by jboullion | May 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story by Chuck Quirmbach on Wisconsin Public Radio:
Energy efficiency advocates are trying to keep the energy savings momentum going in Wisconsin, despite the legislature’s failure to pass a major clean energy bill.
The Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) would have counted some energy efficiency moves toward a mandate to make more use of renewable energy. But leaders of the state Senate killed the measure. Five years ago, lawmakers did pass a bill that transferred oversight of the rate-payer funded Focus On Energy program to the Public Service Commission. The PSC’s Jolene Shield says her agency is continuing a planning process to revise goals and priorities for energy efficiency. Shield says phase two of the process means digging into the details.
Shield says PSC commissioners will be deciding how much energy savings should come from households and how much from businesses, and try to judge the impact energy prices will have. Then the PSC will look at whether to go to the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee for additional money to spur access to efficient technology.
by jboullion | May 4, 2010 | Uncategorized
A Community Solar Event
New Richmond WITC Campus
Edwin J. Cashman Conference Center, Burnett Room 105
1019 South Knowles Avenue
New Richomnd, WI 54017
Interested in finding more about Solar Electric Systems?? Find out how you can take control of your energy costs while making a positive impact on the environment! Craig Tarr, PE president of Hudson based Energy Concepts, Inc (ECI) will host an informative presentation on the benefits of solar electric systems, how they work and the available rebate and incentive programs.
Energy Concepts, the State of WI’s “Renewable Energy Market provider of the year – 2009” designs and installs solar electric, wind and solar hot water systems for residential and commercial applications.
Thursday, May 6, 2010 – 6:30 – 8:30 pm
6:30-7:00 Light Refreshments/Socialize
7:00 – 7:45 Solar Electric – The Basics
7:45 – 8:00 Q & A
8:00 – 8:30 SUNPOWER – “The planet’s most powerful solar” presentation
www.energyconcepts.us
Craig Tarr – 715 381 9977
by jboullion | May 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a Community Conversation column by Bob Cleaves, president of the Biomass Power Association, in the Sheboygan Press:
Wisconsin is in the midst of a serious debate about the environmental impact of biomass power, and whether increasing their use of clean, renewable biomass for electricity could potentially lead to unintended negative consequences, specifically with respect to forest health and greenhouse gas emissions. The truth, however, is that increasing our use of biomass power will improve forest health in Wisconsin and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as fodder for forest fires.
On average, America’s biomass power industry removes 68.8 million tons of forest waste annually, improving forest health and dramatically reducing the threat of forest fires. This forest waste includes dead debris and brush left to rot on the forest floor. Clearing this debris is a part of regular forest maintenance and is frequently done by state forest services in the form of open burns.
By using this waste to generate electricity, the biomass power industry is preventing the need for open burns and significantly reducing the risk and spread of forest fires. Waste byproducts from other industries and organic waste from the forest floor continue to be the only economically viable fuel sources for biomass power.
Fuel providers to the biomass power industry do not harvest wood solely for the purpose of generating electricity — forests are simply far too valuable.
by jboullion | Apr 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story on WQOW-TV, Eau Claire:
CUMBERLAND, WI. (Press Release) – 3M Cumberland was formally welcomed into the Department of Natural Resources’ Green Tier program today, during Earth Week, at a celebration event at their facility in Cumberland, Wisconsin. DNR officials congratulated 3M for its commitment to environmental protection during the celebration, which included staff and management from the facility, local officials and 3M Corporate officials.
“The Department of Natural Resources is proud to add 3M Cumberland to the growing ranks of Green Tier companies,” Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank said. “They have proven that they are leaders in their community by managing operations to protect our shared natural resources for future generations.”
Frank said it is fitting the company is welcomed into Green Tier during Earth Week when so much is being done to enhance the natural resources of the state.
3M has a long-standing corporate commitment to three pillars of sustainability, also known as the triple bottom line: environmental protection, social responsibility and economic progress. 3M uses this philosophy to reduce their environmental footprint while continuing to grow their business. To do this, 3M pioneered the concept of pollution prevention with the creation of the Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) program in 1975. The 3P program is based on the reality that pollution prevention is more environmentally effective, technically sound and economical than conventional pollution control equipment. 3P seeks to eliminate pollution at the source through product reformulation, process modification, equipment redesign and the recycling and reuse of waste materials. By 2009, 34 years later, 3P ideas and initiatives from employees have prevented 2.9 billion pounds of pollutants and saved 3M nearly $1.2 billion.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Wayne Nelson on BusinessNorth.com:
The Marshfield Clinic is incorporated sustainability principles in the construction of a $42 million new hospital campus under construction in Rice Lake.
BWBR Architects in St. Paul and its design partners have designed the project to conserve natural resources, reduce operating energy costs, and provide a quality indoor environment, said Edward Wolf, chief executive at Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake. . . .
The project’s energy-saving features include efficient lighting, air conditioning and plumbing systems. Lakeview’s board of directors committed to maximum energy use 15 percent below the state’s current building code limit. To meet that goal, the building ventilation design will recover heat from air exhausted out of the building that will heat incoming air, said mechanical engineer Linda Weingarten of Minneapolis-based Dunham & Associates, the project consulting engineering firm.
Heat given off by chillers that cool the building will be used to heat hot water, lowering electric usage during summer, she said.
“This isn’t new technology, but it’s the first time we’ve used it in a hospital project,” she said. The design is expensive, and wouldn’t be cost-effective if retrofitted in an existing building, she said.
High efficiency condensing boilers also will help lower fuel consumption year round.
Increased roof insulation values and high performance windows also will help reduce energy costs.
