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Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy

Consumers Energy is an electricity, natural gas and energy management distribution cooperative located near Marshalltown. The company serves more than 5,000 customers in Marshall, Tama, Jasper, Story and Polk counties. In March of 2003, Consumers Energy purchased an office/warehouse complex and remodeled it with the intent of implementing as many energy efficiency features as possible and providing 100 percent of the electricity requirements from renewable energy sources. Several energy efficiency improvements were made including: the installation of tubular skylights in the office, an automatic dimming system for all of their electric lighting, highly insulated air-sealed overhead doors; spraying polyurethane foam insulation and installing a geothermal heating and cooling system in the warehouse. Consumers Energy also installed two wind turbines and a 10 kW photovoltaic solar system. These two combined produce all the electricity for the facility at nearly 300,000 kWh a year. Consumers Energy also serves as an education facility for energy efficiency and renewable technologies, which includes a working display area that contains examples of energy efficiency products and its community room and conference center.

CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company, the largest employer in Waverly, Iowa, is an insurance and financial security provider that markets life insurance, annuities and other financial products. Since 1986, CUNA has made an impact on their operation efficiency of all energy consuming systems through their Energy Management and Operational Excellence program. Some of the energy efficiency opportunities which have been implemented include: installing computer room dehumidification units to replace traditional cooling coils and installing electric re-heats; installing high efficiency motors on all air handling units; increasing thermal performance of roofing systems by 200 percent; replacing electric unit heaters with gas fired infrared heaters; implementing a water treatment program which increased boiler efficiency from 10 to 84 percent over a three-year period; and installing 5,500 square feet of reflective window film to control radiant heat, solar heat gain and increase thermal performance of windows.

The Davenport Community School District operates 31 schools that serve the communities of Davenport, Blue Grass, Buffalo and Walcott, Iowa. The district has a current enrollment of more than 16,000 students. In the fall of 2003, the district revitalized their energy conservation program to reduce energy consumption. Their unique approach modified staff and student behavior and increased building energy efficiencies. The entire district was involved in the process that included: conducting random building audits throughout the school year; encouraging staff and students to shut off lights in unused rooms and powering down idle computers; the inclusion of energy efficient lighting in all buildings; the installation of new boilers that have efficiency ratings of nearly 95 percent; installing occupancy censors for room unit ventilators, lighting and water coolers; and implementing a no-idle rule for all buses and district vehicles. Because of their efforts, the district benefited profusely in the 2003-2004 fiscal year by reducing electrical consumption by more than 694,000 kWh and natural gas consumption by more than 166,000 therms, with a total reduction in energy consumption of 14.6 percent. However, what is most promising is the long-term benefit of increasing the students' knowledge of energy issues, which could have a positive effect on their future consumption choices.

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Waste Management

CURRIES Division of AADG, Inc. in Mason City is a manufacturing company that produces a full line of metal doors and frames for projects in the commercial, educational and healthcare markets. In an effort to find an alternative method of disposing rollformer lubricant used in their Mason City plant, CURRIES developed a strategy to reuse the lubricant in some of their other manufacturing processes. After extensive research, CURRIES purchased a filtration unit last July that removes all oil, grease and particulate contaminants from the lubricant. Their endeavor eliminates 2,600 gallons of water-based contaminated lubricant, saves 110 gallons in raw material purchases and saves more than $4,950 in disposal costs and $1,725 in raw material purchases per year.

EMC Insurance Companies, headquartered in Des Moines, operates 22 offices throughout the country and is one of the top 60 insurance organizations in the nation. Their Des Moines office has made numerous environmental accomplishments including creating the Rehab the Lab program in cooperation with Metro Waste Authority. This program provides comprehensive chemical management training classes for school district staffs and on-site assessments by EMC loss control professionals. EMC Insurance Companies also assists schools with EPA and OSHA regulations. Since the program's inception, more than 160 buildings in 60 school districts have been surveyed and more than 1,200 staff members in those districts have been trained in chemical management. Through Rehab the Lab, EMC Insurance Companies has assisted with the removal of more than 62,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals in school districts across the state of Iowa.

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Water Quality

The City of Prairie City operates Prairie City Water Works, a public water system serving approximately 1,400 customers and producing more than 150,000 gallons of water per day. Working together with the Jasper County Board of Supervisors and Jasper County Planning and Zoning, the city created a countywide wellhead protection ordinance that is the first of its kind in Iowa. After reviewing and assessing potential sources of contamination within the wellhead areas, Prairie City created a management strategy and emergency response plan. With the help of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, an amendment was made to the Jasper County Zoning Ordinance to set protection zones for each well within Jasper County. The county's planning and zoning director developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) overlay of each of the public wells in Jasper County and corresponding wellhead protection zones. The collaboration between these three entities protects the groundwater that is used as a source of public drinking water from future contamination and allows cities and Jasper County to communicate prior to approving development near any well.

The Maytag Newton Laundry Products plant manufactures household and commercial laundry appliances. The plant installed a more efficient sand stripper to remove cured paint from powdercoat paint process hangers. The new system consists of a natural gas fluidized bed of sand heated to an elevated temperature. After the hangers are loaded in, high temperatures and the fluidized sand burn off resinous material on the hangers. The new equipment has made a significant environmental impact at the plant. In 2003, the plant reduced wastewater by 13 million gallons, reduced nitrate compound discharges by 80 percent, reduced sulfuric acid by 24,000 gallons and saved more than 950,000 kWh in electrical energy.

Xstream Cleanup 2004 was organized by a coalition of environmental groups, businesses and local government in the Quad Cities. The cleanup, which was the first of its kind in the area, focused on watershed cleanup of the tributaries of the Mississippi River and coincided with Living Lands & Waters annual cleanup of the Mississippi River. In one day, 17 sites were cleaned in Iowa (in the Davenport, Bettendorf and LeClaire areas) and 10 sites in Illinois (in the Rock Island, Moline, East Moline and Port Byron areas). More than 1,300 volunteers removed nearly 80,000 pounds of trash from area streams and drainage ways and helped Living Lands & Waters remove an additional 20,000 pounds of debris from the Mississippi River. The cleanup, which created a greater awareness of watershed quality, received such a great response that there are plans for Xstream Cleanup 2005, which will focus on maintaining the cleanup from the past year and target new waterways in rural Quad City area communities.

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Habitat Restoration/Development

Now called Redbird Farms Wildlife Area, the land in Johnson County was once privately owned by Bettina Bourjaily. Just seven miles from Iowa City, most would have opted to sell it for housing developments. Instead, Bourjaily gave possession of the 496-acre tract of land to the state as a resource for the general public. A partnership was developed among Bourjaily and her family, her attorney, an Iowa bank and the state to instigate a trust. What is even more unique about the partnership is that the money earned in the trust will eventually be used by the state to later purchase additional land. Since it became a resource to the public in 1995, several developments have occurred on the land including the addition of two wetlands, trail repair and conversion of the pasture to prairie. Because of Bourjaily's dedication, today Redbird Farms Wildlife Area is accessible to the public for hiking, cross-country skiing, bird watching, mushroom hunting, fishing, deer and turkey hunting as well as many other conservation and educational activities.

Drake University's Biodiversity Center is an integral part of the university's science department and helps with research, protection and curation of Iowa biodiversities. In the spring of 2004, the Prairie Rescue and Restoration Internship Program (PRRIP) was initiated and operates on weekends during the fall and spring semesters. The goals of the program are to protect and conserve native biodiversity associated with prairie remnants located on private lands; educate students in the ecology of prairie ecosystems and develop skills associated with prairie management; foster pride in landowners for the remnant prairie communities on their land; and stimulate interest and understanding in the value of prairie and their conservation in rural communities. The program's services are provided at no cost to the landowners through grants obtained from the Iowa Prairie Network and the state of Iowa. The interns assist landowners with such tasks as removing woody encroachment, prescribed burns, control of exotic species, seeding and formulating a plan of long-term management. Since last spring, 15 students have worked on 13 different sites in Iowa including 8 prairie remnant sites, three savanna sites, one fen wetland area and one prairie reconstruction site.

Monsanto Company serves farmers with high-quality seeds, Roundupâ herbicide and selective herbicides that control specific weeds in corn, rice and wheat. As part of a continued habitat restoration effort, the Muscatine plant undertook a Sand Prairie Restoration Project as part of the Big Sand Mound Nature Preserve. The project has allowed more than 140 acres of land to be restored to native prairie habitat and additionally provides educational opportunities for area schools and is utilized by a variety of groups in the community. Since 1993, more than 60 acres of land have been completely reseeded with eight prairie grass species and 21 prairie wildflower species. An additional 40 acres of land were allowed to succession with intervention of mowing each fall. Another 40 acres were developed into five separate areas - two areas over-seeded with bluestem grass, a succession area, an old fence line growth of trees enhanced with additional tree planting, and a one acre butterfly garden. The project is overseen by a volunteer group of Monsanto employees from the Muscatine plant. The group has also received assistance from the Muscatine and Louisa County Conservation Boards and from the Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge and Prairie Learning Center. A local Boy Scout Eagle project constructed benches for the butterfly garden and a connecting pathway and plots were adopted by plant employees to water and maintain.

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