Call for presenters at Better Buildings, Better Business 2011

From the Energy Center of Wisconsin:

The Energy Center of Wisconsin is accepting proposals for its Ninth Annual Better Buildings: Better Business Conference, March 2-4, 2011 in Wisconsin Dells, WI. The 2010 conference shattered attendance records with 1,027 participants from 19 states and provinces across North America. More than 60 workshops and 70 speakers united technical strategies for building and remodeling homes to be energy efficient with business strategies for growing businesses. Whether you plan to join us a speaker, exhibitor or attendee—mark your calendar now for the 2011 conference!

If you are interested in participating as a presenter, please submit a proposal before June 15, 2010. Click the link below to download the presentation proposal form or visit the conference website for more information at www.ecw.org/betterbuildings. If you have any questions on presenting, please contact Phil Jahnke Sauer at pjahnkesauer@ecw.org or 608.238.4601 x124.

Submit workshop proposal.

Johnson Controls and IBM team up to develop ‘smarter’ buildings

From an article in Biz Times Daily:

Johnson Controls Inc. and IBM Corp. today announced a new relationship to create a new era of “smarter” buildings.

Together, the companies will team to provide a Smart Building Solution that can improve operations and reduce energy and water consumption in buildings worldwide.
Building on an existing relationship formed between the two companies in 2007 to create energy efficient datacenters, the new offering benefits any building or portfolio of buildings.

Glendale-based Johnson Controls will combine its global leadership in energy efficiency and sustainable services and technologies with IBM's global leadership in software, hardware and services. The result will help clients address the growing pressure they face to improve energy and asset management performance across their enterprises.

WPPI wants to fund zero energy homes

From a media release from Wisconsin Public Power, Incorporated:

Homeowners looking to build or remodel in communities served by WPPI member utilities have an opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint through WPPI’s GreenMax Home program. WPPI is now soliciting competitive proposals for grants to help fund the construction of up to three net zero energy homes within WPPI member utility service areas.

As part of WPPI’s overall efforts to encourage public and community support for renewable energy, energy conservation and energy efficiency, the GreenMax Home program will help customers build highly efficient, environmentally friendly homes. Grants will be awarded to cover part of the incremental cost of designing and building a GreenMax Home over the cost of constructing a conventional Upper Midwest house. Incremental costs will include the design elements and technologies directly related to reducing energy use or producing energy through renewable resources.

“We are pleased to present another opportunity for homeowners in WPPI member communities to build and live in homes with net zero energy use,” said Senior Vice President of Customer Services and Administration Tom Paque. “The GreenMax Home program allows homeowners to take advantage of renewable energy technologies and demonstrate practical approaches to the efficient use of energy.”

WPPI’s GreenMax Home program supports the design and lifestyle choices that move a home from “highly efficient” to “net zero.” Net zero homes combine state-of-the-art green and environmentally friendly technologies and practices with renewable energy technology to ensure that the homes produce as much energy as they consume. To the greatest extent possible, the energy consumption (heating, cooling and electrical) of the homes will be provided by renewable energy sources.

WPPI's member utilities are
Alger Delta, MI
Algoma
Baraga, MI
Black River Falls
Boscobel
Brodhead
Cedarburg
Columbus
Cuba City
Eagle River
Evansville
Florence
Gladstone, MI
Hartford
Hustisford
Independence, IA
Jefferson
Juneau
Kaukauna
L'Anse, MI
Lake Mills
Lodi
Maquoketa, IA
Menasha
Mount Horeb
Muscoda
Negaunee, MI
New Glarus
New Holstein
New London
New Richmond
Norway, MI
Oconomowoc
Oconto Falls
Plymouth
Prairie du Sac
Reedsburg
Richland Center
River Falls
Slinger
Stoughton
Sturgeon Bay
Sun Prairie
Two Rivers
Waterloo
Waunakee
Waupun
Westby
Whitehall

WPPI to expand, remodel HQ with efficiency focus

From an article by Jeff Richgels in The Capital Times:

Wisconsin Public Power Inc. announced that it will spend $6.9 million to expand and remodel its Sun Prairie headquarters in a project that will achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) New Construction (NC) "Gold" standards for energy efficiency and sustainability.

WPPI's board of directors unanimously approved the WPPI operations and office facility building plan at its May meeting, with groundbreaking for the project set for September and completion in September 2009.

"WPPI has experienced significant growth in the past several years, and our current facility is not meeting our demand for additional space," Tom Paque, WPPI vice president of customer services and administration, said in a statement.

WPPI's existing headquarters was built in 1990, when the nonprofit power supplier had 17 employees and served 30 member municipal utilities. It now has 83 employees and serves 49 community-owned utilities. Space requirements for the expansion are based on a 20-year projection, the company said in a news release.

"As part of WPPI's efforts to lead by example in the areas of energy conservation, efficiency and the use of renewables, our new office and operations facility will meet high standards for energy efficiency and sustainability," WPPI President and CEO Roy Thilly said in a statement. "Through the use of sustainable design, we will create an environmentally friendly facility and an excellent work environment for our employees."

Read RENEW Wisconsin's newsletter online

RENEW Wisconsin's quarterly newsletter contains the following articles:

+ Solar Water Heating's Day of Superlatives
+ Calumet Voters Strongly Favor Wind
+ Renewable Profiles: Steve & Nancy Sandstrom
+ Wind a No Go in Trempealeau
+ Windpower Projects Near Completion
+ Calendar

You can read the newsletter online in RENEW’s News and Views.

Global warming task force issues interim report

From a story by Thomas Content and Lee Bergquist in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

To tackle global warming, Wisconsin should:

• Consider erecting wind turbines on the Great Lakes.

• Reward utilities for cutting energy use instead of building power plants.

• Study the possibility of pumping carbon dioxide from power plants into the ground or sending it by pipeline to other states.

Those are among the recommendations in an interim report that the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming will vote on Tuesday in Sun Prairie.

The task force also will endorse a significant cut in energy use by Wisconsin homes and businesses as a critical first step in addressing global warming. . . .

. . . the panel sought to concentrate on how the state can move the quickest. Its top pick: energy conservation.

If it cuts its appetite, Wisconsin would reverse course and, by 2015, cut electric demand by 2% per year, and natural gas use by 1% annually, the report says.

Other strategies call for adoption of building codes that promote energy efficiency, incentives for green buildings and a directive to owners of rental units to install high-efficiency lighting in public spaces.

To bolster the state's portfolio of renewable power, the report calls for a study by year's end that would evaluate the potential for Great Lakes wind power.