Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks has named Northfield Construction Company (NCC) as its May EnergySmart Partner of the Month. EnergySmart BuildingWorks is an initiative of RENew Northfield, with funding from the Northfield Area Foundation and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. NCC was selected as the May EnergySmart Partner of the Month in recognition of the company’s long-standing commitment to building high-quality, energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings to customers’ specifications.

Founded in 1972, NCC started as a design-build firm focusing on the construction of churches, and quickly branched out to serve the area’s general commercial and residential construction markets. The company is owned and operated by Ray Cox, with the assistance of about 25 talented employees who work for the company on a year round basis.

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If you’d like to help protect your family, your budget and the planet from future energy shocks, feel you’ve already taken the energy efficiency and conservation steps you can, but want to go further, plan to attend “Renewable Energy Systems for Your Energy-Efficient Home” Thursday, May 24th from 7 to 8:30 PM in the Northfield Public Library (210 Washington St.) meeting room.

The natural gas used to heat your home and water has increased in cost by 567% in the past 30 years (the typical length of a home mortgage). Electricity prices have increased by 269% over the same period. Building energy use contributes about 40% of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide leading to global warming, and future supplies of oil and natural gas are uncertain to say the least. Solar water heating, solar electric, and small wind systems will be discussed in detail. Kurt Koegel of SolarSkies, Inc. (a new solar thermal panel manufacturing firm in Starbuck, Minnesota) will be on hand to answer questions about solar water heating installations, system costs, and more.

The workshop will conclude with a visit to a local home with a solar electric system providing its electricity and a solar water heating system in the process of being installed.

This is the second in a series of workshops sponsored by Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks, an initiative of RENew Northfield and the Northfield Area Foundation. As a follow-up to the workshop, the local installation of a solar water heating system in the first two weeks of June will provide an opportunity for hands-on learning about solar system installation. For more information, contact Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks.

Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks (ESBW) has named Rice County Habitat for Humanity as its March EnergySmart Partner of the Month. ESBW is an initiative of RENew Northfield, with funding from the Northfield Area Foundation and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Habitat was selected as the March EnergySmart Partner of the Month in recognition of the group’s long-standing commitment to building energy-efficient affordable homes. The Rice County chapter is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, which is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat has built more than 225,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

The local chapter has built 12 homes in Rice County since 1993. In recent years, all homes have been built using Reward Wall Systems insulated concrete form foundations and sidewalls. Combined with careful sealing of all foundation, wall and ceiling penetrations, quality windows and doors, and a high level of attic insulation, ICFs provide a highly insulated, low air-leakage building shell. Analysis of one recently built Habitat home in Faribault found that it had an extremely low air leakage rate of 0.10 natural air changes per hour. With a high-efficiency furnace and water heater, and heat recovery mechanical ventilation, the home had annual natural gas costs of $435, or about 37% that of the average Minnesota home.

Rice County Habitat for Humanity built two homes in one year for the first time in 2006. They are building two homes again this year (one in Nerstrand, and one in Northfield). Homes are built by volunteers in partnership with the owner-occupants. Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks, and cash donations are also critically important to Habitat’s ongoing work. Details can be found at http://www.habitatricecounty.org/involvement/index.html.

The Rice County Habitat case study will be one of four discussed at the March 29th “Building Energy Efficiency 101” workshop at the Northfield Public Library. The case studies will be available online here after the workshop.

ESBW seeks to raise community expectations concerning the energy performance of local buildings, and will be hosting a series of local workshops:

* March 29 (repeated April 7): Building Energy Efficiency 101: Cost-Effective Home Energy Saving Strategies for the 21st Century
* May 2 (repeated June 2): Incorporating Renewable Energy Systems into Your Energy-Efficient Home: Geothermal, Solar and Small Wind Systems
* July 10 (repeated August 11): Putting It All Together: Cost-Effective Zero Energy Homes

ESBW will also be at the Saturday March 31 Northfield Home and Garden Show with information on making your new or existing home more energy-efficient.

For more information, contact ESBW coordinator Bruce Anderson.

Plan now to attend “Building Energy Efficiency 101: Cost-Effective Home Energy Saving Strategies for the 21st Century” Thursday, March 29th from 7 to 9 PM in the Northfield Public Library meeting room. This will be the first in a series of workshops sponsored by Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks, an initiative of RENew Northfield and the Northfield Area Foundation.

Workshop attendees will learn from local builders and other experts how to cost-effectively save energy and money whether you are building a new home or living in a drafty 19th-century Victorian. State-of-the-art building techniques and technologies will be covered, as well as utility and government financial incentives. Case studies on several new homes and older home retrofits will detail the energy efficiency and renewable energy steps taken and actual energy saving results.

The workshop will be repeated on Saturday, April 7 from noon to 2 PM in the same location. Future workshops planned include
•May 2 (repeated June 2): Incorporating Renewable Energy Systems into Your Energy-Efficient Building: Geothermal, Solar and Small Wind Systems
•July 10 (repeated August 11): Putting It All Together: Cost-Effective Zero Energy Homes

For more information, contact us.

Northfield EnergySmart BuildingWorks (ESBW) has named Schmidt Homes as its first EnergySmart Partner of the Month. ESBW is an initiative of RENew Northfield, with funding from the Northfield Area Foundation and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Schmidt Homes was selected as the February EnergySmart Partner of the Month in recognition of the company’s long-standing commitment to building high quality energy-efficient homes. Since the company’s founding in 1981, they have been dedicated to energy savings and environmental protection. Since 2005, Schmidt Homes has committed to building 100% of its homes to federal Energy Star standards. Homes that earn the Energy Star rating must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Energy Star qualified homes are at least 15 percent more energy-efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC).

Before construction begins on a Schmidt Home, a third-party certifier reviews the blueprints to determine if the house is on track to perform at the required energy efficiency level. Two site inspections during construction assess quality control. After construction, a third site inspection verifies air tightness. Only homes that successfully complete the program can be certified as Energy Star Homes.

Some of the standard features found in Schmidt Homes include:
• R-46 attic insulation
• High-efficiency furnaces and air conditioners
• Double-pane low-E inert gas-filled windows
• Attention to detail in sealing air leaks. Foam insulation, duct sealing, Tyvek wrap with taped seams and caulked wall-to-floor connections, careful caulking, weather-stripping and gaskets reduce drafts, improve comfort and energy-efficiency, and ensure building shell durability
• Heat recovery ventilation systems.

Steven Schmidt, president and founder of Schmidt Homes, says “Customers will usually buy what builders have to sell if they are convinced they’re getting value. It’s not hard to sell potential customers on the idea that energy-efficiency is an integral part of our high-quality package, and that it’s cost-effective as well.”

ESBW seeks to raise community expectations concerning the energy performance of local buildings, and will be hosting a series of local workshops:
•March 29 (repeated April 7): Building Energy Efficiency 101
•May 2 (repeated June 2): Incorporating Renewable Energy Systems into Your Energy-Efficient Building: Geothermal, Solar and Small Wind Systems
•July 10 (repeated August 11): Putting It All Together: Cost-Effective Zero Energy Homes

ESBW is also partnering with the Northfield HRA and Rice County Habitat for Humanity to create highly energy-efficient affordable housing in the Northfield area. For more information, call 507.664.2023.