Politics & Government

Eagan Earns Recognition from Greenstep Cities for Energy Savings

The city has employed geothermal technology, switched to more efficient lighting and sealed building "envelopes" to prevent energy loss.

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from the city of Eagan.

Eagan is among only four Minnesota cities recognized as having taken the most steps to implement energy use reductions and best practices. Eagan was lauded as part of the GreenStep Cities program for accomplishing 20 of 28 best practices, so far, in sustainability at last week’s League of Minnesota Cities Conference in Duluth.

In recent years, the city utilized geothermal energy-saving technology in the and the new , as well as switching to more energy efficient lighting and sealing building “envelopes” to prevent energy loss in government buildings.

Not only is kilowatt usage per square foot dropping citywide in government buildings, but energy expenditures and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions are also down. As an example, from March of 2011 through February of this year, kilowatt usage at the Civic Arena is down 42 percent, energy costs per square foot are down 14 percent and CO2 emissions are down 4.5 percent. At City Hall, emissions are down 15 percent.

“This is exactly what the Eagan City Council wanted to see in directing GreenStep City participation and adopting environmentally preferable purchasing policies,” said Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire, who credits the dedicated work of the city’s Energy and Environment Advisory Commission (EEAC) and staff in reaching level three of the program.

Earlier steps involve passing a resolution to become a GreenStep City and implementing up to eight of the program’s best practices. “Step Three” cities, which this year included Eagan, Edina, Falcon Heights and St. Anthony, had to implement 16 or more sustainable best practices focused on cost savings, energy reductions, and innovation. Eagan’s 20 best practices include participating in a benchmarking database, conserving drinking water resources with updated ordinances, replacing traffic signals with energy efficient LED lights, and incorporating access to locally grown food in a city park.

“Many of these things, like the fresh produce at Market Fest in Eagan, were already being done before participating in GreenSteps,” says Eagan City Administrator Tom Hedges, “but by tighter tracking of energy trends we’re also able to target where our next improvements need to be.”

The Energy and Environment Advisory Commission continues to study additional methods to meet further GreenStep requirements. The Commission will be discussing possible next steps with the City Council later this fall.

Overall, some 65 Minnesota cities are currently participating in the GreenStep Cities program, which is a partnership between the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the League of Minnesota Cities, the Minnesota Office of Energy Security, the Great Plains Institute, the Izaak Walton League, the Urban Land Institute in Minnesota, and the Clean Energy Resource Teams.


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