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Honorable Mention <br />The City of Elk River - <br />Elk River Public Library <br />The Elk River Library is a LEED Gold <br />registered project. From the early stages, <br />the project aimed to embody a high level <br />of sustainable design and support the city's <br />commitment to energy efficiency. <br />• More than 25% of the building materials <br />contains recycled content. <br />• At least 10% of the building materials are <br />from local sources. <br />• Water- saving technologies, including <br />landscape design, reduce on -site irrigation <br />by 50%, <br />• Low -flow fixtures inside the building <br />provide a potable water savings of 30%. <br />• Energy efficiency designs are 60% more <br />efficient than standard building code. <br />• 100% of the metal, concrete, cardboard, <br />and wood waste from the construction <br />project was recycled, resulting in a 58% <br />diversion from area landfills. <br />The City of Farmington - <br />Green Team <br />The Cityof Farmington's Green Team is a <br />volunteer committee of city employees <br />assembled to create and implement <br />Initiatives that will promote environmental <br />awareness and responsibility. <br />The Green Team is evaluating existing <br />policies and developing new policies and <br />procedures to include environmentally <br />responsible practices to reduce waste and <br />conserve natural resources. The team has <br />already worked on new standards for park <br />equipment, enhancing internal and external <br />recycling and waste reduction efforts, <br />and installing energy - efficient lighting. <br />Staff have also worked on environmental <br />landscaping to minimize mowing and <br />improve water quatIry.The team was <br />instrumental in establishing sustainable <br />building design standards, which to date <br />have saved over $33,250 per year. <br />Minnesota Army Reserve <br />National Guard - Antifreeze <br />Recycling Program <br />The Minnesota Army National Guard <br />(MNARNG) Combined Support and <br />Maintenance Shop (CSMS) located on <br />Camp Ripley provides vehicle maintenance <br />support for a wide variety of wheeled and <br />track equipment. <br />As with any type of vehicle maintenance <br />facility working on cooling systems, <br />replacing dirty antifreeze with clean <br />antifreeze is an expensive process. An <br />antifreeze distillation unit was purchased <br />to address this issue. The unit would clean <br />dirty antifreeze so that MNARNG would not <br />need to purchase as much new antifreeze <br />in the future. For every 55 gallons of dirty <br />antifreeze collected, approximately 20 <br />gallons of antifreeze can be recovered. <br />CSMS distills their own antifreeze as well <br />as antifreeze from all other MNARNG repair <br />facilities. <br />This process helps the environment because <br />less ethylene glycol needs to be produced <br />and fewer air and water pollutants will be <br />released. Direct cost savings will start be <br />accrue in less than four years. <br />Minnesota Army Reserve <br />National Guard - Mattress <br />Recycling Program <br />Camp Ripley needed to replace several <br />thousand mattresses that were stored in <br />over 400 different buildings. In prior years, <br />small numbers of mattresses had been sent <br />to the Morrison County landfill. However, <br />with the large amount of mattresses <br />requiring disposal, Camp Ripley choose to <br />recycle the mattresses through a recycling <br />program run by Goodwill Industries out of <br />Duluth, Minnesota. <br />Approximately 40,000 pounds of metal was <br />recycled and 100,000 pounds of cotton fill <br />was recovered. Recycling the mattresses <br />saved Camp Ripley nearly $32,000, <br />42 <br />Olmsted County - Surplus Copier <br />Partnership Program <br />Olmsted County initiated a partnership <br />contract with the local United Way agency <br />and copier contractor, E.O. Johnson, to <br />provide out -of -date copiers at no cost <br />to nonprofit agencies when the county <br />replaced its old copiers, which may have an <br />additional 2 to 5 years of service. <br />The contractor agreed to refurbish and store <br />the copiers until needed, and to provide a <br />reasonable copier maintenance program. <br />Other agencies in Minnesota donate copiers <br />as well, but Olmsted created a contract <br />that expedites the process, resulting in <br />the nonprofit receiving the copier much <br />quicker. This contract serves as a great <br />alternative to sending the copiers to a <br />landfill and helps nonprofit organizations <br />use their money for alternative needs. <br />Sherburne County Solid Waste <br />Department - Landfill Abatement <br />Legacy Grant <br />As a part of its policy to reduce Sherburne <br />County's dependence on landfilling, the <br />county's Board of Commissioners adopted <br />the Landfill Abatement Legacy Grant <br />Program, which will award grants to local <br />units of government for using at least 25% <br />post- consumer recycled content materials <br />in construction of city- or township -owned <br />buildings. <br />The grant program is believed to be the first <br />of its kind in Minnesota, and offers residents <br />an opport unity to learn more about <br />recycled- content materials. It also increases <br />the marketabilityof recycled material and <br />will encourage more manufacturers to create <br />products from recycled materials. Over <br />100 companies in Minnesota incorporate <br />post - consumer recycled material in their <br />manufacturing, and Sherburne County <br />helps these companies by providing them <br />an opportunity to showcase their products <br />in municipal building construction. So far, <br />three Landfill Abatement Legacy Grants <br />have been awarded. <br />