Energy Efficiency Workshops for School and Local Government Building Operators

Workshops A Huge Success!

Thanks to everyone who attended the energy efficiency workshops for school and local-government building operators in Fall 2006 and Spring 2008. We had nearly 250 attendees across the seven workshops. bringing building operators, superintendents, school business managers, utility representatives, and local CERTs members to each workshop.

Locations: Workshops in the Fall were held in Owatonna, Marshall, Duluth, and Thief River Falls. Spring workshops were held in Staples, Willmar, and Mankato.

Speakers included:

Building Energy Efficiency specialist, Gene Scales
State Energy Office Senior Engineer, Bruce Nelson
Renewable Energy Specialist, Chris Reed
Representatives from Elk River Schools, Murdock School, Willmar Schools, and Blue Earth County
Representatives from local utilities and energy cooperatives

Participants shared experiences related to building energy efficiency issues including suggestions on equipment, rebate programs, and tactics for working with teachers, students, and administration.

Workshops were sponsored by the Clean Energy Resource Teams, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Owatonna Public Utilities, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, SW/WC Service Cooperatives, Alliant Energy, Great River Energy, Xcel Energy, Minnesota Power, Otter Tail Power, Northern Municipal Power Agency, Minnkota Power Cooperative, and BENCO Electric, and were made possible through a grant from Rebuild America through the U.S. Department of Energy.

Some helpful links

U.S. Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has extensive technical resources for building energy-efficiency, including publications and tax incentives.

Submit your building for entry in the B3 Benchmarking data store. The goal of the B3 Benchmarking program is to benchmark the energy consumption of all public buildings in Minnesota. Once your building’s actual energy consumption is compared to its model benchmark, you will have a good idea of the opportunity available to reduce its energy consumption. Directions to Using the B3 Benchmarking Site.

Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Office’s Energy Info webpage includes grants and incentives for energy efficiency, links to Minnesota utilities and cooperatives and energy education ideas and games for kids.

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

Rebuild America website has extensive technical resources for building energy-efficiency. Rebuild America is a network of community-based partnerships across the nation that are committed to saving energy, improving building performance, easing air pollution through reduced energy demand, and enhancing the quality of life through energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

Building Operator Certification information and registration

Bruce Nelson’s Presentation on Benchmarking

Jim Bain’s South Washington County Schools case study

Jack Johnson’s Proctor County Schools case study

Other case studies related to schools and energy efficiency