Area students joined the Green Iowa AmeriCorps team at the Decorah Public Library to build their very own “Green Dream Gingerbread House.” Five AmeriCorps members walked students through the basics of home energy, alternative wind and solar energy for power and energy efficient design with fixtures and materials. Green Iowa AmeriCorps Education Coordinator Max Molzahn shared, “We wanted to host an event that would tap into the holiday season excitement,
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
If you see lots of movement on the roof of the Oneota Community Food Co-op in the coming weeks, don’t be surprised. The Co-op is currently installing a 20,000 watt solar array on the roof of their building located at 312 West Water St. in downtown Decorah. This will be one of the largest downtown solar projects in Decorah and will supply approximately 5% of the Co-op’s electricity in a
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.
I’ll write this in first person because farewells – even temporary ones – are personal. Most good and meaningful work is also inseparable from our personal/family lives (my wife Emily might say too much so, but she can’t say it too loudly as she’s a Certified Nurse Midwife!) I’ve been leading Winneshiek Energy District since its inception from wide and deep community conversation in 2010. These conversations continue to grow
With the end of Alliant Energy’s renewable rebates on the horizon, Alliant customers should act NOW to save their spot in the rebate program. Solar panel prices are great right now, and non-Alliant energy customers (without rebates) are seeing excellent payback times on their systems. Really. We’ve said this before, but if you are thinking about installing solar panels, now is the time. Panel prices are at their lowest in years
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)
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