Clean Energy Resource Teams

 
There have been quite a few postings lately for green jobs in the areas of energy efficiency and clean energy, so we wanted to make sure that you heard about them and spread the word to folks you know who are looking for work!

CERTs Coordinator for Northwest, MN: Do you lecture your family about turning off the lights? Would you consider a visit to a wind turbine a good use of vacation time? Do you like to talk with others about clean energy? We have a job for you! The Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team seeks temporary appointment of a Northwest CERT Regional Coordinator. The Northwest CERT Regional Coordinator will be instrumental in advancing the NW CERT’s mission to advance clean energy in the region by working with various organizations and individuals across the region and connecting them with the resources they need to identify and implement local energy efficiency and clean energy projects. The ideal candidate for this position will be someone with knowledge of clean energy practices, models and technologies and someone who likes to, and is good at, working with people. Send resume to Lissa Pawlisch, University of MN, 411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Upper Buford Cir, St. Paul, MN 55105 or to PAWL0048@umn.edu by June 15th. See the job posting for further details!

CERTs Case Study Researcher Internship Opportunity, Summer 2010: CERTs is looking for a skilled writer who is interested in researching and authoring case studies on energy efficiency and clean energy projects! This will be a great chance to build on your portfolio of written work and meet people in the industry. CERTs supports community-based clean energy projects across the state with seed grants. Once the project is completed, the grantee submits a final report telling how the project was implemented. The final step is to create a case study to describe community models, technologies and lessons learned about projects CERTs has helped fund. These case studies are typically one to two pages long and are a helpful resource to communities who want to do similar projects. Interns will be given a byline (credit) for the case study they write (if they wish) and hopefully gain valuable insight into the variety of clean energy projects springing up across the state. Please submit a cover letter and your resume to Michelle Vigen at vigen010@umn.edu by Wednesday, June 9th at noon. See the job posting for further details!

Center for Energy and Environment Project Assistant: We are looking for an exceptional and hard working individual to provide assistance in implementing our residential programs. Specific tasks assigned to this individual would vary according to their capabilities, but would cut across many aspects of our programs. It would be an ideal above-entry level position for someone to gain some great hands-on experience in implementing some of CEE’s wonderful programs, and work with some of the leading practitioners in the energy efficiency field. Potential applicants should send applications directly to the email listed on the job announcement. Applications might not be accepted after June 4th—be sure to check with CEE. See the job posting for further details!

Center for Energy and Environment Policy Associate: We are looking for an individual with a little more experience, and with exceptional and proven analytical and persuasive skills to help implement CEE’s policy agenda. Again, specific tasks would vary depending on the individual’s experience, but would include monitoring and advocating in regulatory and legislative arenas. Some amount of program development would also be involved with this position. Potential applicants should send applications directly to the email listed on the job announcement. Applications might not be accepted after June 4th—be sure to check with CEE. See the job posting for further details!

Neighborhood Energy Connection Finance and Human Resources Manager: The Neighborhood Energy Connection (NEC), a 25-year-old nonprofit environmental organization, seeks a forward-thinking, entrepreneurial-minded, and highly-motivated individual to manage its finances. The NEC is a regional leader in the field of energy efficiency. With an expanding car sharing program and a long history in residential energy efficiency programs, the NEC is at the forefront of developing new tools for the burgeoning green economy. The Finance and Human Resources Manager is a qualified accountant responsible for managing the organization’s finances and benefits programs. Applications will be accepted through June 11, 2010. See the job posting for further details!

Other places to look: Minnesota-specific job boards that you should check include PCA’s NextStep and SEEK Job Listings, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Jobs List, and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Job Board. Other popular job search engines with energy listings include careerbuilder.com, idealist.org, indeed.com, job.com, monster.com, yahoo.com, and nationjob.com.

 
Do you lecture your family about turning off the lights? Would you consider a visit to a wind turbine a good use of vacation time? Do you like to talk with others about clean energy? We have a job for you! The Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team seeks temporary appointment of a Northwest CERT Regional Coordinator.

The Northwest CERT Regional Coordinator will be instrumental in advancing the NW CERT’s mission to advance clean energy in the region by working with various organizations and individuals across the region and connecting them with the resources they need to identify and implement local energy efficiency and clean energy projects. The ideal candidate for this position will be someone with knowledge of clean energy practices, models and technologies and someone who likes to, and is good at, working with people.

 
The average Minnesota student spends approximately one hour every day riding a school bus. Buses are the most common way for children to get to and from school, but the air quality inside buses can be up to five times as polluted as the air quality outside.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are partnering with the Minnesota Environmental Initiative’s Project Green Fleet to improve the environmental standards of older buses. Project Green Fleet provides and installs air quality retrofit equipment, normally valued at $1,500-2,000, at no cost to fleets or districts.

Act Now! Your school district can clean up its buses for free! Children will breathe easier and your local air quality will be improved, all with no impact on the performance of the buses. Learn more and take action at http://greenfleet.mncerts.org.

Why Act? Diesel vehicles account for 10% of traffic on Minnesota roads, but account for more than 50% of all traffic related air pollution. With a simple, free retrofit by Project Green Fleet, we can reduce emissions by 30-50% per vehicle.

The emission reductions directly benefit students and employees that ride and work around the buses. “Our company chose to participate in Project Green Fleet to take a proactive approach in helping reduce pollutants in the air we breathe for the safety of our children and employees,” said Jim Koonst, owner of Stier Transportation Services in Belle Plaine, MN. This strong leadership demonstrated by transportation managers, such as Koonst, coupled with proactive community action, has been key to the program’s success.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of pollutants, which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, or smog. These pollutants harm human health, increasing the risk of heart and lung disease and can trigger upper respiratory problems, such as asthma. Children are especially vulnerable to these ailments as they breathe more air per pound than adults, and their bodies are still developing.

Over 1,700 buses across the state have participated in Project Green Fleet so far. Together, CERTs and Project Green Fleet have the goal of retrofitting every eligible bus in the state. The voluntary measure has been successful due in part to the ease of installation. Some transportation directors were unsure of the process at the beginning. “I wanted to see that other districts had done this successfully before we retrofitted our buses. But I should not have worried. Everything went really smoothly for us—the installations were seamless,” said Denny Coughlin of Minneapolis Public Schools.

Take action today by visiting http://greenfleet.mncerts.org and learning more!

Video about Project Green Fleet:

Share: If you can’t influence a bus fleet directly but still want to let others know about this opportunity, help us by spreading the word!

 
These presentations were given as part of the April 21, 2010 Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team meeting on Smart Grid Technology in Northwest Minnesota. Together these presentations offer an introduction to smart grid technology general, and highlight its use in NW MN.

 
Smart Meter Basics and Benefits by Darryl Tveitbakk, Northern Municipal Power Agency

Download presentation >>

 
Smart Grid Technology Use at East Grand Forks Water and Light by Corey Thompson, Electronic and Information Systems Manager and Bonnie Abel, Customer and Energy Services Manager

Download presentation >>

 
Smart Grid & Beyond by Joe Jacobson, Eusco

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The Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security (OES) is requesting proposals from Minnesota school districts, park districts, towns, cities, counties, and townships for the Facility Cost-Share Grant Program funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.

On Thursday, April 29 from 10:00-11:30am, the Minnesota Office of Energy Security held a webinar to assist in the completion of the Facility Cost-Share RFP application, with an emphasis on the spreadsheet calculators. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to assist in the cost of making energy efficient improvements to existing buildings and facilities for Minnesota school districts, park districts, towns, cities, counties, and townships.

Click play below to watch the webinar.

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to assist in the cost of making energy efficient improvements to existing buildings and facilities. Projects must be ready for immediate implementation; a 50% cost-share will be required. Eligible activities and requirements to receive a grant are defined in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Don’t forget, applications are due on May 24th!

For the RFP, visit http://bit.ly/mnfacilitycostshare. For the calculators and other supporting documents, visit http://bit.ly/facilitycostshareforms.

 
On April 26, 2010 Southwest CERT and Southwest Regional Development Commission held a workshop in Redwood Falls on wind energy development and land use to educate anyone interested in the issues and provide a forum for discussion and learning.

Introduction & Overview: Annette Bair, Physical Development Director for SRDC and Southwest CERT Coordinator, gave an introduction and overview to wind energy development and land use. Annette set the stage for the meeting by providing: a brief overview of wind in general; who regulates wind; installed capacities in MN from 1999 to 2009; project scale; wind resource maps and locations of state and local permitted turbines in MN, the generator interconnection queue map, and the transmission line map; indicators of project development in your area; and a list of useful resources. Flip through the presentation below.

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State Permitting Process: Larry Hartman & Ingrid Bjorklund, Energy Facility Planners for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security, reviewed the Minnesota State permitting process for Large Wind Energy Conversion Systems (LWECS). Flip through the presentation below.

Download presentation >>

Zoning Panel: The presentations were followed by a local panel of zoning administrators who discussed issues they’ve dealt with regarding wind energy systems. The panelists included Jon Biren, Lyon County Zoning Administrator; Mandy Landkamer, Nicollet County Zoning Administrator; and Jean M. Christoffels, Murray County Zoning Administrator. Click here for the full meeting notes to read more about the panel discussion and Q&A session.

 
The Metro CERT Spring Resource & Networking event was a big hit this year! On April 14th from 4-8pm the shindig brought together more than two hundred Metro CERT affiliates, partners and friends excited to celebrate Metro CERT’s second year of connecting communities to resources, hear about our first round of seed grants to Twin Cities communities, learn about our new energy efficiency campaigns and other resources, and connect with their fellow energy geeks.

Photos: Check out photos from the event to reflect on the good times you had or to see what you missed. Press play on the slideshow below, or click here to see the images on Flickr.

The evening’s line up:

• Terry Webster, Office of Energy Security: Making Smart Energy Investments
• Sam Hanson, East Side Neighborhood Development Company: Building BLOCKS
• Greg Palmer, Xcel Energy: Partnership with CERTs & Xcel Programs
• Diana McKeown, Green Institute & Metro CERT: Metro CERT: Year in Review
• Everyone: Networking and refreshments

If you’re looking for an event keepsake, you can download the promotional postcard.

Thanks to our sponsors!

Eureka Recycling was proud to partner with Metro CERT to make this a zero waste event. By rethinking, reusing, recycling, and composting all the discards, we greatly reduced our environmental impact! For more info, visit http://www.eurekarecycling.org.

Xcel Energy was a proud sponsor of the Metro CERT Spring Resource & Networking Event. To learn more about their commitments to energy efficiency and conservation, as well as renewable energy, visit http://www.xcelenergy.com. Also, check out the award Xcel just honored CERTs with here.

 
Past events: If you want, you can also learn about 2009 and 2008 Metro CERT Spring Resource & Networking events, and see photos from the 2009 get together.

A grant program called “Facility Cost-Share” is now accepting proposals from local governments and school districts looking to make energy efficiency improvements to their buildings. A webinar this week will introduce the program to potential applicants.

The Program:

More specifically, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security (OES) is requesting proposals from Minnesota school districts, park districts, towns, cities, counties, and townships for the Facility Cost-Share Grant Program funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) as authorized by Minnesota Laws 2009, Chapter 138, Article 2, Section 7.

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to assist in the cost of making energy efficient improvements to existing buildings and facilities. Projects must be ready for immediate implementation; a 50% cost-share will be required. Eligible activities and requirements to receive a grant are defined in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Visit the OES website for more information and to download the proposal.

The Webinar:

Join the Office of Energy Security on Thursday, April 29 from 10:00-11:30am for a webinar to assist in the completion of the Facility Cost-Share RFP application, with an emphasis on the spreadsheet calculators.

Click here to RSVP now for the webinar. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements: PC-based attendees – Required: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000; Macintosh-based attendees – Required: Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or newer.

 
CERTs is taking this opportunity to highlight events and reflections on the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

So, if you’re looking for something to do tomorrow or looking to do a little reflecting on how far we’ve come since the first Earth Day, check out the links below.

I’m sure there are events we’ve forgotten. If you know of something that is going on to celebrate Earth Day that you’d like others to know about, click here to share it on our Facebook page!

 
EVENTS & RESOURCES:

• Events happening on Earth Day on the CERTs calendar
• Events posted by Minnesotans on the CERTs Facebook page
• Earth Day resources from our friends at Office of Energy Security

 
REFLECTIONS FROM AROUND MINNESOTA:

• Earth Day 40: A Week of Reminiscence From Those Who Were There – Conservation Minnesota, John Helland
• Earth Day 40 years later: Renewables – Bemidji Pioneer, Brita Sailer
• Looking Back on Progress After Earth Day 1970 – Conservation Minnesota, Bob Dunn
• The birth of Earth Day – Marshall Independent, Ted Rowe
• Earth Day Then and Now: Naiveté, Realism, Fear, and Hope – Conservation Minnesota, Chuck Dayton

 
EARTH DAY AT THE CAPITOL: THUMBS UP FOR CLEAN ENERGY!

Students from across the state will gather in the Rotunda at the Minnesota State Capitol this Earth Day, April 22 from 10am-2pm to talk about actions they’re taking to reduce the carbon footprints of their schools. They’ll be sharing the microphone with legislators and climate leaders who have been working to advance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and green jobs in Minnesota. This is a fantastic opportunity to document innovative clean energy efforts in Minnesota. The event, “Earth Day at the Capitol: Thumbs Up for Clean Energy!” is a celebration of student-led energy efficiency and clean energy projects, Minnesota’s leadership on clean energy and green jobs, and working together to build our clean energy future. Click here for more information about the event.

 
From WinonaDailyNews.com, story by Dustin Kass

Energy efficiency improvements helped reduce the city of Winona’s energy costs by more than $120,000 in 2009, while similar upgrades saved Winona County more than $27,000 last year.

The savings came from small changes such as retrofitting city traffic signals with LED lighting and changing light fixtures in county buildings to use lower-wattage bulbs, according to data presented this month by the city and county. But the small changes were part of a big investment, as the city and county spent more than $2 million to implement the upgrades as part of contracts with McKinstry, a company that helps businesses improve energy efficiency.

The improvements helped more than just the municipalities’ bottom lines—carbon dioxide emission at county buildings were reduced by more than 250 metric tons, while the Winona Public Library, city’s central garage and city stoplights produced 200,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide last year than in 2007, the statistics show.

Click here to read the full story >>