5.4. SR 06-13-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Please Consider Participating In Project Conserve -Phase III! Project Conserve is an Energy City sponsored program designed to demonstrate that we, as a community, are serious about conserving our natural resources. The Energy City Commission established five year project goals including; a reduction in electric use of 20%, a reduction in water use of 25%, a reduction in home heating fuel of 10%, a reduction in garbage of 25%, and a reduction of gasoline use of 25%. This is a stretch, but we think the community is up to it! In order to determine how realistic these goals were, a pilot test involving 35 families was launched in late 2008. Participants were encouraged to attend several "how to" workshops and were given a number of devices to help reduce electric and water use such as Kill-A-Watt meters, water conservation kits, and soil moisture probes. Participants also received free $250 blower door tests, infrared scans, and furnace efficiency tests of their homes to help identify areas that needed work to reduce heating fuel use. A monthly newsletter outlining resource saving ideas was provided, and ideas and success stories were shared on a frequent basis via the Internet. Results of the pilot test were encouraging! Four dropped out and 5 of the remaining 31 participants exceeded the electric goal with the highest @ 33.2% reduction. Five of the 25 participants on city water exceeded the water conservation goal with the highest @ 32% reduction. Seven of 29 participants using natural gas exceeded the heating fuel goal with the highest @ 30% reduction. An organics recycling program was started and resulted in a significant reduction in garbage. Several stated switching to the smallest refuse container with collection every other week! The highest individual 1St year savings was $499 not counting savings in gasoline use! In 2010, we expanded Project Conserve to include the entire community. Over 300 families signed up with over 100 requesting the optional home energy audits. Results are still pending as they continue to learn more ways to conserve resources. Results for Phase II will be available in Nov 2011. We are now looking for up to 500 families to participate in Phase III. If you live in the Elk River city limits, and are provided electricity by either Elk River Municipal Utilities or Connexus Energy, or that part of Otsego and Dayton served by Elk River Municipal Utilities please feel free to sign up. We're looking for homeowners who are genuinely interested in conserving resources. The deadline for signing up is September 15t'' with October 15th being the launch date of this next phase. All you need to do to sign up is fill out the application form and return it to City Hall. We will notify you in September about exact dates for information workshops, etc. Questions? Call Rebecca at 763-635-1068 or Vance at 763-635-1330