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Contact: Carolyn Marinan, Communications, 612-348-5969
This Earth Day, Hennepin County highlights four focus areas
that staff are implementing to help protect the environment.
Powering with renewable solar energy
Hennepin County is one of 31 local governments in the Twin
Cities metro area that are investing in solar energy through community solar
gardens. The solar gardens will be constructed later this summer. Once they are
up and running, Hennepin County will subscribe to eight solar gardens that will
produce 3.7 million kWh of electricity annually. That’s equivalent to powering
400 homes or 4 percent of Hennepin County’s energy use.
This project recently won the 2017
Environmental Initiative Awards in the community
action category.
Reducing energy use in county buildings
Hennepin County’s largest energy user is our buildings. In
2013, Hennepin County created a goal to reduce energy use in our buildings 20
percent by 2020—3 percent each year over 7 years. The county is on track to
meet this goal, but will need to continue to prioritize conservation and
efficiency. Success by 2020 means saving enough energy annually to power 35 out
of our 41 Hennepin County libraries for the entire year.
Hennepin County uses a variety of technologies to save
energy, including approximately 200,000 sensors inside buildings to monitor energy use. These sensors
alert staff when there is a problem, saving about $1 million each year.
Nearly half of the county’s energy use is for heating and
cooling buildings. Energy recovery wheels are used to return 70 percent of
exhausted heat back into the building. LED lighting saves 60 percent of energy
over standard lighting. Staff work behind the scenes to improve efficiencies
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a daily basis.
Fighting emerald ash borer
Ash trees are threatened by emerald ash borer, an invasive
tree pest from Asia. In Hennepin County alone, there are more than 1 million
ash trees in yards, parks and streets. That’s about 15 percent of the tree
canopy. Hennepin County is responding to the emerald ash borer threat by:
- Proactively removing and replacing ash trees.
- Inventorying and monitoring trees
- Diversifying trees in our communities
The county offers information
about how to identify ash trees, sign of emerald ash borer, and options for
managing ash trees.
Trees are an integral part of the natural resources system
and provide numerous benefits including conserving energy, managing stormwater,
mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, filtering air, alleviating the urban
heat-island effect, creating habitat, and enhancing the local food supply.
Reducing waste
Hennepin County is a national leader in recycling. In 2016,
82 percent of the waste generated in Hennepin County was diverted from
landfills and reused, recycled, composted, or burned to create energy.
New initiatives include the Zero
Waste Challenge, promoting food waste prevention, adding a recycling option
for non-reusable clothing and linens at the county’s drop-off facilities, and
expanding a reuse program at apartment buildings to collect furniture and other
household goods.
These new initiatives complement the existing programs that
continue to be strong include Master Recycler/Composter volunteers, Fix-It
Clinics, recycling grants, medicine collection and environmental education.
Learn more about our latest recycling efforts in the 2016
Recycling Progress Report.
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Look for more news on the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
Discover how we're making a difference in our communities at www.hennepin.us/stories.
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