CERTs Monthly Update - May 2008

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Central Region

 
Park Rapids Wind Turbine: On Tuesday May 20, over 25 people met at the Frank White Education Center in Park Rapids to learn about the 20 Kw turbine that community members installed in partnership with the school. To learn more about this project, visit www.prwind.org or read the CERTs case study on the project.

Hunt Utilities Group welcomed Governor Tim Pawlenty to campus for a tour while he was in the area for the 2008 Fishing Opener. With less than an hour to spend on campus Governor Pawlenty toured HUG’s sustainable buildings and participated in discussions on the importance of sustainable living, ARC’08 design, and solar panel certification. Learn more at www.hugllc.com.

Metro Region

 
Living Green Expo workshop: on May 3rd Metro CERTs coordinated a panel for the Living Green Expo “Community Energy: Empowering your Neighborhood to make a difference”. The panel included Charlie Stark from Renew Northfield and Tom Braun & Felicity Britton from Linden Hills Power & Light, followed by a good discussion about what kinds of projects neighborhoods can take on.

Bike /Walk to Work Day: On May 14th Metro CERTs and the Green Institute organized a free breakfast for bikers and walkers on the green roof of the Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center right off the Midtown Greenway. They had a record number of 120 bikers and walkers (including Mayor RT Rybak!) join them for pancakes, breakfast tacos, tofu scramble and Peace Coffee made and served by organizations in the building (Peace Coffee, Will Steger Foundation, Great Plains Institute, Nonprofits Assistance Fund, MN GreenStar Homes & Remodeling, and the Philips Community Energy Cooperative. Click here to learn more about the event.

Solar Panel installation and dedication at Little Earth: On May 22nd there was a Community Celebration and Feast at the Little Earth of United Tribes to dedicate the installation of a solar panel (a RREAL solar panel) at the housing complex. Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth and White Earth Land Recovery Project, and Van Jones of Green For All and Ella Baker Center for Human Rights were the main speakers.

Metro CERTs meeting: On May 29th Metro CERTS hosted a meeting focused on introducing Minneapolis neighborhood organizations to Metro CERTs and the resources that CERTs offer to communities. There is another similar meeting on July 7th (learn more).

St. Paul Mayor Presents Second Sustainable Saint Paul Awards to Local Leaders in Environmental Action: “Following the recognition the City’s first environmental stewardship and action awards brought to recipients in 2007, Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and the City Council presented the City’s second Sustainable Saint Paul Awards on Wednesday. Mayor Coleman established the Sustainable Saint Paul Awards to honor outstanding achievements of individuals, businesses and organization that are protecting and restoring the environment in Saint Paul.” Some of the recipients of this award include Macalester College for energy efficiency, St. Paul Classics Bike Tour for transportation, Como Park High School for youth leadership, and Gordon Parks High School for green building design. To read the full article with the full list of awards, visit the Mayor’s press release page

MEI’s Project Green Fleet wins US EPA 2007 Clean Air Excellence Award: Every year, the EPA reviews nominations from throughout the U.S. and recognizes and honors those individuals and organizations that “have undertaken the risks of innovation, served as pioneers in their fields, and have helped improve air quality.” Project Green Fleet won in the category Community Action, one of only two nationwide, whose award winners must have “significantly improved the community quality of life.” Within just two years of its inception, Project Green Fleet is now recognized at the national level as a model for others to follow. Kudos to the project’s many partners and sponsors who have made its success possible. For more information about Project Green Fleet, visit www.projectgreenfleet.org

Northeast Region

 
Upcoming NE CERT Meeting: The team will visit the Audubon Center of the North Woods June 11th to tour the facility for 45 minutes and then to discuss cap & trade and carbon sequestration. Click here to RSVP.

Arrowhead Remodeling with LEED: The most recent Arrowhead Electric Co-op annual report announces the remodeling project for the Arrowhead Electric Co-op offices in Lutsen. The building, when completed in June of this year, will be LEED gold certified.

MN Power invests in transmission: A recent article in the Duluth News Tribune explains that Minnesota Power announced they will invest $80 million to expand a transmission line to send wind power generated in North Dakota to their Northland clients. The full article discusses reducing reliance on coal energy and investing in wind energy. Read the article here.

NE CERT Coordinator Bill Mittlefehldt has been hard at work: He helped the team from Marshall School apply for $20,000 of wind technology from Minnesota Power. He helped the City of Duluth apply for energy funds, and he has shared some of that planning with Mayor Ness and Cliff Tanner of the Office of Sustainability. There are three separate processes unfolding in the Twin Ports area that could be linked with efforts to find a low-carbon future. This outcome may follow some connection of civic dots: Sustainable Twin Ports Training, Twin Ports Interfaith Initiative on Global Warming and the City for Climate Protection project goals for this year. Bill had the opportunity to present, “Going on and Energy Diet?” to 200 members of the Duluth Rotary. The Coordinator is trying to assemble an entrepreneurial team that can catalyze wind manufacturing in the Twin Ports. Bill has shared in the Video Series offered by the Lake Superior Energy Association and is on the steering committee for the statewide CERTs Conference next February in St. Cloud.

Northwest Region

 
Upcoming NW CERT Meeting: On June 18th from 6:30 to 8:30pm, join us for “Getting the Best Wind Agreement…a Seminar for landowners” at the Marshall County Courthouse, 208 East Colvin Ave, Warren MN 56762 (in the old courtroom upstairs). Click here to RSVP.

Warren EDA Pursues Green Building Projects: The City of Warren, population 1,678, is the county seat for Marshall County in the northwestern corner of Minnesota. At a recent planning meeting, the Warren Economic Development Authority (WEDA) determined that building green homes and offering community education about sustainability is a step in the right direction for rebuilding a community hit by severe flooding in 1996 and 1997. The various benefits identified included: cost-effectiveness; energy conservation and keeping jobs in the local area; energy-efficient buildings that have low utility bills and are comfortable for residents; improvement of the local economy by working with local contractors and materials. Partnering with the Eco-Affordable Housing Program of Dovetail Partners, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis and working throughout the region, WEDA is working on a handicapped group home, a new professional building, a possible green demonstration home and ways to influence new home construction. Thanks to Dovetail Partners for the story.

Southeast Region

 
Upcoming SE CERT Meetings: There will be a Steering Committee meeting on June 17th, Heintz Center, Rochester, 4-6pm. A team meeting scheduled for June 25th will feature ownership/leasing agreements for wind turbine development (learn more), During a tour in August we will explore District Energy in St. Paul, and in November/December we will tour a few of the sites that have received CERT mini-grants.

ELCs working to reduce carbon footprints: The Fillmore County Journal ran a great article about Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, and other ELCs in Minnesota who are working to reduce their carbon footprint. After a meeting held at Eagle Bluff on May 3, a few energy engineers helped develop a plan for the education centers that would help them achieve both goals of educating the public about energy issues and reducing their carbon footprints. To read the whole article, click here.

Southwest Region

 
Wind Energy Land Leases: A recent article in the Washington Globe Post has addressed a concern landowners in Minnesota might be dealing with soon. The story has tips and things to be aware of for folks who may be considering signing a wind land lease with a wind developer. Our own Southwest Regional Coordinator Annette Bair offers expert advice about what to look out for before you sign a lease. The new CERTs website has compiled a few resources, this article included, for Minnesota land owners. Read the blog entry.

West Central Region

 
Storing Wind Energy in a Bottle: A recent article by Hillary Brueck in the Star Tribue titled “Storing Wind Energy in a Bottle” highlighted Bill Smyrl, a University of Minnesota chemical engineering professor, who is working on creating large batteries to store wind power. It also discusses the research going in to creating a way to make hydrogen a storage mechanism for energy, similar to a battery. Researchers are also excited about hydrogen because it will possibly be the best substitute for transportation fuel and producing chemical fertilizers. Read the full article.

Statewide

 
Minnesota Environmental Initiative’s 2008 Environmental Initiative Award Winners: MEI’s annual Environmental Initiative Awards program honors projects that have achieved extraordinary outcomes for Minnesota’s environment by harnessing the power of partnership. MEI presented five outstanding partnership-based projects in different categories and one extraordinary environmental project the honor of Partnership of the Year. That award is given to the project that the MEI staff decide best exemplifies the mission of MEI: Building partnerships to develop collaborative solutions to Minnesota’s environmental problems. 2008 winners:

• Energy and Climate Proection: Transportation Choices 2020
• Environmental Education: Living Green Expo
• Green Buildings and Development: Fairview Office Park
• Green Business and Environmental Management: Fibrominn Biomass Power Plant
• Natural Resources Protection and Restoration: Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership
• 2008 Partnership of the Year: Using Natural Resources Information in Local Planning

Read more about the winners and the finalists for the 2008 Environmental Initiative Awards.