The Winneshiek Energy District will host an open house of its Net-Zero Home retrofit project, preceded by a short film screening and discussion, on Saturday, December 1st. The documentary film screening and project discussion will take place at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 1pm. The open house at 805 5th Avenue will follow, and run from about 2-4pm. Attendees can easily walk the one block in between. “This is a
From an article on DecorahNews.com. Decorah Bank & Trust Company has just put into operation the largest rooftop solar installation to date in Decorah. The 22 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic solar array sits on the bank roof. It should produce enough energy to power the equivalent of three average-sized homes. Dennis Pottratz of Go Solar in Decorah managed and installed the system with the help of local contractors. “It has been
The Green Business Challenge: Save Energy and Save Money! The Winneshiek Energy District is encouraging businesses to save energy and save money with the Green Business Challenge. Businesses that sign up for the Green Business Challenge will gain recognition for their efforts and qualify to win one of three intensive electrical audits from Smartgreen.com energy consulting valued at over $3,000. Businesses that sign up for the Green Business Challenge enter
The Luther College Board of Regents has endorsed a goal of having the college be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Regents have authorized Luther President Richard Torgerson to plan and pursue sustainable methods of operation and energy conservation initiatives that will reduce the campus carbon footprint by 50 percent by the end of 2015, 70 percent by 2020, and achieve its carbon neutral goal by the year 2030. Luther
The Energy District has partnered with the City of Decorah to offer energy efficiency assistance to low-moderate income households in Decorah. All qualifying households can and are encouraged to participate in our Home Efficiency Program. Who is eligible for this program? All households in the City of Decorah whose total household pre-tax annual income is less than 80% of area median as shown in the chart below qualify for both programs.
“It is really quite impressive! So much work is being done for energy efficiency in Decorah and surrounding areas,” observed visiting energy consultant, Warren Gaskill with EnergyStewards.net. Over 55 businesses in Decorah and Winneshiek County have signed up for the Green Business Challenge since July of this year. Those businesses have tracked their energy and entered their energy data into the Energystar.gov national data base where businesses of similar size
The Winneshiek Energy District was one of four businesses to receive funding from the 2011 Winneshiek County Development, Inc. Biz Booster Challenge. Below is an excerpt from the Winneshiek County Development, Inc May 24th mailing: Biz Booster awards grants to four Winneshiek entities A significant increase in the quality of business plans highlights the annual Winneshiek County Development, Inc. Biz Booster Challenge, with four winners rising to the top of
A sustainability plan was developed with the City of Decorah during the spring, summer, and fall of 2010, with input from dozens of organizations and businesses and hundreds of local citizens. It is meant as a framework, a initial sketching out of the vision (in the Executive Summary) and some specific pieces of the puzzle (in the full plan). It is also meant to be a work in progress, regularly
Have you ever wondered how much electricity your microwave used (or computer, or range, or … you get the picture)? Or how much your whole house is using right now? We’re working on a collaborative project to install special electrical monitoring devices in the homes of DHS students and their families right now (spring and summer 2010) to test their impact. Thirty families involved in our study are monitoring their