Energy Efficiency Blog Posts
Bringing you news about clean energy projects and opportunities happening across the state. Tell your story.
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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...
Dan Thiede
Wed, 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
Wed, 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
Wed, 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
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...
Joel Haskard
Tue, 05/01/2012 - 7:52am
The Midwest is home to a wealth of energy resources, which vary considerably by state. How those resources are deployed will impact the region’s economy, landscape, environment, and public health. A new online resource, The Power Almanac of the American Midwest, has been designed to allow you to flexibly and dynamically explore the region’s electric resources, opportunities, and challenges. We spoke with Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director of the Great Plains Institute, to learn more.
Joel Haskard: How did the Power Almanac of the Midwest come about?
Rolf Nordstrom: The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Great Plains Institute (GPI) have worked together since 2007 to help policymakers and a very diverse range of interests—from utilities and environmental...
Shaun Daniel
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 1:16pm
Direct energy use accounts for between 5 and 7 percent of farm expenditures. In terms of electricity used, Minnesota dairies show the largest energy costs, followed by corn growers (for grain drying especially), swine, soybeans, and other agricultural crops.
According to Barry Ryan and Douglas G. Tiffany, “dairy farmers used 376 million kWh of electricity, or 600 kWh per year for a typical cow producing 15,000 pounds of milk annually.” For dairy farmers, electricity is the single biggest energy cost.
The Minnesota Project, a key CERTs partner, highlights ways that farmers can save energy by becoming more energy efficient, and thus save money. As such, I’d like to draw your attention to a number of new resources on The Minnesota Project’s website....
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