Groups look for ways to reduce carbon footprint

Some ideas are still being formulated and planned, while other projects are already being implemented in efforts to reduce the Flathead Valley’s carbon footprint.

Climate Smart Glacier Country last month held a panel discussion at the O’Shaughnessy Center downtown to examine what’s being done locally concerning climate solutions. The group is made up of a partnership that includes the city of Whitefish, the Whitefish School District, Flathead Electric Co-op, Glacier National Park and other interested residents. Since formalizing last spring, the group has been working to collaborate on local solutions to climate change.

Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld, Whitefish School District Curriculum Director Ryder DeLaloye and Glacier National Park Deputy Superintendent Eric Smith discussed what their individual organizations are doing to address climate change.

During the discussion, Muhlfeld admitted the city hasn’t done much in the past to address its own carbon footprint, but he says that’s about to change.

The city recently created a Whitefish Climate Action Plan steering Committee.

“We will be looking at our own carbon footprint,” he said. “Before we can ask residents to make changes to their daily lives, the changes have to come first from the city and our own facilities.”

The purpose of the committee is to work with city staff, Energy Corp member Rachel Sussman and the Climate Smart Glacier Country partnership to evaluate the city’s energy use and propose specific projects, benchmarks and other recommendations to conserve energy in the city. The goal of the committee is to develop a draft climate action plan by September 2017.

A climate action plan is a set of strategies aimed at reducing a city’s environmental impact and increasing energy efficiency.

Muhlfeld said the work done will mirror what’s been accomplished in other municipalities across the state — Missoula, Helena, Bozeman and Deer Lodge — that already have similar plans in place.

“It’s going to look at the ways we deal with water usage, energy conservation and waste management citywide,” Muhlfeld said.

One project the city has undertaken was to begin using its once disabled hydroelectric power system that is part of the municipal water system. Flathead Electric Co-op in 2012 began accepting power into their grid from the facility on Reservoir Road.

“We generate enough power from our hydroplant from water we deliver from Second and Third Creek that there is enough power to put back on the grid to basically provide all the power to operate our own water treatment plant, as well as, the future wastewater treatment plant,” Muhlfeld said.

Three major construction projects undertaken by the city are also in keeping with the goal of reducing energy usage. Muhlfeld pointed to the city’s Emergency Services Center completed in 2010, the under construction new City Hall building and the planned new wastewater treatment plant.

The ESC building utilizes solar panels to run hot water tanks and the planned new wastewater treatment plant, estimated to be complete in 2021, is expected to be a sequencing batch reactor treatment process with a lower carbon footprint. In addition, the new City Hall building set to open this spring will employ green technology.

“On the new City Hall building, although we’re not pursuing LEED certification because it came with a hefty price tag, the technology we are incorporating with that building will basically meet the silver rating under LEED certification,” Muhlfeld said.

The Whitefish School District is finalizing designs for a new Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship at Whitefish High School. Construction costs for the facility is estimated at $2.1 million to be paid for through private donations.

“This center will be a central point for K-12 education in Whitefish,” Curriculum Director Ryder DeLaloye said. “It is a zero-net energy building that will have an attached greenhouse to nourish and feed the schools.”

DeLaloye said the project is exciting as it will feature a greenhouse, orchard, gardens and an experimental forest that are all designed to engage students.

“What’s really exciting is the generations of students that will engage in that center,” he said. “They will experience sustainability in an applied manner — they will learn about sustainable forest practices, they’ll learn about sustainable agriculture, and they will learn about energy and renewables.”

Designed to be a net-zero facility, the greenhouse will be heated with a form of annualized geosolar energy and the classroom by geothermal energy, and solar energy will be used to meet electrical demands.

DeLaloye said the center will allow students to learn firsthand about sustainability.

“Kids aren’t going to change by looking at a graph,” he said. “They’ve got to experience it.”

Glacier Deputy Superintendent Eric Smith said the park is a place where climate change is evident.

“The glaciers are melting,” he said. “They are smaller than they were just 50 years ago. The park will still be a beautifully glacier-carved landscape, but when they are gone, they’re gone.”

The park is executing a number of projects on its own, while looking to partner with the communities outside the park, to initiate change that can reduce energy use and reduce waste, according to Smith.

“We need to work as a community,” he said. “In the past the Park Service has worked in a bubble, but when we work together it can become a beacon for other countries to try to emulate.”

Smith listed a number of areas the park is working on — less annual energy usage, making sure its vendors use efficient packaging so less waste ends up in the landfill, working with local vendors to reduce shipping and trying to ensure that cleaning products used in the park are biodegradable.

In addition, the park is conducting a fleet analysis of its vehicles and encourages its employees to ride a shuttle to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also reduce road congestion.

“We’re looking to see if we have the right number of vehicles and the right kind of vehicles to conduct the business of the park,” he said. “We provide carpool and shuttle opportunities.”

Glacier has also partnered with the Glacier National Park Conservancy to invest in solar and wind energy projects so the park can reduce the amount of energy it uses, Smith noted.