By David Harry

Staff Writer

Since June, civil engineer Ann Archino Howe has served as energy and sustainability coordinator in Scarborough, a part-time position funded through a grant from the federal Department of Energy.

Howe said money for the position was granted to Scarborough and South Portland governments as the town and city seek ways to create more sustainable environments, reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and saving energy and money.

In South Portland, city councilors last month unanimously passed a resolution calling for a sustainable environment. Howe said efforts in Scarborough have not advanced as far, but are moving forward as audits are done on municipal buildings and town officials show interest in joining the Property Assessed Clean Energy program.

Commonly known as PACE, the program allows towns and cities in Maine to create loan programs for homeowners looking to  improve energy efficiency.

Q: Tell me about your background

A: I’m a civil engineer. I have my own company called Sustainable Design Studio. I’ve been working in sustainable site design for years. Probably the thing that is more important to this position is my involvement with the U.S. Green Building Council. I was an organizer of the Maine chapter, have been on the regional council and am right now on the national board. The U.S. Green Building Council is much broader than civil engineering – it is the whole realm of sustainability and in particular how buildings have affected climate change.

Q: How easy is it to lay sustainability out in plain and practical terms?

A: One of the skills I believe I bring to this position is explaining technical issues to non-technical people. Before I went back to school to become a civil engineer, I was a building contractor and a consultant to nonprofits in Maine on building issues and setting up nonprofit lenders through Maine State Housing Authority. I try not to use jargon because I think it becomes a barrier for people to understand what you are talking about.

Q: What has been going on in Scarborough?

A: Scarborough has a very active energy committee as does South Portland. The difference is the energy committee in Scarborough is fairly new and was a working group last year. It’s a very active group working on a lot of different things including becoming part of the PACE program. They are also looking at some of the energy savings there.

Q: What are differences in the communities you have noticed?

A: The interesting thing to me about doing both is they are very different communities in terms of socio-economic things, urban/suburban and in terms of the types and range of businesses that are there. Scarborough is very spread out, but there are people who are very committed to energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. 

Q: How simple can sustainability be?

A: I think everybody needs to be on board to take the simple steps. In South Portland, the city has already done some of those – changing out bulbs, putting in room sensors. On the municipal side, the city committed to doing more by having hired Siemens to do an audit of 14 of the municipal buildings.

Q: Please explain fee for savings.

A: Fee for savings is a process where Siemens does an audit of the building and suggests upgrades and changes that will have the largest savings in greenhouse gas emissions and one hopes, costs. Then, the city decides what to go ahead with, Siemens installs those things and the savings are the way Siemens gets paid. It is an incentive program on all sides. 

Q: So the money not spent on fuel is spent on the improvements?

A: Yes, the savings pay for the work that has been done. But Siemens is looking for things that may have a two- or five-year payback, which probably isn’t replacing windows. So those kinds of larger, longer payback things will be things the city will have to look for other ways to do.

Q: Is this also about seeking the least toxic alternatives for things like cleaning products?

A: Yes. Sustainability is one of the terms that covers such a huge range of issues. It really comes down to asking ‘am I doing this in a way that 20 or 50 years from now, I can still think about doing it this way?’ That’s the kind of mentality that has started in the city – we need to foster that.”

Q: Is there a correlation between the price of gas and ridership on mass transit?

A: That is a big catch-22, and I’m not a public policy person. I think it is obvious that price is one of those triggers. One of the things that is true about changing people’s minds about anything is they have to feel a personal pinch. Operating a vehicle, all the costs, not just gas, might be another. The commute another way program will take a lot of discussion because they way we live in Maine is not conducive to that. 

Q: Is this something where people need to understand the effect on their bottom line?

A: I think it is one of the things. It is so much harder, unless somebody has asthma they realize is caused by increased pollution or they have a child with asthma. There are a lot of ways people come to this – illness, cost, ordinances passed. It isn’t just putting out pamphlets and standing up and talking about it. It is a whole bunch of things that make people aware.”

Q: In South Portland, did you help create the resolution or are you on to help implement it?

A: The city had already dedicated itself by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in 2007 and doing many of the things that are outlined in the ‘whereases.’ It started the process that led to this resolve. I helped the council and manager’s office to frame the words of the resolve. But all of the actions came out of things that are already going on or that people are dedicated to seeing happen in South Portland. I didn’t invent anything.

Q: How extensively do you view the challenges?

A: I think there are a lot of people in South Portland already on board with many of the things. So the challenge is extending that group. There is already an Energy and Recycling Committee that has been working for years in the city. They are working on this climate action plan and the Planning and Codes Department has already been having extensive meetings for the revision of the comprehensive plan and there has been a very good turn out for the revision meetings. So I think the city is already well-positioned to further implement more things that will reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions in the city.”

Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219.