Geothermal Greenhouse Tour

 Whitewater Gardens will be hosting a an open house/tour of its geothermal winter production greenhouse and packing/storage shed. The tour will offer participants a chance to see the greenhouse in operation. For details, email Sandy and Lonny Dietz, or call 507-932-5225.

Location:  Whitewater Gardens (17485 Calico Hill Rd), Altura, MN

Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Date: May 13, 2010

The tour is being co-sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project and Southeast CERT Whitewater Gardens is the recipient of a  $5000 CERTS seed grant for its geothermal installation.

It's Getting Windier in Dodge, Mower and Goodhue Counties

By Brett Boese
The Post-Bulletin, Austin MN

ST. PAUL — Two wind farms projects in southeast Minnesota took another step forward Thursday at the Capitol, much to the chagrin of their vocal opponents.

Despite protests from opponents, the 300-megawatt project in Dodge and Mower counties proposed by Pleasant Valley Wind and the 78-megawatt project planned in Goodhue County by AWA Goodhue Wind both received a Certificate of Need and a preliminary draft site permit from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

While the PUC did require that both wind companies allow for an expanded scope of public hearings moving forward based on intense public interest, it was — as both sides expected heading in — a victory for the wind farms as the state pursues its goal of using 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.

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Mayo Clinic announces installation of 500 solar panels

From Rochester Post-Bulletin

by Jeff Hansel

Mayo Clinic announced this morning that it plans to undertake "the largest solar energy project in southeast Minnesota."

Beginning this summer, about 500 solar panels will be installed on the roof of Mayo Clinic's Damon Patient/Visitor Parking Ramp in downtown Rochester, the clinic said.

The effort will save costs and help offset peak summer energy use, as solar energy production peaks during summer when power demands soar for air conditioning.

Rochester Public Utilities will help with installation costs through a "solar rebate program."
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Think Green Fair Invites Exhibitors

The 2010 Think Green Fair will take place from 10am-9pm on June 26th, 2010 at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds, Graham Park. Join us for this full full day celebration of green living and sustainability in southern Minnesota!

What is Thinking Green? Thinking green means learning to live in a way that will reduce your impact on the environment, improve your quality of life, and save you money. Thinking Green is about coming together with neighborhoods, communities, organizations, and businesses to ensure that the choices we make today will not compromise the quality of life for future generations.

The fair will include a green expo, workshops, speakers, musical entertainment, local food, artisans and children’s activities providing you the opportunity to think green in all aspects of your life. The goal of the fair is to educate attendees in the areas of:

Efficiency/Renewable energy
Conservation/Protection of water and/or air
Earth friendly home and garden products
Waste reduction
Durable/Reusable products
Natural or locally produced foods (free-range, pesticide-free)
Green certification (USDA Organic, Energy Star, Fair Trade, LEED, other)
Health and Wellness
Promotion of environmental values

If your environmental business or organization would like to be a vendor or sponsor, find details at http://www.rneighbors.org/?page_id=30

A Study in Green Science

Consulting-Specifying Engineer
2/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., is one of the few educational institutions to receive a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum rating for one of its buildings. The college's Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences opened in September 2008 and is expected to reduce energy costs by 50% compared to the Minnesota Energy Code, which is based on ASHRAE 90.1-2004.

Science centers are not by design energy-efficient, due mostly to their high air-exchange requirements. The Regents Hall features an HVAC system designed with an extended-size 53,000 cfm Vision air handling system from McQuay. The system is designed not only for high air exchange, but also for low energy consumption, which helped the college earn LEED points and meet budget requirements.

The $64 million building is a model for interdisciplinary science education. New lessons on green living and sustainability include how the green roof impacts a waterfall collection system to reduce the cooling load. Regents Hall is also the first major science facility in the country designed for “green chemistry,” which minimizes the hazardous chemical waste from lab experiments. The labs use one half the number of fume hoods compared to the same curriculum with conventional chemistry.
View the full story:A study in green science

How communities can take control of their energy futures | Commentary | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

from MPR NewsQ
by John Farrell
March 5, 2010

Energy self-reliant states have stronger economies. And new data on wind power potential reveals that five Midwestern states could match their current electricity use with domestic wind power.
But along with the good news, these states -- Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan -- should take note of the stakes.

"I live out on the Buffalo Ridge [in southwest Minnesota]...I look out my window and I see hundreds of wind turbines. When I look at those turbines I'm happy and I'm sad... Most of those turbines are owned by our friends, the foreign multinationals. Out of two counties in Minnesota we export about $80 million a year to France, Florida, Italy, Portugal, Spain. All of our energy future is going out the door when we could be turning that into something real for us." -- Minnesota community wind developer Dan Juhl.

How can these five states get "something real"? There are 32 states that have enough in-state renewable energy to be energy self-reliant. And successful models in these states illustrate how local ownership, energy efficiency and innovative local government financing can maximize the economic returns of this resource.

A single wind turbine creates $1 million in economic activity, according to the American Wind Energy Association. And that's just a generic, utility-scale turbine.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has shown that a locally owned wind turbine creates twice the jobs, and three to four times the economic impact...
Read full story:How communities can take control of their energy futures | Commentary | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

Austin Daily Herald | Officials host 'GreenStep Cities' workshop

Community leaders from Austin, Albert Lea, Owatonna and Lyle met to learn about the new Green Steps Cities initiative yesterday.

Austin Daily Herald | Officials host 'GreenStep Cities' workshop