The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) spent much of its time on Monday discussing a non-binding Sense Of The Meeting Resolution (SOMR) to encourage Net-Zero energy standards as part of school building projects, in particular the use of geothermal to decouple from fossil fuels.
Approved with amendments. The SOMR passed 157-25, but with important amendments. Since the school building projects currently underway (CMS and OG) are not slated to use geothermal, amendments were made (a) to make the SOMR apply broadly to other upcoming major town projects (e.g. Hamill Rink, Riverside School), (b) to broaden the language beyond geothermal to include other highly efficient and renewable systems slated for use by CMS and OG, and (c) to add resources for skills and training (the lack of geothermal maintenance expertise has been cited as the reason why Hamilton Avenue School's geothermal system needed to be scrapped and replaced with a traditional gas-powered HVAC system). Note: Hamilton Avenue has the only geothermal system installed in any of the Greenwich public schools.
Promises of Incentives. The Federal Inflation Reduction Act provides a 30% credit for solar and a 50% rebate for geothermal. At the meeting State Rep Hector Arzeno (District 151) promised that the State of CT will offer additional incentives soon.
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