Join us for a candle-lit vigil in support of the planet, at Water Street Park in downtown Decorah, starting at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 28, 2015. Bring a candle, bring a guitar, bring your voice, and bring your desire to change climate change. After some time at the vigil, step across the street to Java John’s Coffeehouse for a candle-lit coffee, wine, and beer experience. If your business would like to
Decorah is becoming known as a progressive community, and the Winneshiek Energy District is doing its part to promote energy sustainability. Two recent newsworthy announcements confirm Decorah as a statewide leader in green building and energy efficiency. For the past year the Energy District has facilitated the Energy Star application and certification process for many commercial buildings in Decorah. First Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church became two of
Note: This guest post was written by Luke Stennes, a WED summer intern in 2013. My name is Luke Stennes and I’ve been working as an intern with the Winneshiek Energy District for the summer. I applied for the position because I did not know very much at all about sustainable energy, and I wanted to increase that knowledge by getting involved in the community. The objective of my position was
Midwest Energy News recently published a Q&A interview with Energy District’s Andy Johnson on the importance of energy planning. Read the full article here.
If the sun shines on a solar panel but no one’s there to see it, does it make a watt? Ok, so that’s not so much an ancient proverb, but I think it’s fitting in our current day and age. Solar panels are being installed at a tremendous rate these days with fewer and fewer in high visibility locations. One might never know that there are over 80 kilowatts (kW)
“We got energized, so can you!” Over the past few years the Energy District has played a role in helping businesses, churches, organizations and others understand, plan and reduce their energy consumption. It’s not the typical mid-westerner approach, but we love helping you brag about it. We’ve created a nice poster display for those that have taken the initiative to get Energized! Keep an eye out because you’ll be seeing
There has never been a better time for installing a solar photovoltaic array on your house. Prices on solar panels have dropped steeply over the past few years, with more and more panels being produced. Incentives are great too. There is a federal income tax credit on 30% the installed cost of renewable energy (with no upper limit). Iowa has recently passed a state income tax credit for 15% of
Have you ever wondered how your home’s energy use stacked up against the universe of similar homes in your area, and how much improvement potential you have? Or have you been shopping for houses and wanted to compare a “miles per gallon” rating for houses? The issue of “Home Energy Scoring” has made significant progress in recent years, but is still in its infancy. Winneshiek Energy District is not satisfied
Decorah is on the map again for efforts in sustainable energy and climate change. This time the focus is not on the renewable energy itself but on the “solar renewable energy credits” (or SRECs) associated with the solar energy produced. SRECs are a form of carbon (or greenhouse gas emissions) trading, and though it’s a relatively new idea to Americans, even the Super Bowl is now involved. “The local trading
The Energy District recently joined a group 144 other non-profits and foundations across eight Midwestern states working on climate change and energy policy, all with a common goal of reducing global warming pollution economy-wide by 80% by 2050. RE-AMP brings environmental, labor, faith, youth, energy, conservation and other groups together to develop common priorities to achieve its goals in the areas of Clean Energy, Coal, Energy Efficiency, Global Warming Solutions, and Transportation. With a wide array of member