ESC Multifamily Consortium Minutes 121420

ESC Multifamily Consortium Minutes from December 14, 2020 The meeting was called to order at 2:02 Eastern time. Attendance: Atmos Energy Greg Anderson Black Hills Ruth Hietbrink GTI Bob Morris NW Natural Kevin Duell NW Natural Samantha Moore General Discussion: To set the stage for 2021, this call was open discussion to develop plans for the coming year. Barb asked the members what they felt the consortium needed to work on and address during 2021, especially in light of being in the midst of a pandemic. Thoughts and feedback were as follows: Kevin Duell, Northwest Natural: Two items that Kevin would like to see addressed would be IAQ and Electrification. Kevin noted there have been quite a few negative articles about indoor air quality and natural gas. He commented that regardless of the fuel used for cooking that ventilation is key. Barb brought up the commercial that was running on the Weather Channel that dealt with how gas cooking affects indoor air quality. Ruth Hietbrink, Black Hill Energy, stated that she thought that the responses that AGA had prepared in response to the Weather Channel commercial were great. Barb agreed to share both the commercial and the responses with the group. The commercial can be found here: https://weather.com/health/coronavirus/video/gas-stoves-could-complicate-coronavirus-infections-experts-say AGA’s response to the commercial are here: https://www.aga.org/research/natural-gas-critical-energy-for-american-communities/aga-response-to-the-weather-channel-video-about-natural-gas-cooking/ Barb also shared that she is working on a PowerPoint for the Blue Flame Alliance consortium to address sustainability and natural gas. This is in response to Walmart’s goal to reach zero global emissions by 2040. She will share that document when completed. Bob Morris, GTI, noted that they have done some work on IAQ in conjunction with AGA. Bob also shared an exciting new project that GTI is just getting ready to kick off. The project will entail a comparison of 2 multifamily buildings; one is all gas and one is all electric. Bob believed they were 6-unit buildings and they are located in the Chicago area. Through this project, GTI will be studying and comparing IAQ and energy usage in each building. This will be a two-year project. Due to the comparison aspect the study will also address some electrification issues. The project was developed in response to efforts by the Rocky Mountain Institute and their efforts to remove gas from the building. This proves to be an interesting project and Bob will be sure to keep us posted as it progresses. Bob also suggested that we have another speaker on using tankless units and combi heaters in multifamily settings. Greg Anderson, Atmos, suggested that Rinnai would be a good speaker as they have done a lot of work with tankless water heaters and combi units in multifamily buildings. Barb mentioned that Rinnai will be speaking during the February TMAF and they will focus on multifamily. She will make sure to book them for a future multifamily meeting as well. Barb also commented that any member who has had a multifamily success should offer to present to the group so others can hear what worked for them. And, any multifamily failure can serve as a great learning tool as well. Feel free to send Barb an email if you have a project to share. Barb also reminded members that the consortium will pay for one case study per member company so if you have a great project, let us know. Ruth Hietbrink, Black Hills, did note that she has a 243-unit multifamily project coming online in Lincoln, NE, and the project will be individually metered. Each building will have 20 apartments and she commented that the developer loves gas. The first building is almost up and running and Ruth mentioned that it rented out very quickly. She stated that she might send out a survey to new residents to attempt to learn if natural gas had an effect on their decision to move into the building. Hopefully we will hear more from Ruth regarding this project on a future call. With no further discussion, the call ended at 2:26 PM. Happy Holidays to all and stay safe and healthy!