For a general program overview and other tracks, see the Program Details page.
| 9:30-10:20 | Using Solar on Your Site: Heating and Electricity If you’ve tackled the energy efficiency and conservation improvements, maybe it’s time to consider solar. While most people are aware of solar electricity generation, other solar technologies may also work on your site: solar hot water and solar hot air. Steve Haslach will introduce all three of these technologies, talk about how a needs assessment and site assessment is done and discuss options for financing the system of your dreams. Steve Haslach is the solar manager and general manager of Applied Energy Innovations LLC, located on Minnehaha and 40th Street. The company designs and installs energy efficiency and solar solutions for residential and small business sites. |
| 10:30-11:20 | Natural Cooling in a Warming World Minnesota has been experiencing significantly hotter summers. Before you turn up the air conditioning, consider no-energy things you can do to prevent heat from entering or building up in your home.Leslie MacKenzie and Peter Foster are Longfellow homeowners who have used energy audits to guide them in making many energy efficiency improvements to their home. They will be sharing information they learned at last year’s Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Stephen’s Point, Wisconsin. |
| 11:30-12:20 | Your House as a Healthy System What does a kitchen remodeling project have to do with carbon monoxide in your home? How can a new furnace installation make ice on your windows? Our homes operate as a system. Changing one thing can create other conditions in the home that are not always positive. Learn how to make your home energy efficient while making sure your home stays safe, dry, durable, and comfortable. Bruce Stahlberg is owner of Longfellow-based Affordable Energy Solutions providing energy efficiency consulting to building owners. He has been in the efficiency industry for 27 years. Bruce is certified with the Building Performance Institute (BPI), National Comfort Institute (NCI), and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). |
| 11:30-12:20 | Bringing the Traditional Fireplace Up to Date A fireplace should not belch acrid smoke, set off smoke detectors, or gush cold air into the house when not in use. To perform reliably in a modern house, the unruly traditional fireplace can be improved by a good set of doors or transformed with new technology – wood or gas burning fireplace inserts. Learn how far wood-burning technologies have come in recent years. You may be surprised. Peter Solac is owner of Woodland Stoves, located on Franklin Avenue and 30th Avenue South in Minneapolis. |
| 1:30-2:20 | Community-Powered Energy: Building Our Energy Future Together This session will highlight ways Minneapolis residents are working together on the community level to create immediate benefits in cost savings, home comfort, and local wealth building while shifting the landscape of the energy industry. The workshop will introduce a simple way to engage your friends and neighbors in weatherization work parties, currently funded by Hennepin County, to support each other on simple home weatherization and energy-savings improvements. We also talk about group contracting for insulation and air sealing, and community solar array. We will close by identifying ways you can join in current grassroots efforts to transform our energy system. You’ll leave with ideas for neighborhood action and the opportunity to give input about Minneapolis’s energy future. Timothy DenHerder-Thomas launched Cooperative Energy Futures and helped form the Our Power campaign to expand access to energy efficiency and clean energy in South Minneapolis. In 2011, Timothy helped convene Minneapolis Energy Options, a coalition effort that is transforming the City of Minneapolis’s relationship with Xcel Energy and Centerpoint Energy tfor greater community and city control over energy decisions. |
| 1:30-2:20 | Rethinking Transit Transportation makes up nearly a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions we generate each year. Most of our trips are 5 miles or less, and yet 82 percent of these trips are made by driving alone. The good news is that it’s easier than you think to go green on your many short trips. With new car sharing programs like car2go; Nice Ride; METRO Blue, Green and Red lines and buses; and more bikeways being built ever year, you can be part of the transportation solution! While we go green on a personal level, we also must demonstrate to decision makers that we need more convenient green transportation options for everyone. Joshua Houdek is the Land Use and Transportation Program Manager for the local Sierra Club North Star Chapter. And he likes to ride his bike. Sara Nelson Pallmeyer is with St. Martin’s Table. Dave Moe is the owner of an electric vehicle. |
Longfellow Energy Fair 