CERTs Blog
Bringing you news about clean energy projects and opportunities happening across the state. Tell your story.
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Dan Thiede
05/15/2012 - 9:24am
CERTs is pleased to announce that next Monday, May 21st we will open a request for proposals (RFP) for technical assistance to catalyze community energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. So stay tuned for that announcement, or sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss it.
Each region has $10,000 to award. Each team’s Steering Committee will make its own selections and project funding levels will vary by region. Projects can apply for up to the full $10,000 in their region, but historically regions have funded multiple projects in each region. See more information below about previously funded projects.
We awarded grants in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The amount varies depending on the year and the project.
All projects
This map includes all projects ever funded by CERTs, color-coded by the year the award was...
Dan Thiede
05/15/2012 - 8:04am
Before your calendar starts filling up for February 2013, we want to make sure you mark off February 20-21, 2013 (a Wednesday and Thursday) so that you can join us for the fifth biennial Clean Energy Resource Teams statewide conference!
What can you expect? We can’t tell you exactly what the agenda will look like, but we do know that the event will be an exploration and celebration of successful energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and that it will be a coming together of hundreds of amazing people who are working to create a clean energy future in their communities and beyond. After the conference you will return home and to work with tangible and practical information for planning projects, as well as great connections to help you move forward and continue collaborating....
Julia Eagles
05/10/2012 - 1:54pm
Over 100 community members from around the Metro region gathered for Metro CERT’s fifth annual spring resource and networking event on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012! Click here to see the full agenda.
Kicking Things Off: City Councilmember Gary Schiff, who represents Ward 9, kicked off the event by welcoming attendees to his district. He outlined some of the broader steps the Minneapolis is taking towards sustainability, including benchmarking the city’s carbon footprint and measuring their progress based on a series of indicators.
Ecological Footprint of the Twin Cities: Professor Ignacio San Martin from the Center for Metropolitan Design at the University of Minnesota was the keynote speaker for the event. He shared his research on the Twin Cities ecological footprint, which looks...
Dan Thiede
05/09/2012 - 2:00pm
From Earth Day 2012 to Earth Day 2013, two Minnesota families and hundreds of their teammates are competing in the Family Energy FACE-OFF to see who can save more energy. This new community-based energy competition has been launched in a partnership between the Minnesota-based, Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) and the University of Minnesota, Morris, Office of Sustainability.
The two teams are the Mill Pond Minimizers, led by Jeff Vetsch, Anne Dybsetter, and their children Henry (5) and Hazel (2) from New London, MN; and the Prairie Penny Pinchers, led by Troy, Jenn, and Ely (4) Goodnough from Morris, MN. The families are pitted against each other, taking actions to conserve energy and resources in their homes, and extending the competition to their communities and networks.
Anyone can take action, earn...
Troy Goodnough - UMM
05/09/2012 - 12:25pm
We’re Troy, Jenn, and Ely Goodnough, and we’re not just saving the planet, we’re saving for college! Our team is called the Prairie Penny Pinchers, and we live in Morris, MN.
We’re really excited about the Family Energy FACE-OFF because we know there’s more that we can do to save energy at home (and we really like winning)!
We answered some questions below about our family so that you can get to know us better. We hope you’ll join our team!
Tell us about your house.
The house we live in was built in 1908 by a former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, R. A. Stone. The home was originally built with a servant’s room… a different era. Now, we serve the house. When we purchased the home in 2007, we knew energy was going to be an issue. Luckily, the kitchen was about a year old when we bought the house and so the appliances...
Jeff Vetsch
05/09/2012 - 11:25am
We’re Jeff Vetsch, Anne Dybsetter, and our kids Henry and Hazel, and we think this contest is going to be a cake walk! Our team is the Mill Pond Minimizers, and we call New London, MN home.
We think the Family Energy FACE-OFF will be a great way to get our kids—and our friends and family—involved in saving energy and money at home!
Below is a little interview with more about us. We hope you’ll join our team!
Tell us about your house.
The house we live in was built somewhere around 1900. When we bought the house in 2008 we knew that keeping the energy bill down was going to be a top priority. To celebrate the new energy-saving opportunities of our beautiful old home, the first things we did was to purchase an efficient front loading washing machine. We also remodeled the kitchen and had the cabinet-maker build in a special...
Susan Waughtal
05/04/2012 - 11:59am
There are more people than you’d think living off the grid in the Southeast CERT Region, and we’re happy to share their awesome stories!
Adrienne Tryan and Adam Kidney live off the grid in a small cabin they built from reclaimed materials
The Huelskamps live in a solar- and wind-powered geodesic dome on an organic farm that is off the grid and power their car and tractor with biodiesel fuel
The Dedens retrofitted their woodland home to achieve a carbon-neutral lifestyle through major energy efficiency improvements and a grid-tied solar array
We are proud to note that Rich Huelskamp and Joe Deden have also been long-time members of the Southeast CERT steering committee!
Read about the motivations and challenges for these three southeast Minnesota families striving to live more...
Susan Waughtal
05/02/2012 - 1:23pm
Dairy farmer Nathan Gibbs is in a sunny frame of mind. He just installed a 39,840 watt PV solar system on the south-facing roof of his cow shed, which will supply 30% of the farm’s electricity needs annually.
Gibbs milks 100 Holsteins on his dairy farm in southeast Minnesota near Altura. He has been farming for 10 years, but this year, with a 30% federal tax rebate, accelerated depreciation, and a rebate incentive from Xcel Energy, the time and financing was right to invest in renewable energy.
Winona Renewable Energy installed the 166 panels on the cow shed during February and March 2012, a winter in which the weather cooperated with construction work. The system is tied to the grid and provides power to both the home and farm buildings. Each of the 166 modules has its own Enphase micro-...
Chris May
05/02/2012 - 12:19pm
On May 15 (only two weeks away!) the Renewable Materials Summit: Markets for Building the Biorefinery will take place in Fargo, North Dakota. The event will highlight and explore the companies and markets that are driving opportunities for returns on investment that leverage the emerging bioeconomy.
We spoke with Tim Welle, Program Manager with The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, to learn a little bit more. You can click here to register for the event or learn more.
Joel Haskard: What can people expect to learn at the Renewable Materials Summit?
Tim Welle: Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the emerging biobased economy. The world is changing for manufacturers and original equiptment manufacturers (OEMs) as petroleum prices increase and consumer demand shifts toward safer materials. Local...
Tom Niemisto
05/02/2012 - 11:47am
Project Independence is a 44-panel solar panel array at the Chisago Lakes Middle School in Lindstrom, MN. The project received large support from the community as well as major grants from the State of Minnesota and the Metro Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT), but science teacher Pat Collins would tell you that his students really took ownership in making it happen.
Collins initiated the project when he was looking for a way to both save on energy costs to the district and to have a tool to demonstrate sustainability in his life-sciences classes. Check out a live update of power generated from the installation in the video below!
Read a CERTs case study to...
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