Edina is in the green. Environmental consciousness is at the top of the city’s agenda, and that priority is drawing notice statewide. The Edina Emerald Energy Program (EEEP) makes the city the first in Minnesota to take advantage of property-assessed clean energy legislation, and as such, received an award from the Minnesota-based nonprofit Environmental Initiative.
According to Bill Sierks, chair of the Edina Energy and Environment Commission, “Edina became the first city in Minnesota to take up the property-assessed clean energy (PACE) program. It’s noteworthy [because] it sparked interest in the whole state that PACE is a viable program.” Established in 2011, the first business to take advantage of the new program was Grandview Tire & Auto, which installed a 27-kilowatt solar panel system. The popular restaurant Salut Bar Américain partnered with EEEP for an energy-efficient retrofit for lighting and mechanical system efficiency.
Engineer Ross Bintner is the staff liaison for Edina’s Energy and Environment Commission and the administrator of the Edina Emerald Energy Program. He explains that PACE provides a financing mechanism to fund energy-efficient retrofits or renewable energy systems at commercial properties. The city issues a bond for the assessment, which is paid off via property taxes over a 5 to 10 year period. The long list of eligible improvements includes duct sealing, geothermal well drilling, insulation, lighting control systems, weather stripping and solar thermal systems. The program requires that the improvements not exceed 10 percent of the assessed value of the property.
Grandview Tire & Auto enjoys tracking its solar energy intake. The shop gamely competes with Edina’s City Hall energy intake and is kicking you-know-what at a consistent 2- to 3-kilowatt margin. What’s more, Grandview’s electricity bills have gone down.
The EEEP project at Salut Bar Américain was multifaceted. The first step was to replace the incandescent lights with power-saving LED bulbs. These energy-efficient lights last for 30,000 hours compared with the 3,000 hours of a traditional light bulb. “In a restaurant, you’re concerned with the color of the lighting; you want the quality of the light to be right for the food and you don’t want people looking yellow or green,” says Alan Ackerberg, chief development officer of Parasole Holdings, which owns Salut. “We did a lot of experimentation with the color and we figured it out.”
The funds from EEEP also helped modify the controls on the exhaust hoods over the stoves. Typically, they draw in a lot of air, and depending on the season, the air must be heated or cooled. The hoods engage gigantic motors and stay on all day even if the stove is not in use. With the help of EEEP, Salut was able to update its hoods with an infrared sensor that measures the exhaust and controls the speed of the motor and fan accordingly. If the kitchen isn’t very busy, the hoods react by slowing down.
“We were looking for programs that would fund the replacements at Salut. We didn’t want it to come out of pocket,” reports Ackerberg. “EEEP works well; we [the bond buyer and building owner] just buy a bond and then pay back the investment on our property taxes. The beauty of it is that we don’t have to spend a dime and we get the work done immediately.” Ackerberg is also quick to point out that the amount of energy the restaurant will save has already begun to pay off.
The Edina Emerald Energy Program continues to draw praise and press, including a spot on KSTP-TV news. Other cities in Minnesota are considering implementing PACE programs of their own. By creating jobs, preserving the environment and reducing energy costs, EEEP is a significant tool for clean, efficient and safe renewable energy.
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Interested in applying for the Edina Emerald Energy Program? Contact Ross Bintner at mail@edinamn.gov.
