by jboullion | Jun 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
Visit RENEW in booth C2 at the 21st Annual Energy Fair June 18-20, 2010.
Each year the MREA Energy Fair transforms rural Central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education. The Energy Fair brings over 20,000 people from nearly every state in the U.S. and several countries around the world to learn, connect with others and ready them for action at home. The Energy Fair is the nation’s longest running energy education event of its kind.
Advance Energy Fair tickets and Reservations for Back 40 Camping will be available starting April 1st.
The Energy Fair features:
•Over 275 exhibitors – sustainable living and energy products
•Over 200 workshops – from introductory level to hands-on education
•Clean Energy Car Show – demonstration vehicles and workshops
•Green Home Pavilion – focused on building and remodeling in a sustainable way
•Sustainable Tables – workshops, chef demos, and a farmers market bringing sustainability to your dinner table
•Inspirational keynotes, lively entertainment, great food, and local beer.
The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point. Join us for the 21st Annual Energy Fair June 18-20, 2010. For more information about the Fair, contact the Midwest Renewable Energy Association at 715-592-6595 or visit the website: www.the-mrea.org.
by jboullion | Jun 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nicole Strittmater in the Wausau Daily Herald:
An environmental superstar will visit Custer this week to help inspire central Wisconsin residents to go greener.
Bill McKibben, who wrote the first book about global warming 21 years ago and recently created an international campaign called 350.org to solve the climate crisis, is a keynote speaker for the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair on Saturday.
“I very much wanted to come, particularly because the kind of people who will be at the fair are the kind of people we need to reach,” said McKibben, 49, from his home in Ripton, Vt.
He spends the majority of his time traveling the world promoting his 350.org campaign, which draws its name from the parts per million of carbon that can safely be in the atmosphere. His focus is to get the planet from 392 parts per million of carbon, where it is currently, to 350 by encouraging people to take on environmentally conscious projects.
“We want all kinds of people who are good at doing practical things — putting up solar panels, community gardens, starting bike programs,” he said.
In 2009, he and his 350.org team coordinated 5,200 rallies and demonstrations in 181 countries in one day, which news outlets dubbed the largest globally coordinated rally of any kind.
This October, he’s organizing a global work party. He wants people worldwide to do environmentally friendly projects, such as putting up solar panels Oct. 10.
by jboullion | Jun 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Focus on Energy:
(June 14, 2010) – Mobile home residents in the Dunn County area may now qualify for a free home energy evaluation and free energy-efficiency improvements. This initiative, called the Mobile Home Duct Sealing Pilot, is part of Focus on Energy’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Program. It is being offered to mobile home residents who purchase their gas or electric heating from utilities who participate in the Focus on Energy Program, including Xcel and We Energies. The pilot was designed to create cost-effective energy savings in mobile homes by testing for and correcting a certain set of inefficiencies, primarily leaky duct work. All testing and work is free to eligible mobile home owners, and the entire process can be completed in one day.
The Mobile Home Duct Sealing Pilot, like the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program, uses the most advanced, state-of-the-art equipment to test homes, identify problems, and implement recommended improvements. Duct sealing and other improvements are then tested to ensure the work meets program standards. Partnering consultants and contractors delivering the pilot were selected through a competitive bidding process.
What Mobile Home Residents Can Expect
The first step is to schedule an in-home evaluation with the area’s selected consultant – Aaron Riendeau of St. Croix Energy Solutions. Riendeau can be reached at 715.220.4818.
Riendeau will inspect the heating and cooling systems of the mobile home, identify energy-related problems, and implement the recommended improvements, such as sealing ducts to reduce air leaks. These improvements can provide significant energy and cost savings, as research has shown that, in most cases, duct leakage is the number one source of energy loss in mobile homes and a major source of comfort complaints. Once the work has been completed, Riendeau will retest the mobile home’s systems to ensure the improvements were effective.
Because this is a pilot project, there is no charge to the homeowner. All that is required of the homeowner is to sign a release form so Focus on Energy can perform the work and obtain the following information:
• Records of energy usage before and after the work is performed
• Permission to anonymously use the homeowner’s experience in reporting the pilot’s results
Learn More
For details on scheduling a mobile home energy evaluation, call Aaron Riendeau of St. Croix Energy Solutions at 715.220.4818. To find out more about the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program, visit focusonenergy.com.
by jboullion | Jun 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Andy Rathbunin the Pioneer Press, Minneapolis & St. Paul:
A local physician is building a house in Wisconsin without a furnace — it won’t need one.
Rising over the St. Croix River Valley, the 1,940-square-foot, three-bedroom home will use solar power and the latest in energy-efficient construction. Designed to let in the maximum amount of sunlight, its walls are 11 inches of insulated concrete surrounded by 11 inches of exterior foam insulation.
In extreme cold, electric heaters in the floors can help warm the entire house.
“On the coldest, cloudiest days of the winter, we’ll need the equivalent of like 2,500 watts, which is basically a couple of handheld hair dryers,” said Dr. Gary Konkol, who is building the one-of-a-kind home in the town of Hudson, Wis.
Once completed, Konkol’s house will be carbon-neutral — that is, it will produce at least as much electricity as it consumes.
The home will also be a “passive house,” a highly insulated type of construction reducing heating and cooling needs 90 percent to 95 percent and overall energy consumption 70 percent to 80 percent, said Katrin Klingenberg, executive director of the Passive House Institute US.
While there are tens of thousands of such buildings in Europe, there are only about a dozen in the U.S. certified as passive homes, Klingenberg said. Konkol’s home will be the first in Wisconsin and the first of the kind in the country to also be carbon-neutral.
by jboullion | Jun 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
From the newsletter of Energy Concepts:
Walking the conservation talk, Eenergy Concepts is hosting a ride share event for riders and drivers bound for the 21st Annual Energy Fair in Custer, WI. Ample free parking is available from the meeting place at our Hudson headquarters. Participants will also receive $5 off the price of admission. Sign up on our Facebook discussion board here. Don’t do Facebook? No worries, email Kat at kat@energyconcepts.us. The greenest show on earth just got greener.
