Building connections at the first Metro Community Energy Ambassador event

The event began with a brief overview of CERTs and then the Community Energy Ambassador program, given by our very own Diana McKeown and Keely Rau, respectively. Then followed a few speakers who shared their experience of putting community-based clean energy projects in action.

First up was Schroeder, who detailed his pathway to live and make his community more sustainable.

As someone who has worked in clean energy and local government, Schroeder often serves as the go-to person for friends who want to make a clean energy upgrade in their homes, workplaces, places of worship, and more. 

Equipped and inspired by the series of training videos on the CERTs Ambassador website, Schroeder thought for his project to bring together a few friends for a dinner party potluck for a casual conversation about clean energy upgrades they might be able to affect in their lives. The key was understanding that everybody starts from different places with different goals, and creating a welcoming environment for people to feel empowered to take their next steps.

The next presenter was Emily Ziring, the Sustainability Manager for St. Louis Park. The city has one of Minnesota’s earliest and most aggressive Climate Action Plans, with a carbon neutrality goal by 2040. She explained that such a plan began when a group of engaged high school students presented a ‘climate report card’ to the city council in March 2016. They graded the city a D- in emissions for the lack of a plan.

Today, the Westwood Hills Nature Center where our event took place was a testament to how far the city had come towards meeting its goals. The building is 100% electric-powered and totally fossil fuel-free. Signs around the building describe its geothermal wells, rooftop solar array, passive solar, radiant in-floor heating, and daylight sensors that all contribute to the building’s energy efficiency.

The last presenter was Thom Miller, a former city councilmember who had the honor of voting to pass the Climate Action Plan in 2018. He described feeling like he needed to ‘catch up’ in his personal life with all the progress he was helping enact at the city level. 

But following his home energy assessment and installation of a solar array and a heat pump at his home, he realized he should be using his realtor hat, his daytime job, more when communicating about clean energy to friends, family, colleagues, and former constituents. After taking advantage of available incentives, he realized the cost-savings + property value increases led to a return on investment that was too good to give up — 14% for his solar array! 

The floor then opened for a Q&A with presenters, and then open networking time for attendees to connect with each other about what they’d like clean energy to look like in their communities.

As people lingered past the event’s formal end time, many people left inspired:

“My community can be resourced to do clean energy.”

“A conversation with someone made me understand the importance of air source heat pumps, and now I’m all in.”

And Schroeder’s final reflection on a successful evening?

“The Ambassador program is a great way to connect our community, and focus on good things happening in Minnesota, and share ideas on projects.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself!