Politics & Government
'Better Energy' Workshops Help Apple Valley Homeowners Save Energy, Money
This week is Apple Valley residents' last chance to take advantage of a free energy workshop and low-cost home audit as the city's Better Energy initiative comes to an end.
Apple Valley on Thursday will offer the last in a series of Better Energy workshops for residents, which were designed to help homeowners combat energy costs.
Residents can attend the free, one-hour session at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hayes Community and Senior Center.
The city launched Better Energy in 2009, and Minnesota Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund, Dakota Electric Association and CenterPoint Energy provided $400,000 in grants.
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“The concept of the project was to try to find ways to get an entire community to adopt better energy thinking—a mindset of conservation and efficiency,” said Charles Grawe, assistant city administrator.
The city scheduled nine workshops over the two-year period, said Carl Nelson, program and policy manager for the Center for Energy and Environment in Minneapolis, which administered the residential portion of Better Energy for Apple Valley. More than 650 residents participated in the first eight workshops; the original goal was to get 750 participants by program's end, Nelson said.
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Grawe said the city will evaluate the residential program before officials decide whether to implement a second phase.
Though the residential program ends this spring, participants in the Thursday session will have the opportunity to schedule home audits for $30. A comparable service from CenterPoint costs $100, although a basic audit is $25, neither of which includes light bulbs or other materials provided by Better Energy.
Apple Valley resident Anette Petersen attended a workshop in October 2009. She learned how to select compact fluorescent light bulbs that replicate the warm light of traditional bulbs, she said, and picked up supplies, including foam to cover hot water pipes and the backs of electrical outlets.
Petersen later had a home audit and expected the technician to suggest expensive improvements such as a new furnace and new windows, she said.
“His assessment was that the No. 1 thing we should do was add attic insulation,” Petersen said. With rebates and tax credits, the work cost less than $1,000, she said—far below the price of new windows or a furnace.
She hired contractors to complete the work on her 1989 home.
“On top of it being much more comfortable, and the energy savings, in prior years we’ve had trouble with ice dams and we had nothing this year,” she said.
Not all homes require a significant financial investment to improve energy costs, Nelson said. Some of the suggestions recall lessons from childhood, but with updated technology in mind: Turn off lights, but also turn off gaming systems and unplug that rarely used VCR.
“One of the biggest no-cost things you can do is to set your computer’s power management so it goes to sleep when you aren’t using it,” Nelson added.
Ice dams are a common problem that often can be solved with improved insulation, he said.
Additional tips are available at the Minnesota Energy Challenge website.
The Better Energy home audit includes CF light bulbs, low-flow showerheads and aeration faucets, a package that Nelson estimates saves $100 per year. Technicians perform a blower door test and make recommendations on insulation, furnaces and other large-scale projects. Participants could be eligible for rebates through the Better Energy program or utility companies.
Apple Valley’s Better Energy program is not limited to homeowners. Government agencies have launched green initiatives, Grawe said, and Dakota Valley Recycling is creating a program to help businesses operate with more energy efficiency. A program for nonprofits is in the planning stages.
The goal for Apple Valley's Better Energy programs, collectively, is to attain a 1.5-percent savings in natural gas and electricity usage in the city between 2010 and 2015, according to the program website.
Great Plains Institute is helping the city coordinate the Better Energy program with funding from the Carolyn and Joyce foundations. Minneapolis is participating in a similar program administered by the CEE; that organization also is assisting several other communities with energy-savings programs.
While future plans aren’t set in stone, Apple Valley remains committed to energy conservation, Grawe said.
“Long term, the more economically sustainable and physically sustainable we are, the more attractive we are to existing folks and to potential new residents and new businesses,” Grawe said.
Pre-registration for the final workshop is preferred so enough materials can be made available. To register, call Ashley Robertson at 612-335-5869.