BELFAST — Thursday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m., the public is invited to a community climate conversation about modernizing Belfast’s buildings for energy efficiency and cost savings and to helps reduce greenhouse gasses.
The event, co-sponsored by All of Belfast Climate Dialogues (ABCD), a project of the Belfast Free Library and the City of Belfast Climate Crisis Committee (CCC) will take place in the Abbott Room of the Library. A hybrid zoom option is available. To register please go to https://belfastlibrary.org/abcd-events/.
Join organizers for this third in their series of community climate conversations that began on June 14 seeking public input to develop a climate action plan for Belfast. The second event on October 18, on the topic of “Creating Resilience to Big Storms and Flooding,” attracted an engaged audience of 40 citizens, according to Belfast Free Library, in a news release. Attendees were energized by brainstorming actions the community could take together, including creating a rain garden in a public location and using it for education. The summary and a recording of that meeting are available here: https://abcdbelfast.omeka.net/items/show/125.
The upcoming December 8 discussion will invite public input on ideas for how Belfast homes, businesses and municipal buildings (both existing and new) could be modernized for cost- and energy-savings.
According to Belfast’s 2019 Communitywide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, “transportation accounts for 49% of emissions, and residential energy and commercial energy combined account for 50% of emissions. (residential energy contributes 33% and commercial energy 17%.) Actions to reduce emissions in all of these sectors will be a key part of a climate action plan.”
In the Maine Won’t Wait, the state’s 4-year climate action plan, “Heating, cooling, and lighting of buildings are responsible for almost one-third of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions. Maine can reduce greenhouse gasses by modernizing our buildings to use cleaner energy, increase energy efficiency, and utilize lower-carbon building materials.”
The Dec. 8 conversation will be grounded in the State of Maine’s goals and progress, as well as sharing examples of actions that are currently being undertaken by several Maine communities. There will be a brief summary of the actions Belfast is already taking to modernize buildings and increase energy efficiency.
“We will encourage audience participation to discuss ideas and actions property owners can take to save money and energy in heating, cooling and lighting their homes and businesses, and take part in planning what our community should do in coming years,” said BFL.
For more information please call the library at 207-338-3884 ext.10.
