By Alex Chhith
Murphy News Service
The city of Eden Prairie invested $500,000 in 2013 to pay for energy efficient projects, as a part of a nine-year initiative aimed at reducing energy usage.
The 20/40/15 initiative was introduced by Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens to city staff in December 2005. Progress to save energy started in 2006 with goals to increase energy efficiency in city buildings by 20 percent and improve fuel efficiency in city vehicles by 40 percent by 2015.
The goals, if met, will save the city a million dollars every four years when compared to 2005 expenditures.
The city has almost reached those goals, said project managers Paul Sticha and Cliff Cracauer, adding that the city should meet and even surpass its goals.
The city will exceed its fuel efficiency goals by 4 percent, Sticha said.
The initial price tag of the projects was expensive, but will pay off, Sticha added.
Eden Prairie in 2013 invested $500,000 in energy saving projects, Sticha said, adding that the city’s building projects will save $60,000 worth of energy per year.
New appliances bought by the city would last at least 20 years before they would need to be replaced and savings from the projects will amount to their initial cost within 10 years.
Some the projects include installing low-hanging ceilings in indoor ice rinks and replacing old furnaces in firehouses with more efficient ones.
Employee training and increased fuel efficiency also save the city an additional $50,000 a year.
Having cars idle for shorter amounts of time and adjusting tire pressure save a lot of money, Cracauer said, who added that idling by city police cars has decreased 20 percent since the initiative was started.
“The fuel economy in our police cars has doubled,” Cracauer said.
Police cars now get 22 to 24 mpg, as compare to 2005’s 12 to 14 mpg.
However, Cracauer said, some vehicles with higher fuel efficiency capability are impossible to use in Minnesota’s cold winters.
“Electric hybrid cars get 200 miles to the gallon,” Cracauer said, “but they don’t work well in the winter.”
Some inefficient vehicles have not yet been replaced. The city must cycle when it can afford to replace bigger, less energy-efficient vehicles such as snowplows and dump trucks, which can slow the improvement process somewhat.
“Snowplows get replaced every 15 years,” Cracauer said, “We haven’t been able to switch them out – even though they only get 3.5 mpg.”
Eden Prairie’s environmental efforts won’t stop when the initiative’s goals are met at the end of this year.
The city plans to use new, more energy-efficient technology when it becomes available and continue to replace city appliances with more efficient ones, Cracauer said.
Alexandria Chhith is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.