A drafty city shop in Warren, Minnesota was the first target in the city’s work to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. In 2011 Warren passed a resolution to join the Minnesota GreenStep Cities Program. This program allows cities all over the state to follow best practices targeted at improving energy efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life.
Warren’s first action as a Minnesota GreenStep City was to conduct energy audits of the city’s existing buildings to see where energy efficiency improvements could be implemented. The Warren City Council selected Allen Anderson, a Certified Energy Manager from Franklin Energy Services, LLC and Karl Frigaard with Warren Economic Development Authority to oversee the audits. A particularly poor-performing building was the city shop. The building is used to store municipal vehicles, a backup generator, and large equipment. The shop’s cement-sided walls and walk-in doors lacked insulation and the majority of its windows were single pane glass block.
After Warren secured a $5,000 seed grant from Northwest CERT to help cover the cost of labor, a number of energy improvement project tasks were outlined which included:
- Insulating the 8,638 square feet of shop walls to R20
- Replacing un-insulated steel walk-in doors with insulated doors
- Replacing single pane windows and glass block in shop area with energy efficient windows throughout shop
The annual cost of the natural gas used to heat the building before the improvements were made to the walls added up to $13,480, but now, the estimated cost of heating the building is $4,006 per year. Payback on the project is expected within 7 years, assuming that the price of natural gas says around $0.99 per therm.
Looking back on the project, Karl Frigaard notes that the shop’s energy audit is “a model for what can be done to public or privately owned buildings to improve the cost and operating efficiency of buildings by doing an energy audit.” The project has also encouraged talk of creating a type of community reinvestment fund in order to assist in private business energy improvements. This fund allows loan repayment amounts to equal the anticipated energy bill savings amount so the project can be budget neutral.
Whatever comes next for the City of Warren, you can bet that its citizens will continue to look for ways to save energy, save money, and improve their quality of life.
Project Snapshot:
- Technology: Insulation, energy-efficient doors and windows
- Total Project Cost: $47,300
- CERTs Seed Grant: $5,000
About the Local Government Energy Action Series:
This year-long effort tells the stories of nearly 50 Minnesota municipalities, counties, and schools and the tangible results of their energy-saving efforts to inspire others to take their own actions.
Local Government Energy Action is brought to you by the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resource
