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A journey into home energy efficiency with John Suzukida

June 2022

By Emily Haeg Nguyen
Metro, MN

Minnesotan John Suzukida has held many titles.John Suzukida..

mechanical engineer, president of a local geothermal company, Metro Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) Steering Committee member, and home energy efficiency aficionado. But it’s in his newest role that Suzukida says he’s found his greatest inspiration.

 

“Most of my career was spent in the energy efficiency space. But a personal driver is the experience of having become a grandfather three years ago,” says Suzukida. “I’m driven by the need to not leave future generations to deal with the climate situation, for which all prior generations are responsible. I want to do everything I can to help in the time I have left.”

With a personal and professional passion for energy efficiency, Suzukida has spent years working to implement energy conserving measures in his own life, many of which center around his Shoreview home. Starting with things like upgrading light bulbs, Suzukida eventually moved on to tackling bigger projects, like installing a geothermal heat pump, a heat pump clothes dryer, a heat pump hot water heater, and finally, buying an electric car.

 

“I did not have a plan, I  just decided to start with available technologies and kept going,” says Suzukida. “My practical side tires of things that are too theoretical, so taking on the kinds of things you can really only learn by doing has been very satisfying.”

Sixteen years later, Suzukida has managed to reduce his home energy usage by 77%! He describes the experience as a journey. Suzukida recently shared his journey with CERTs staff and partners in an online presentation titled, “Demystifying Home Electrification.” The half hour event walks through recommendations, tips and tricks that Suzukida has learned along the way. Suzukida hopes that by sharing his story, he can inspire others to take action in their own lives.

“In this country in particular, we need to deal with the fact that per capita we use twice the energy per person that Europe and Japan do. But things are headed in the right direction, faster now than any time I can recall. We need to keep moving as quickly as possible to help ensure our future generations have good and reasonable standards of living and quality of life.”

John Suzukida, Metro CERT Steering Committee member

Check out the recording of “Demystifying Home Electrification” with John Suzukida:
 

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