In a back room on the ground floor of Epping Town Hall, a white, box-shaped machine stands about three feet high. When running, the machine’s low hum belies the fact that it generates enough energy to provide the entire building with heat and hot water, plus a significant amount of electricity.

Installed in February, the Ecopower MicroCHP is a cogeneration engine that maximizes efficiency while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. According to Epping town planner Clay Mitchell, the system is 95 percent efficient—a drastic improvement over the oil-fired burner that previously heated the 125-year-old structure.

The initial cost of the project was $60,000, and it was expected to pay for itself within about four and a half years. With the recent spike in oil prices, that timeline is now looking more like just over one year, creating quick savings for taxpayers. The system has lowered the building’s heating and electric bills by 50 percent, Mitchell said, while reducing its carbon emissions by 75 to 80 percent.

Manufactured by Marathon Engine Systems in Wisconsin, the ecopower unit has been installed in about 1,400 buildings in Europe. But Epping Town Hall is on the leading edge in the United States. “It turns out ours is the first one installed in the United States,” Mitchell said.

Last year, Epping voters passed an ordinance requiring all new nonresidential buildings in the town to comply with strict environmental standards. As far as Mitchell knows, the “green building” ordinance was the first of its kind in the United States.

Epping’s leadership on energy efficiency underscores the efforts of communities all over the Seacoast, where organizations and committees dedicated to cutting costs and carbon emissoins have sprouted up with increasing frequency in recent years. In 2007, 164 New Hampshire communities voted to pass a non-binding resolution encouraging municipal governments to appoint energy committees to combat global warming. The New Hampshire Climate Change Resolution reflects everyday citizens’ commitment to battling global warming from the ground up instead of idly waiting for state or federal legislators to tackle the problem.

Locally, a number of town energy committees have formed an expanding network of concerned citizens and elected officials who are working to cut carbon emissions and save money for their towns. One of those committees is in Kittery, Maine, where town officials are considering measures similar to those taken in Epping.

“We’re looking at some major changes to the Town Hall’s heating source,” said Sarah Brown, of the Kittery Energy Advisory Committee. “We’re investigating what the best alternatives would be for an entirely different heating system.” They’re also considering switching to energy efficient LED light fixtures for municipal lighting.

Although Kittery’s Town Hall was constructed as recently as 1998, it’s “a total energy waste,” Brown said. Insulation has already been added to the building, and the Energy Committee has been in discussions with Epping planners about additional improvements. “We’ve actually partnered up with them, and we are very seriously looking into the same cogeneration system that they have,” Brown said.  

Before switching to its cogeneration system, Epping Town Hall was rife with inefficiencies, Mitchell said. A preliminary walkthrough revealed that the building lacked insulation, and many windows didn’t even close all the way. The building used 9,000 gallons of oil per year for heating, Mitchell said.

When Mitchell and others decided the town needed an upgrade, they started by retrofitting the building, installing locally made windows, adding insulation and resealing the doors. They then began exploring options for a new heating source. Mitchell considered geothermal power, pellet stoves and biomass before deciding on cogeneration.

Now, Mitchell is proposing state legislation that would make Epping Town Hall eligible for a policy known as net metering. The policy enables entities to accumulate energy credit for any excess electricity they generate. If a cogeneration system produces more electricity than it needs, the utility meter spins backward and the extra electricity goes back to the grid.

The cogeneration unit in Epping Town Hall is fueled with propane, which is far cleaner than oil or coal but is still a fossil fuel. In New Hampshire, only systems using renewable energy sources are currently eligible for net metering. Mitchell is pushing legislation that would allow net metering for nonrenewable sources if they meet certain efficiency standards and emission levels.

The Town Hall isn’t the only structure in Epping using innovative methods to reduce its carbon footprint. The town’s green building ordinance forced a new TD Banknorth branch at Epping Crossing to implement a variety of environmental features. The bank has dozens of solar panels on its roof and uses a rainwater collection system to flush its toilet fixtures—a measure that saves 8,400 gallons per year of potable water. TD Banknorth uses the building as an education tool and is looking at similar measures across the company. 

According to Mitchell, who has started his own side business as an energy consultant, a number of other New Hampshire communities are considering green building ordinances, including Portsmouth, Barrington, Fremont and Peterborough. Mitchell started a Web site at www.NHEnergy.org, dedicated to sharing information on policies and technologies that can help communities become more energy efficient.

Another town that has passed historic legislation is Eliot, Maine. In June, the town overwhelming approved ordinances to govern wind and solar energy systems. The ordinances affirm that small wind and solar equipment are permitted in town, while establishing guidelines for each, such as height and noise regulations for wind turbines. 

The Eliot Energy Commission formed in November 2006 with the goal of promoting energy conservation and local energy production. The Commission had an energy audit done in February 2007 to assess costs and recommend changes for town buildings. It also distributed fliers to residents with suggestions on how to reduce energy consumption. More recently, the commission completed a comprehensive energy plan for the town.

“Everything in Eliot has come from the ground up,” said committee member Laurel McEwen. “We are currently looking at several energy efficiency projects for our town buildings, more educational outreach and an alternative energy project.”

Sarah Brown said Kittery is considering referenda similar to the wind and solar ordinances passed in Eliot. But the town is largely focusing on educational efforts. Brown hopes to post signs near Memorial Bridge encouraging drivers to shut off their engines while the bridge is up, and she plans to place similar anti-idling literature near local schools and businesses.

Brown helped found the Green Alliance, a network of area businesses that promote sustainable practices. The organization is intended to help businesses share ideas and resources and to bring attention to environmentally responsible businesses.

“There are businesses that are doing some great things for the environment, and consumers don’t really know about it,” Brown said. “The idea is to kind of put them up on a pedestal so that they can inspire other businesses to do the same and also inspire consumers to think more about the products that they’re buying.”

Kittery has also invested in wind power, authorizing a $185,000 project to erect a 50-kilowatt wind turbine at the transfer station on MacKenzie Lane. Town manager Jonathan Carter said the turbine is about two-thirds complete, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. The cement foundation has been laid and the tower is on site, but the turbine itself is still in shipping. Carter hopes to have the turbine up and running by mid-September.

Kittery received a $50,000 grant from the Maine Public Utilities Commission to help fund the project. The turbine is expected to produce between 70,000 and 80,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, Carter said, which is more than enough to power the town’s transfer station. Any extra electricity generated will be credited to the nearby Shapleigh School. There will also be an educational kiosk in the school, enabling middle school students to see what the turbine is doing.

“Because this is a green project, we will be selling the renewable energy credits on the open market and using that money to assist in the payback of the system,” Carter said.

Carter helped start the Kittery Energy Advisory Committee, along with UNH researcher Cameron Wake, Clean Air-Cool Planet member Bob Sheppard and town councilor Glenn Shwaery. Brown later merged her organization, Cool Kittery, with these four residents to form the committee.

“We have an incredible amount of talent on the Energy Committee that is analyzing and modeling out the scenarios and working with the folks from Epping, who are helping us with the cogeneration project,” Carter said.

Brown said Kittery’s committee was largely modeled after a preexisting committee in York, Maine. The York Energy Efficiency Committee started in 2005. According to committee member Eric Hopkins, it began as a small group of citizens looking for ways to save money at York Public Library. The organization gradually grew, amassing a core membership of 12 to 15 people, and began considering policies the town could adopt to improve its energy efficiency.

“We’re looking at the municipality and realizing there’s a lot of opportunity to affect change,” said Hopkins, a special education teacher in Wells.

York’s organization is still considered an ad hoc committee, but the Board of Selectmen will vote next month on whether to make it an official town committee. Meanwhile, the group has hosted a number of speakers on subjects ranging from climate change to composting.

The committee’s single biggest accomplishment to date occurred this spring, when it helped push an ordinance requiring new buildings in town to get LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Voters approved the ordinance in May, mandating that buildings achieve the silver standard in LEED certification.

Hopkins said the ordinance was “a big, big deal” for York. He noted that the change was sparked by ordinary residents. “These issues are all very, very local, where each community is very different and different issues animate people in different ways,” he said. “The thing that keeps becoming more and more clear to me is that this is where the real change happens—at the local level.”

But the trend toward more forward-thinking energy policies is a regional phenomenon. Portsmouth has taken a lead role in promoting sustainability, establishing a LEED-certified public library and working toward LEED certification for a new fire station and the Parade Mall development project.

Another leader has been the University of New Hampshire, which completed a large cogeneration plant to heat and power its Durham campus in 2006 and is in the process of converting to landfill methane gas as its primary energy source. UNH will be the first university in the nation to use methane as its primary energy source.

Smaller strides have been taken in neighboring New Castle, the smallest town in New Hampshire, where a newly formed energy committee is just starting to take action. Committee chair Sandra Bisset said the group formed in December 2007 but did not hold its first real meeting until late last month. The committee is assessing the town’s energy use and looking for areas where money can be saved. It will offer recommendations to the New Castle Board of Selectmen in April 2009.

“Our first strategy is to review energy use and costs. What we’re doing is looking at all the buildings, one of them being the Town Hall,” Bisset said.

The committee hopes to make improvements to building weatherization, electricity consumption, transportation and recycling, ultimately establishing a long-range strategy to implement renewable energy sources. The committee is starting by asking a few fundamental questions: “How do we really handle transportation? How are we really looking into the future to make this a viable, sustainable community?” Bisset said.

Posing similar questions is the Rye Energy Committee, which was appointed by the town’s Board of Selectmen last year. Committee member Mimi White, former poet laureate of Portsmouth, said the organization has conducted an energy audit of municipal buildings and made recommendations to the town. It has also engaged in educational outreach. “Primarily, our job is to help our town reduce its carbon footprint,” White said. “We’ve moved forward in many different ways under those large umbrellas.”

White and her husband Steve helped found the Rye Energy Committee last year out of concern for both the environment and town residents who might struggle to pay their heating bills this winter. “Everybody’s concerned about this coming winter and the cost of heating oil—the cost of everything,” she said.

The New Hampshire Carbon Challenge has been helping residents both reduce their carbon footprints and save money on their energy bills. The UNH initiative is aimed at helping people reduce their annual residential carbon emissions by 10,000 pounds. The Rye Energy Committee pushed the challenge at the town’s elementary and middle schools, encouraging students to take the challenge in their homes. As a result, 64 families signed up for the challenge, giving Rye the most participants of any community in the state. 

White said she has communicated with Bisset in New Castle and other regional organizations. “We do need to communicate with each other. It’s so multi-faceted that I think every energy committee takes on its own personality based on the needs of the town,” White said. “The overarching theme is to all move together.”

With a growing web of environmental advocates coming together in the region, it’s easy to overestimate the number of people who are working to change their energy behaviors. Despite growing awareness of issues like global warming, Mitchell said most people have not altered their ways. “It’s a drop in the bucket,” he said.

But White emphasized the urgency of uniting people to combat global warming and rethink their personal energy policies. “The days of cheap oil are over. Trajectory is up and supply is down,” she said. “We are now at the point where we must change, and I’m not gonna make any predictions about that.”