by jboullion | Oct 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the Midwest Renewable Energy Association:
Visit homes and businesses with renewable energy systems during the Wisconsin Solar Tour!
Self-Guided Tours
Businesses – Friday, October 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Homes – Saturday, October 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tour sites are owned, lived in, and worked in by ordinary people. They are helping others open the door to renewable energy. The Wisconsin Solar Tour is part of the National Solar Tour coordinated by the American Solar Energy Society.
Click here for a list of businesses and houses open in southwestern Wisconsin.
by jboullion | Sep 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Wausau Daily Herald:
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association is sponsoring its annual Wisconsin Solar Tour this weekend.
The tour showcases businesses and homes that are energy efficient, sustainable or are powered with renewable energies.
Organizers expect a big turnout this year as more and more people are looking to make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes and look to alternative energy. On top of normal grants given out by Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is giving additional tax incentives — typically up to 30 percent — to people doing such projects.
There are several Marathon County businesses and homes participating in the tour. For a complete list visit the-mrea.org.
The business portion of the tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. Home tours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
If you’re in the Stevens Point area this weekend, Wisconsin Public Service, in conjunction with MREA, is sponsoring guided bus tours of local solar homes and businesses as part of the annual Wisconsin Solar Tour.
More information and registration details here.
by jboullion | Sep 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by K.J. Lang in the La Crosse Tribune:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students are showing support for local family farms – with their stomachs.
Students at lunch Wednesday bit into Honey-crisp apples from La Crescent, Minn. They sipped creamy soup made with buttercup squash from Elk River, Minn., and topped their salad with grape tomatoes from Hillview Greenhouse Life Center, just a few blocks from campus.
Chartwells, the campus food service, served up the locally grown produce this week as part of a promotion, “It Takes You – Eat Local.” The program was developed to support farmers who grow produce within a 150-mile radius of the campus, said Tom Dockham, resident district manager for Chartwells.
The program allows students to sample produce that can be sun ripened for more nutritional value and better taste, said Randy Hanson, Chartwells executive chef.
UW-L senior Craig Wagner said he usually isn’t much of an apple cider drinker, but after tasting some from Lake City, Minn., his response was, “I wouldn’t turn it down if they offered it again.”
He was enthusiastic about the program behind the cider as well, saying, “I think it is important to support the local economy.”
by jboullion | Sep 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
An announcement in the La Crosse Tribune:
Coulee Partners for Sustainability will sponsor a Natural Step study circle from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Mondays from Oct. 5 through Nov. 2 in the Community Room of People’s Food Co-op.
Participants will learn about the Natural Step framework and plans for its use in the city and county of La Crosse. Additional topics include an analysis of home electricity bills and how to use simple devices such as the “Kill-a-Watt” meter to track electricity consumption and reduce energy usage.
The five sessions are free and open to the public. Study materials will be provided. To sign up, e-mail Rob Tyser at rtyser@gmail.com by Oct. 2. For more information, go online to
www.cpslax.org.
by jboullion | Sep 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
Sustainable building techniques are becoming increasingly popular in central Wisconsin and across the state, industry leaders say.
Most recently, the Mead Wildlife Area Education & Visitor Center near Milladore became the second new building in Wisconsin to receive LEED Platinum Green Building Certification, the highest possible level for sustainable-energy design.
“I believe the trend has been going up for the building of LEED-certified buildings in general,” said Sue Loomans, executive director of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance. “People are seeing the importance of sustainable building.”
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a nationwide energy-efficiency program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and overseen by the Green Building Certification Institute.
The Mead building joins the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center near Baraboo, the renovated Hunzinger Construction Offices in Milwaukee and a private home in Madison in carrying the LEED Platinum rating.
