GreenStep City Meeting

Sustainable Stillwater Mn was happy to be involved in a GreenStep organizational meeting with City staff Bill Turnblad, the Community Development Director, the new Zoning Official, Graham Tait and Facilities Director Mick Greiner. Sustainable Stillwater MN (SSMN) representatives were Energy Workgroup Lead Don Schuld, SSMN Board member/GreenStep Workgroup member Roger Tomten, SSMN Board Chair/Acting Executive Director Louise Watson, and Energy Workgroup member Claire Most.

See what we are doing right now: https://greenstep.pca.state.mn.us/cityInfo.cfm?ctu_code=2395969

The focus of the meeting was to determine the viability of the City hosting a parttime Minnesota Green Corp intern for 9 months. Following the meeting Don Schuld made some inquiries and reported that the possibility of an intern this year was not feasible. There is, however, the possibility of beginning the Minnesota B3 Benchmark process given the recruitment of a couple of dedicated volunteers. Using basic building information and metered data, the online tool summarizes energy consumption, costs, and carbon emissions in easily digestible monthly and annual reports for public buildings.

In 2001, legislation in the State of Minnesota was passed to benchmark all public buildings in the state for a period of 12 months, and as a result, B3 Benchmarking was born. B3 uses complex analyses that allow you to compare a building from four major perspectives. This multiple-angle approach helps you identify weak buildings and gives you the confidence that an identified poor performer is truly in need of improvement and will yield significant returns on investment.

More info about the GreenStep program: https://greenstep.pca.state.mn.us/