"It's not easy being green." Kermit T. Frog
Well, it's getting easier!!

Focus on Energy resources
Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control the state's growing demand for electricity and natural gas.
Be a Part of the 2010 Energy Fair!
As the winter solstice approaches, staff at the MREA start preparing for the Energy Fair, held every year on or near the summer solstice – always the third weekend in June. Next year’s Energy Fair will take place June 18-20, 2010. We are looking for participants to present on innovative topics at workshops, exhibit the latest developments in the industry, vend tasty food, and display alternative vehicles at the Clean Energy Car Show. All registrations begin December 15, 2009. You won’t want to miss this internationally renowned professional networking event.


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Our Mission:
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association promotes renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration.


eReNews January 2010
 
Hello,
Happy New Year! In this issue of eReNews we are pleased to announce that we have posted our 2010 Workshop Calendar online. We have expanded our offerings to include more natural and sustainable building workshops as well as more renewable energy business workshops. To read about these new offerings, please visit our website.
 
Also in this issue, we hope you will vote for our project at Brighter Planet, and join us at the Milwaukee Art Musuem and Milwaukee Roller Derby. For more details, read on . . .
 
Enjoy,

Gina Sinisi - Communications Coordinator

 
 
MREA NEWS
 
Vote for MREA at Brighter Planet!
Please take a minute this January to vote for the MREA Site Assessment Program's Project at Brighter Planet. We've submitted a grant proposal for $5000 in order to produce at least 20 recorded webinars and quizzes to help meet the continuing education needs of current MREA Certified Site Assessors and some of the distance learning needs of people going through site assessment training. Your vote could help us win a $5000 award in January. Grants are awarded based on popular vote. Voting ends January 15. Click here to vote. Thank you for your support!
 
Workshop Registration Open
We have now posted our 2010 Workshop Calendar online. (All photovoltaic workshops will be added shortly.) To view the calendar and begin registration please visit our website.


We are excited to announce that we are once again offering our Homebrew Wind Turbine Construction Workshop (W306) taught by Dan Bartmann.
 

Donor Highlight: Joe and Jean Crocker
MREA would like to thank Joe and Jean Crocker of Minnesota, who are long-time members and supporters of our organization. They attend the Energy Fair each year and help promote our workshops and activities by sharing them with relatives and friends. You can often find Joe helping staff move chairs during Energy Fair set up, or parking cars with a big smile out in the dust and/or rain. Thank you Joe and Jean Crocker!
 
MREA Teams up with Milwaukee Art Museum for MAM After Dark: Greener
Join the MREA at the Milwaukee Art Museum for a unique renewable energy museum experience. MREA will feature renewable energy technologies at MAM After Dark: Greener on Friday, January 15 from 5 p.m. to Midnight. MREA will help with clean energy displays as well as solar power for the 88nine DJ. Other MAM After Dark features include green furniture design and a wearable sculpture fashion show. Please stop by and say hi to the MREA! Get tickets and details on the MAM website.

Don’t Miss MREA Milwaukee Workshops
The MREA workshop schedule is online with a whole host of workshops slated for the Milwaukee area. (Photovoltaic workshops will be added shortly.) For details, visit the
website for upcoming workshops and events.
 
Visit MREA at Upcoming Events

  • Stop by the MREA booth at Milwaukee Roller Derby, on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Visit their website for details.
  • Join us at the Duluth Energy Conference, February 22-24, 2010. Visit their website for details.
  • Don't miss the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, February 25-27, 2010. Visit their website for details.
  • We hope to see you at the Green Energy Summit, March 24-26, 2010. Visit their website for details. 

NABCEP Exam Dates Announced
NABCEP has announced their exam dates for this year. The Spring 2010 exams are scheduled for Saturday, March 13, 2010 and the deadline to submit applications for the March exam is Friday, January 15, 2010. The Fall 2010 exams are scheduled for September 11, 2010. For more information visit their website.
 


This year we will be offering a hands-on Cordwood Construction Workshop (C105) in March.

 
SITE ASSESSOR NEWS
 
Focus on Energy Offering Enhanced Financial Incentives for Renewable Energy Projects to WPS Customers
This article was adapted from Focus on Energy.

Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) customers have the opportunity to become more energy independent with the introduction of three new enhanced financial incentives. The financial incentives are being offered by Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy resource, in partnership with WPS and are meant to help finance the installation of renewable energy systems for eligible small business and nonprofit customers. To verify eligibility, interested customers must call their WPS Account Executive or the Business Solutions Center at 877-444-0888.


The following incentives are now available and funds will be awarded on a competitive basis:


Nonprofit Match Incentive
This incentive is designed to encourage renewable installations at highly visible public locations by offering increased financial assistance to nonprofit organizations that install customer-owned solar water heating, solar electric, wind or biomass combustion systems. This incentive, in combination with a standard Cash-Back Reward or Implementation Grant, may cover up to 70 percent of the total system cost.

Large Project Grants
This grant provides financial assistance to small businesses for large scale renewable energy projects that will make a significant impact on Wisconsin’s growing renewable energy market. The grant offers up to $500,000 for bioenergy, wind and hydroelectric systems and up to $250,000 for solar electric or solar water heating systems.

Commercial Solar Space Heating Grant
This grant provides financial support for the installation of two types of commercial solar heating technologies: solar make-up air systems or solar space heating systems with summer reheat. Through a Request for Proposal (RFP), Focus on Energy seeks applicants with an ideal site to install, assess, demonstrate and monitor the technical and economic viability of these two technologies. The grant will reward up to 25 percent of the installed project cost for taxpaying entities and up to 35 percent for nonprofits, or a maximum of $50,000. Focus will pay 100 percent of monitoring and demonstration activity costs and will cost share feasibility studies with clients.
 
 “We believe there is an emerging demand for renewable energy systems and these financial incentives offer businesses and nonprofits a way to mitigate the effects of fossil-fuel-based energy use, reduce pollution and become more energy independent,” said Don Wichert, program director for Focus on Energy. “As these concerns are becoming more critical in the face of rising energy costs, it is our hope WPS customers will take advantage of these grants and the use of renewable energy in our state will continue to grow.”

To learn more about the available incentives, or to get an application or the RFP, call 800-762-7077 or visit the Focus on Energy
website.
 
About Incentive Eligibility
This Focus on Energy program is funded by Wisconsin Public Service as a result of the “decoupling” rate agreement between WPS and the Citizens Utility Board. Only WPS customers that currently receive service under this rate agreement are eligible for these enhanced program offerings. This includes most residential and small business customers; excluding large commercial, industrial, and seasonal customers. WPS business customers must verify eligibility by calling their Account Executive or the Business Solutions Center at 877-444-0888.

About Focus on Energy
Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote instate economic development, protect our environment and control the state's growing demand for electricity and natural gas. For more information call 800-762-7077 or visit their website.
 
Update on the USDA Rural Energy for America Program
Rural Development (RD) is now accepting applications for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for fiscal year 2010. The REAP program continues to be a competitive grant and guaranteed loan program; one of the key factors in getting an application funded is getting it submitted early. The federal register will be announced some time in the 2010 fiscal year. Funding priority will be given to small grants of $20,000 or less, and combination guaranteed loan and grant requests. One change for 2010 is that the program will be receiving approximately $100 million in funding, an increase over the previous year's funding level. More information and the application materials can be found on the Rural Development website.


MIDWEST NEWS

How to Grow Local Food Course
This two-weekend (4-day) course, taught by experienced, professional, local farmers, covers all basic skills and techniques needed for growing local food and is open to the public. The emphasis of the course is market gardening or CSA scale techniques but can apply to home gardens too. It will cover diverse, low-input, and sustainable growing methods as well as seed starting and saving, irrigation strategies, marketing, small animals, and more. The fee is $200.00 and includes local lunches and the textbook New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman. It will take place February 13/14 and 20/21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of Natural Resources (CNR) Building UWSP Campus, Room 122. To register contact John Sheffy at 715-346-4244 or jsheffy@uwsp.edu. Please register by January 31, 2010. This course is sponsored by Central Rivers Farmshed and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and the funds raised will support farmer instructors and farm internships.


Photo courtesy of Whitefeather Organics, a CSA farm located in Custer, Wisconsin.
 

Wind Power Happy Hour – Special Half Day Wind Energy Seminar
This month’s Wind Power Happy Hour will include a special half-day wind energy seminar on January 28, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Happy Hour will follow the seminar from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The feature speaker, Jeff Anthony, Director of Marketing for the American Wind Energy Association, will speak on the national demand for wind energy and trends in the national supply chain. Pre-register before January 25 and the seminar is free! Register after January 25 or the day of the event, and the cost is $20.00. To register, contact Neil Stechschulte at 608-825-0894 or nstechschulte@cityofsunprairie.com. The location for the seminar will be Cannery Grill, 315 E. Linnerud Dr., Downtown Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. For more information, visit the Wind Power Happy Hour News Blog

Commercial Solar Thermal Design and Installation Training
Energy Center University is partnering with Focus on Energy in delivering this full-day Commercial Solar Thermal Design and Installation training on January 21, 2010, that will prepare attendees to participate in this expanding market. Featuring Bill Guiney and Bob Ramlow, participants of this training will learn how to design and install a solar thermal system for commercial buildings. Solar thermal opportunities in Wisconsin are exploding for a number of reasons: consumer demand for alternative energy, rising energy costs, corporate and business interest in "greening" their companies, utility and state incentives, climate change and carbon footprint reduction are all driving market growth. Find out why solar thermal design and installation capability can be a profitable addition to your list of services. For more information and to register online, click here.
 
WPPI’s GreenMax Home RFP
WPPI Energy is soliciting competitive proposals for grants to help fund the completion of net zero energy homes within their member electric utilities’ service areas. Proposals will be accepted from prospective homeowners, builders, architects and school groups. For more information visit their website.
  
Design and Manage a Home Scale Forest Garden Workshop
Food forests, or edible forest gardens, are life-filled places that not only provide food for people, but habitat for wildlife, carbon sequestering, biodiversity, natural soil building, beauty and tranquility, and a host of other benefits. These gardens are designed to function like natural landscapes and to reconnect people with natural patterns and processes. This workshop will cover the basics of designing, planting, and maintaining a many-layered woodland garden of fruit and nut trees, perennial and annual vegetables, and flowers. See practical examples of ecological principles at work. Discover the qualities of soil, water, plants, and animals that will help you to work with them and understand their interconnections. Learn how to create plant mixes that work well together. A full day of learning will give you both the theory behind food forests and a wealth of practical information, including which plants to use, where to start, and what to expect as your food forest grows. It will take place Friday, January 8, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul Campus, Classroom Office Building, Room B25. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register for the workshop visit this
website.
 
Strategies for Regenerating Urban Areas Workshop
This workshop deals with issues faced by city planners, community gardeners, and other urban dwellers interested in creating green oases within their communities, reconnecting with their neighbors, and reclaiming degraded or unused land. How can we apply permaculture to urban and suburban places? Though land may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social capital. Well-designed (or redesigned), our cities could provide for most human needs. This workshop will discuss how to find, harvest, and integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways, including getting access to land for gardening, creating business guilds and networks, learning the pattern language of the city, creating public space in neighborhoods, and building urban ecovillages. Learn how permaculture's principles and design methods apply to the dense, rich environments of our cities, and how to leverage the special opportunities that cities provide. The workshop will be Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul Campus, Classroom Office Building, Room B25. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register for the workshop visit this
website.
 
IREC’s 2009 New Ideas Conference Presentations
Back in November 2009, MREA staffers Clay Sterling and Nick Hylla, as well as one of our instructors, Chris LaForge, attended IREC’s New Ideas in Educating a Workforce in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Conference in Albany, New York. To see their presentations and learn more about the conference visit IREC’s website

Webinar - How to Seal the Weakest Part of Your Building Envelope and The Latest in Window Glazing and LEED Credits
Join this live webinar presented by Huper Optik and Green Energy Leaders at Challenge International, Inc. to learn step-by-step how your city, facility, or campus could save thousands of dollars in energy loss each year by sealing the building envelope and enhancing window performance. You will learn how to enhance your window performance without window replacement and how to seal the weakest part of your building's envelope. The webinar will also cover the latest technological developments in energy efficient glazing and how it applies to attaining LEED credits, as well as which window coating technologies are appropriate for each of your needs. It will be January 29, 2010 at Noon ET, 11 a.m. CT, 10 a.m. MT, and 9 a.m. PT. It will last one hour. To register visit their website.

If you have an article to submit to eReNews or comments on the newsletter, please email renews@the-mrea.org.

For more information about the MREA please visit our website.