Green Buildings Blog Posts
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Dan Thiede
Tue, 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
Tue, 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
Thu, 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...
Susan Waughtal
Fri, 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...
Joel Haskard
Tue, 05/01/2012 - 8:18am
Hello future architects and builders! We caught wind of South Central College’s Building Design & Energy Technology course and spoke with instructor Ryan Langemeier to learn more.
Joel Haskard: How did South Central College decide to offer this course?
Ryan Langemeier: We applied for a Perkins New Academic Program Development Grant and were awarded funding to develop a Building Energy Technology Diploma. This grant assisted with curriculum development, the purchasing of equipment (thermal imager, blower door), and travel to energy related conferences.
From the Building Energy Technology Diploma, we implemented the Building Design and Energy Technology AAS Degree.
Building Design and Energy Technology (BDET) was a program re-design from Architectural...
Julia Eagles
Sun, 04/22/2012 - 3:57pm
The Building Owners and Managers Associations of Greater Minneapolis and Greater St. Paul today joined Xcel Energy in announcing the winners of the first annual Kilowatt Crackdown, a new energy conservation initiative. The year-long contest challenged Twin Cities area building owners to improve their buildings’ efficiency.
“We are thrilled that so many building owners participated in this event,” said Judy Poferl, president and CEO of Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company. “We all know that energy efficiency makes good business sense as well as good environmental sense, but a contest like this is a great way to help companies get started.”
A total of 86 buildings in the Twin Cities participated, saving over 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity. Using the Environmental Protection Agency’s equivalency tool, the savings equate to a reduction of more than 9,000...
Annette Bair
Tue, 04/10/2012 - 3:59pm
Nearly 70 people joined Senator Al Franken and CERTs at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington on April 2, 2012 to learn about financing tools and opportunities that are currently available to local governments and business leaders, and connect with one another.
Kicking off the event, Senator Franken emphasized the importance of retrofitting public buildings for creating local clean energy jobs and saving energy: “[Retrofitting] is about creating incredibly comfortable work environments, improving quality of life, putting people back to work, lowering our carbon footprint, having economic choice, and adding to our bottom line.” “It’s a win, win, win, win, and maybe some wind in there,” joked Senator Franken.
Utility providers also benefit from these programs as the participants help utilities meet their energy efficiency requirements of 20% energy reduction...
Diana McKeown
Fri, 03/30/2012 - 4:36pm
On March 1st, 41 people gathered at the League of Minnesota Cities to learn more about the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program. Attendees participated in small group discussions about specific best practice actions and got a primer on using the B3 Benchmarking energy management system. There were representatives from fifteen different cities and one county at the event, nine of which are already designated as Minnesota GreenStep Cities.
Peter Lindstrom, Mayor of Falcon Heights, welcomed attendees with his city’s story of success. Falcon Heights was a one of five pilot cities in the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program, and is now one of seven cities in the state to have reached Step Two. Falcon Heights is dedicated to being a sustainable city, as is demonstrated by their participation in the program...
Angela Headlee
Fri, 02/24/2012 - 3:00pm
Through the ENERGY STAR Leaders program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes organizations for energy efficiency achievements across their entire portfolio of commercial buildings.
Annual recognition is offered in two categories:
Portfolio-wide Improvement, awarded in increments of 10 percent
Top Performance, awarded to organizations whose entire portfolio averages in the top 25% of energy performance nationwide
If you want to feel a little Minnesota pride, take a look at how many times Minnesota pops up on this list (you can even read a small case study on each of the highlighted buildings).
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that nearly half of the organizations recognized as Energy Star Leaders have improved the energy efficiency of their building portfolios by 20 percent or more. Last year,...
Diana McKeown
Wed, 02/08/2012 - 3:30pm
More than 100 Minnesota local government officials and business leaders gathered recently at the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus—along with more than 50 on a live webinar—to talk about retrofitting buildings. The event was officially called the Forum on Energy Savings: Retrofitting Programs for Minnesota Cities, Counties, and Businesses.
According to Senator Al Franken, who convened the event, renovating buildings to make them more energy-efficient—called retrofitting—saves money, improves real-estate values, strengthens our infrastructure—and could be the next big thing for Minnesota’s economy. Energy-efficient retrofits will also create badly-needed jobs in both the construction and manufacturing industries.
Senator Al Franken joined with a number of Minnesota partners to hold this forum, including the Clean Energy Resource Teams,...
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