amount of the rebate will be on a sliding-scale relative to gross
household income. Households below 80% AMI will qualify for the full rebate amount
represented in the table below. Households beyond this income threshold will qualify for a half
that rebate amount.
The rebate should bring the ROI period down to about 5 years. Doing so can reasonably assure
the homeowner that they will benefit from the energy savings themselves, rather than passing
the benefits along to a subsequent owner. In order to identify potential energy saving
interventions, we will first require an energy audit performed by Green Iowa AmeriCorps. In
addition, we will ask homeowners to complete an energy data disclosure form allowing City staff
to obtain information from MidAmerican about the household energy usage for 12 months prior
to and 12 months following the energy efficiency upgrade.
So as to have the broadest impact but the least overlap with existing programs from
MidAmerican Energy and the Community Development Office, rebates will be offered on the
following items:
• Attic insulation, brought up to R-50
• Efficient hot water heater, either tankless or heat pump
• Duct Sealing
• Programmable thermostats
September 30, 2021
Page 2
The breakdown of equipment costs, savings, estimated ROI payback period, and proposed
rebate is in the table below:
Eligible Improvement Average Equipment Cost Estimated ROI Payback Period Estimated Annual Cost Savings
Rec’d Rebate Amount to attain 5-year ROI*
Insulation (R-50) $2,500 12.5 years $200 $1,500
Hot water heater $2,000 5-20 years $44-$400 $500-$1,500
Duct Sealing $1,500-$4,000 10-26 years $150 $1,000-$3,500
Programmable
thermostat
$100-$200 ~1 year $100-$200 $50-$100
*Average Equipment Cost ÷ Annual Cost savings = Estimated ROI Period
Staff recommend piloting the program with a $50,000 budget, which we estimate could benefit
about 31 homes (programmable thermostats not included in this calculation due to low cost).
Staff will initially target promotions of the program to homeowners who have previously
completed a Green Iowa AmeriCorps Home Energy Audit. If the audit was performed more than
2 years prior, a new audit will be administered.
Staff will evaluate on an ongoing basis to track effectiveness based on decreased energy
usage. Homeowners will be asked to sign a third-party release form with MidAmerican Energy
so that staff will have access to utility bills. Staff will access and evaluate utility bills for a 24-
month period, 12 months before project completion, and 12 months after project completion.
Approved rebates will be mapped on GIS overlaid with income and/or race and ethnic data to
ensure equity in implementation.
9/30/21, 12:41 PM Energy Efficiency home loans now available through the City
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Energy Efficiency home loans now available through the City
City of Iowa City sent this bulletin at 09/13/2021 09:00 AM CDT
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 09/13/2021 Contact: Erika Kubly, Neighborhood Services Coordinator Phone: 319-356-5121
Energy Efficiency home loans now available through the City
Believe it or not, winter is coming soon. Iowa City homeowners can now apply for home improvement
loans to keep warm air in, cold air out, and help the community reach its Climate Action goals.
The City’s Energy Efficiency Program runs from September 1 to March 1 each year and provides Iowa
City homeowners with loans up to $6,000 for projects that will lead to a more energy-efficient home.
Eligible improvements include:
Replacement or upgrade of heating and furnace systems.
Window replacement (must be energy star compliant.)
Insulating and weatherproofing projects.
Single-family, owner-occupied homes are eligible. The owner must have adequate equity in the home,
and gross household income must fall below 80% of the median income level for Iowa City.
For more information and to apply, visit icgov.org/EnergyEfficiencyProgram. If you have any questions
about the program, please contact Liz Osborne at 319-356-5246.
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MONTHLY REPORT: BUILDING WORKING GROUP (BWG)
for Climate Action Commission Oct. 4, 2021, Packet
The BWG met via Zoom Friday, Sept. 13, 2021.
Commission members present: Matt Krieger, Becky Soglin, Ben Grimm; Public members present: Jeff
Falk
1. Discussed an article that Jeff found re an equitable and accurate way to get residential energy
data. Article on equitable way to get data. The article mentions these resources:
a. Academic research paper by Tong et al and the appendix are accessible here and in the
subfolder on Midamerican data.
b. ACEEE energy burden study re lower income households:
https://www.aceee.org/energy-burden
DIscussion: The Census provides demographic and income data. Utility would need to provide
energy (electrical) data. Combining these would show where to prioritize energy equity
efforts.Additionally we would want gas usage. This would help with distributing funds.
A UI graduate student study (Becky was involved in the project) provides a prioritization model
for green and healthy homes: https://ir.uiowa.edu/urban_iisc/10/
Question: How Iowa City is prioritizing is related to low-income but not otherwise geographically
limited and may not be related to demographics. Matt will reach out to the city and find out
what the city’s current application is for a household to receive help and the BWG would like to
invite a staff member to discuss this with the BWB members.
2. Discussed Ayman Shariff’s earlier visit to the entire CAC in which he asked about the former
Roosevelt School, which was being used by the local community and was being sold to a
developer, and whether the City could be involved in retaining such buildings. Ben noted the
building had environmental issues (lead, etc.). Water had to be circulated frequently daily to
keep it lead free. The building, under the control of the school district, was long ago identified
as being sold or removed.
Related to this issue, however, the City’s General rehab program could perhaps include a needs
assessment that identifies buildings that will need to be torn down.
3. Matt proposed that the BWG periodically go through the accelerated actions and review an
action. Sometimes the BWG can invite someone from the city or elsewhere to talk about their
progress on this. Reviewing things in this way would help us give suggestions and keep the plan
useful. Realtor program would be a good one to start with.
Outreach Working Group, Meeting Notes
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, noon – 1 p.m.
Members present:
Sarah Gardner, Matt Krieger, Marcia Bollinger, Cheryl Miller (JCED), Marcia Bollinger
Members absent:
John Fraser, Grace Holbrook, Tena Kapp, Blake Rupe
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Updates
• Climate Fest
• As part of creating a map of downtown business engaged with
sustainable practices, a number of conversations were had with business
owners and climate staff that would be useful in thinking ahead to a green
procurement/local procurement program as called for in the CAAP. At the
same time, Jane Wilch has been doing some survey work and related
researching pertaining to to-go containers, which might be a useful place
to start with such a program. The equity and adaptation WG have begun
having conversations about this program. Sarah suggested looping in
outreach as well, as there are some clear outreach elements called for in
such a program.
• Cause Impacts Phase 1 (benefit/barrier research) findings
• Sarah asked for any additional feedback on the Phase 1 findings to pass
along to Cause Impacts. Working Group members who did not attend the
Climate Action Commission meeting asked for a copy of the memo
detailing the findings, which was sent to them following the end of the
meeting. Based on the demographic information provided and the
proportion of business entities that participated in focus groups as
compared to others, the group discussed the business findings as likely
having a stronger foundation than the findings related to CBOs and other
entities, though useful information could be gleaned from all the
information provided. The group briefly discussed a suggestion made by
the landlords in the report for the City to sponsor a bulk-buy program for
energy efficient equipment. Sarah shared that a follow up discussion with
he legal department suggested there would be some legal and logistical
hurdles with such a program.
3. Continued Discussion
o BR-5: Develop Climate Action Requirements for all Existing and Future Rental
Permits: Suggestions and guidance for outreach-related aspects of the project
This item was held over for discussion in the October meeting
4. Other Items
• Next person to take minutes, set agenda
• Sarah will put together the October agenda, a volunteer will be asked to
take minutes at the October meeting
Next Meeting Wed, 10/20
Adaptation/Equity Working Groups, Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, 2-3 p.m.
Adaptation WG Members:
Stratis Giannakouros, Jesse Leckband, Megan Hill
Equity WG Members:
Eric Tate, Matt Walter, Kasey Hutchinson, Megan Hill
Climate Action Staff:
Sarah Gardner, Daniel Bissell
(Attendance is noted in bold)
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Updates
• Monica Haddad, ISU Social Justice and Climate Planning student project
i. Students have completed Phase 1, examining “environmental justice” as
a framework
ii. Starting on Phase 2, examining Climate Action plans from a number of
cities (including Cleveland, Columbus, Providence, Denver, etc.) that
have a strong equity component to the plan
iii. Monica invites any interested party on the Climate Action Commission to
participate in a conversation on Oct. 5 at 11:30 and again Dec. 9 at 11:30
about their project.
• Climate Fest: Willow Creek Celebration 4-8 p.m. this Friday
i. Thanks to Matt for helping stuff the start packs for a home preparedness
kit to be handed out Friday, and to Megan, Stratis, and John for
volunteering to help distribute them
• Resilience Hub Update: Oct. 19
i. Ayman Sharif and Peterson Wambuu will join the next meeting to give an
update on the resilience hub project
3. Discussion of SLE3, SLCP1: Local procurement campaign, green procurement
campaign
• Two recent efforts have yielded information that could be useful in crafting
recommendations for a local or green procurement campaign, the Business map
for Climate Fest, and a survey sent out over the summer about take out
containers from restaurants
• Sarah will invite Jane Wilch to a future meeting to discuss survey results
(possibly taking this item up again in January, after the completion of the Climate
Justice project Dr. Haddad’s class is working on); she will also invite Wendy Ford
to talk about conversations she has had as economic development coordinator
with businesses about their sustainability goals and practices.
• Between now and then, Sarah will bring the topic to the Outreach WG, as there
are some clear outreach components to consider. Possibly all three working
groups will regroup together on the topic.
4. Other Items
• Sarah (or Daniel) will continue to set the agenda for future meetings, Kasey has
volunteered to take notes at the October meeting
Next Meeting Tues, Oct. 19