Sustainability and Resiliency Committee Minutes
The meeting of the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee was held in the City Commission Chambers at Fargo City Hall at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
Roll Call
Present:
John Strand (chair), Fargo City Commissioner
Tim Mahoney, Fargo Mayor
Bruce Grubb, Fargo PT City Administrator
Mark Williams, Fargo Assistant Director of Planning and Development
Ben Dow, Fargo Director of Public Works
Jennifer Sweatman, At-Large Member of the Public (via conference call)
Paul Matthys, Cass County Electric Cooperative Representative (Ex-officio)
Shawn Ouradnik, Fargo Inspections Director
Bekki Majerus, Fargo Facilities Director
Brenda Derrig, Fargo Engineer
Absent:
Greta Gramig, At-Large Member of the Public
Shawn Paschke, Xcel Energy Representative (Ex-officio)
Casey Steele, At-Large Member of the Public
Blake Mikesell, Fargo School District Representative (Ex-officio)
Dave Leker, Fargo Park District Representative (Ex-officio)
Approval of the Agenda:
Commissioner Strand called the meeting to order. He said he would like to add a discussion on meeting dates and times and an announcement at the end of the agenda.
Approval of the July 12, 2022 Minutes:
Mr. Grubb moved that the minutes from the July 12, 2022 meeting be approved as read. Second by Mr. Dow. There was unanimous approval.
J+J Flooring Presentation:
Bekki Majerus introduced Dominick Hammer from J+J Flooring Group. She said in her previous position at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBSND) she worked closely with Mr. Hammer on a huge flooring project for Noridian Healthcare Solutions Corporate Headquarters location. She said J+J Flooring has a long history of sustainability, carries recycled products and has a program to recycle the carpet products they remove.
Mr. Hammer said he has represented J+J Flooring for eleven years as a Territory Manager; their manufacturing facility is in Georgia (GA) and it is the oldest commercial-only flooring manufacturer in North America. There have been consolidations since it started in 1957, he said, and they now have merged with Engineered Floors, employing 2,500 people in Dalton, GA. Their buildings meet the ISO 14001 standard and are certified each year to have a low environmental footprint, he said. The flooring industry has done a good job of producing products in a sustainable way and not harmful to the environment, he stated. Manufacturing starts from a plastic chip polymer made into their own yarn that is processed and tufted into a primary backing, he said, and a secondary backing and then it is shipped. Having complete control of the manufacturing process allows them to know where raw materials originate and what waste is produced, he said. Each manufacturer has their own branded trademarked yarn, he said, J+J’s is Encore SD Ultima, Shaw’s is ECHO and Mohawk’s is Duracolor; all are made largely the same. He said J+J’s product content is at least 25% pre-consumer recycled. Trilobal filament is shaped to diffuse and diffract light, he said, and the center is injected with recycled content and new yarn wraps around the outside for consistent color, essentially hiding the waste yarn. He said their Paradigm Shift collection uses an innovative process incorporating recycled and reclaimed nylon with a consistent color in the foreground and randomized leftover yarns buried into the background. He said this process essentially reuses their own waste product and the background, multicolor yarns hide soiling and is robustly built, handling traffic well.
Ms. Majerus said this product was used at Noridian. She said the concept added interest to the mostly gray carpet, matched all the colors in the building and was popular with the employees.
Mr. Hammer said carpet tile has largely taken over the industry. He said his customers choose about 85 percent carpet tile and 15 percent broadloom. He said carpet tiles are easier to repair and that ease of replacement helps avoid workflow interruptions and the size is easier to deliver than rolls. He said if carpet were to be replaced with broadloom in a large room, roll carpet would have to be delivered, furniture removed and 24 hours allowed for the glue to set up, making installation logistically disruptive. With carpet tile, he said, furniture can be moved aside and different areas of a room can be carpeted. Every building has different challenges, he said, and in a call center type space, where daytime workflow cannot be disrupted, it is possible to work evenings and not have to disconnect systems or worry about downtime. He shared information on a hybrid flooring surface called Kinetex which is a textile; however, yarns are laid flat and knitted or woven the same as car seatbelts. He said the method called rochelle weaving is incredibly durable plus abrasion, stain and crush resistant. The surface has the durability of a hard surface with soft surface benefits of acoustics, reduced slip and fall injuries, comfort and anti-fatigue, he said. Kinetex is sustainable in that having the face fiber and backing of the same material makes it easily recycled and it has a recycled content of 45% post-consumer, he said. He said each carton (72 square feet) contains the equivalent of 492 plastic water bottles removed from the environment. It is 100% carbon neutral, he said, and has the NSF label, so is red list free, which is a list of forever chemicals. J+J is certified as zero waste to the landfill, he said, and the company’s sustainability initiatives include LEED for buildings and NSF 140 carpet standards. He said the company offers a Carpet Reclamation Program to customers diverting carpet from the landfill and the samples that include a bag to return at no charge. The adhesives from this company and competitors are CRI Green Label Plus Certified so they are not off-gassing volatile organic compounds, he said.
In response to a question from Mr. Grubb asking how these products compete with those made from virgin materials, Mr. Hammer said it varies by location. On the highly populated coasts people are trying to conserve natural resources, he said; however, inward where there is more space and less people, fewer care about a LEED certified building and sometimes it comes down to cost or the market.
In response to a question from Mr. Grubb asking if these products are available where typical consumers shop for flooring, Mr. Hammer said they are, J+J is the largest supplier to Home Depot. He said nearly every flooring store in town that does commercial carpet knows the products.
Mr. Grubb said when City Hall was planned there were discussions on LEED certification; however, it would have been costly.
In response to a question from Commissioner Strand asking if he anticipates the use of industrial hemp for future material uses, Mr. Hammer said research is constant and it would have to be determined if it is commercially viable and whether it meets flame tests, durability and such.
Public Comment
No one was present from the public to speak.
Other discussion
Mr. Grubb said Ms. Gramig has a conflict attending the SRC meetings this semester so he plans to poll the group to see if a different meeting time is a possibility. The CLEAN Group has requested an opportunity to present an idea at the next SRC meeting, he said, and they have circulated a petition asking the City to consider a requirement for EV chargers at multi-family buildings.
Commissioner Strand said electric vehicles will be a good topic to discuss. He said he understands now that it is not so much about electricity, it is about the reduction of the contamination of the planet with emissions and pollution. He said besides surveying members about meeting dates, there will be discussion on a School District replacement for Blake Mikesell and perhaps other people to bring to this mix; he would like to include young activists passionate about climate issues. He said this group is garnering information and learning; however, he challenged members to find ideas and suggestions for action items. Fargo is ahead, he said, yet the world is compelling everyone to step up action at local levels to mix with global action.
Mr. Grubb said one tangible thing the group has achieved is the creation of carbon dashboards for City facilities and that is the type of thing to keep going.
Mayor Mahoney said he would be curious about the annual cost for electric vehicles. He said he heard of a Tesla owner whose electric bill went from $400/month to $800/month. EV’s take a time to recharge, he said, and he is curious how it would be if the City went to a fleet of electric vehicles.
Mr. Dow said the City is studying electric vehicles and a concern is cold weather and necessary heating capacity in winter elements. He said it is necessary to prepare for the future; however, this is not a one thing fits all. A repetitively used vehicle such as a Solid Waste truck that goes out all day and parks all night differs from the demands of plow trucks, he said. Electric street sweepers are coming, he said, and they are used in the summer when it is warm. The City is always looking for the next thing, he said, and recently ordered a second sewer jet that recycles the water used rather than using hydrant water.
Mr. Matthys said there are challenges to overcome. Electric vehicles are coming, he said and Cass County Electric has two all-electric vehicles in their fleet to gather real data, and he has documentation of a trip to Minot he could share. He said many people do not understand the energy and demand of EV’s. The time to charge and there are a variety of costs associated, he said. A level 2 only charges to 90 percent for battery safety, he said, and can take 8-15 hours, while a high capacity level 3 charger takes up to 45 minutes to charge to 90 percent. He said from a utility standpoint it is high demand and low energy, meaning there is a huge surge of power requirements and due to that load factor, very expensive. As the energy experts they want to know the challenges; he said, and they get pushback on the environmental side. While it does not burn fossil fuels, he said; it is a battery and batteries are not a power source, they store energy for a short period of time. The elements in the batteries, cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium are being mined, he said, and there is a shift from cobalt to nickel. China and India have a stranglehold on the precious metals, he said, and their mining processes take place in open-pit mines with zero regulation. Electric vehicles are not carbon free, he said. They are working with the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at UND studying what it would look like if a whole neighborhood put in a 7.7 kw charger and what it would do to the electric provider’s grid, he said, and what infrastructure is needed to prepare for that. A challenge, in North Dakota where one cannot resell electricity, he said, is who will own the charging devices and how it gets billed. He said there is also the challenge of the current system of gasoline tax that pays for roads and infrastructure. Another thing to consider is the end game with the batteries. His company had to replace the battery back in a 2016 Chevy Volt already, he said, and if there a half million cars in the State with 5-10 year battery life cycles, there will be many battery packs and are landfills prepared or where do they go.
Commissioner Strand said he heard on a news report that if this conversion were to happen now, there would be a need for 178 percent of the current electric capacity. Fossil fuels will not be eliminated, he said, especially if the demand is that much more for electric usage.
Mr. Grubb said perhaps someone from the EERC could come explain what they are doing. He said there are many things involved that the average person does not think of.
Mr. Dow said he is visiting with Duluth representatives who purchased 10 electric buses a few years ago. He said another thing to consider is life cycles, when the ChargePoint unit was installed at City Hall, the advice was to have the 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty on it, which is about the life cycle of a potentially heavy-use charging station. If all this infrastructure is done to install chargers across the State, he said, there must be a plan to make sure they work and are getting replaced on a cycle to be dependable.
Announcements
Commissioner Strand said last May the Committee had a recycling presentation from Rolland Elendu about Elendu Textiles. He said unfortunately, Mr. Elendu is losing his location, so if anyone is aware of a warehouse-type building for the bales of clothes and textiles Mr. Elendu recycles and sends to Africa, please let him know.
Mr. Matthys asked Commissioner Strand to give Mr. Elendu his contact information. He said the EDC has good websites and postings of various sites available.
Next Meeting
Mr. Grubb said the next meeting date is not certain; members will be polled for meeting time options. He said the website content for the Committee will be refreshed to keep the public better informed.
The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.