How to Find a Reliable Energy Efficiency Contractor
An often-perplexing step of making an energy upgrade is hiring a contractor to do the job. As many businesses and homeowners discover, contractor bids and energy-saving estimates can be worlds apart. Not to mention every contractor conducts business differently, making it challenging to compare. So how can you find a trustworthy one who has experience with energy efficiency? With the right research and due diligence, it shouldn’t be an aggravating process. One good step is finding other businesses in your area that have performed similar types of upgrades and asking key questions: [...]
Looking For Energy-Saving Opportunities? Get an Energy Audit.
With many new financial incentives available for energy efficiency, now is a good time to evaluate energy-saving opportunities for your business. A helpful first step: Getting an energy audit. An energy audit is when a professional (usually a certified energy auditor) walks through a business’s facility to identify energy savings opportunities. These opportunities range from no- to low-cost opportunities – such as recommending a business install a motion sensor in a break room or turn off lights at night – to more costly upgrades, such as replacing lights, heating systems or motors [...]
5 Ways to Engage Employees in Energy Savings
Here’s a low-cost way businesses can lower their energy bills: Get employees to chip in. Simple steps such as turning off lights when rooms are unoccupied, or turning off and unplugging office equipment such as computers, printers and copiers at night can help a business save hundreds of dollars annually on their energy bills. Yet, many employees don’t do it. The reasons vary. Some people simply aren’t programmed to think about energy conservation and thus forget to, say, turn off lights when they leave rooms. Others don’t see personal value in taking time to unplug equipment. [...]
Twin Cities Energy Innovation Corridor: A Community-Driven Model for Saving Energy
The planned 11-mile light-rail path connecting downtown Minneapolis with downtown St. Paul won’t just be a convenient and energy-efficient way to travel between the Twin Cities. Local leaders hope that stretch will become a role model for how U.S. cities and neighborhoods can come together to save energy. That 11 miles – which crosses the centers of both cities and the University of Minnesota main campuses – is being dubbed theEnergy Innovation Corridor, or EIC. Government leaders are helping businesses and homeowners along the projected light-rail path to reduce their energy usage [...]
Energy Efficiency Incentives Touted in State of the Union
In his State of the Union address on Wednesday night, President Obama suggested that financial incentives for energy efficiency may be here to stay. Well, at least for the next few years. As part of a laundry list of ways the U.S. could reduce its energy consumption, he argued that providing rebates and other incentives to people who make concerted efforts to save energy should be a top priority. “To create more clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives,” he said. This would be good news for consumers and business owners. Energy Smart helps [...]
Why Green Buildings Make Financial Sense
Sure, it’s not easy being green. But the payoff can be big. At a recent meeting of the U.S. Green Building Council's Minnesota Chapter, presenters quantified the financial benefits for owners and tenants of “LEED”-certified or Energy Star-labeled building. (LEED – or “Leader in Energy and Environmental Design” – is a certification by the U.S. Green Building Council awarded to buildings that meet a suite of environmental sustainability benchmarks. Energy Star-labeled buildings and plants are certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as meeting high benchmarks for [...]
The Power of Peer Pressure in Energy Savings
With the federal government putting so much emphasis on energy-efficiency, researchers, business executives and politicians are trying to solve a key problem: How do you compel consumers and businesses to actually want to save energy? It’s been widely recognized for a long time that people’s prime motivators for making environmentally friendlier choices are often personal -- saving money or staying healthy. But research is increasingly finding another big motivator: social pressure. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California was among the first to test the theory that [...]
When Space Heaters Make Cents – And When They Don’t
When winter gets cold, the cold get…. space heaters. Many people use electric, gas or radiant space heaters as a way to warm less-toasty areas in their home or business, such as basements, three-season porches or even office cubicles. The assumption is that space heating is more energy efficient (hence, more economical) than cranking up the furnace. But while space heaters can sometimes be a practical heating solution, many people who use them end up inflating their heating bills. The reason: They’re often used for “comfort heat” on top of central heating systems and to solve [...]
How to Lower Your Heating Bills
It’s been an unusually cold winter in many parts of the U.S., and that means heating bills may be burning a hole in your bank account. How can you minimize the costs, but still stay warm? One possible solution is installing an Energy Star-qualified furnace or water heater, which may cut those heating costs by nearly 30%. (An added bonus: Utilities and state overnments are now offering rebates to home owners and businesses replacing older models with highly efficient ones. Find out about rebates in your area here.) But even if that’s not an option, here are some lower-cost [...]
Xcel Energy Sweetens Rebate Programs for Minnesota Customers
If you’re a Minnesota customer of Xcel Energy, take note: The utility is handing out even bigger financial incentives for making energy-efficiency upgrades in 2010. Xcel Energy, a large electric and gas utility serving Minnesota, just rolled out greatly enhanced rebate programs for the state's residential and business customers in 2010. For many types of energy-efficiency upgrades, Xcel Energy customers will be able to pocket a lot more money in 2010 compared with previous years. It’s also introducing rebates for certain types of upgrades that didn’t exist before, such as [...]
About Us
Energy Smart is a program run through Minnesota Waste Wise, a non-profit affiliate of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. We help businesses and organizations get the resources and information they need to make energy upgrades. Our assistance is available to any business in Minnesota at no cost. Contact us at info@mnenergysmart.com or at 651-292-4652.
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