Hutchinson: Community Partner in the ENERGY STAR Challenge
Hutchinson may be Minnesota’s Manufacturing City, but Minnesota’s hometown is home to much more. The City of Hutchinson became a Community Partner in the ENERGY STAR Challenge in order to offer the businesses, churches, and housing centers that make up our city, an incredible opportunity to improve their bottom lines through energy reduction and efficiency improvements.
The City, in partnership with the Great Plains Institute, the U.S. Green Business Council, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce offered technical support to track and reduce energy use. The City assisted in identifying interested property owners and helped them to take the next step in their energy reduction and to become ENERGY STAR certified. These efforts improved the economic vitality of the businesses that make Hutchinson such a unique place, while solidifying our city’s place as a leader in outstate Minnesota.
The City’s involvement as a Community Partner included holding a successful kickoff event for the ENERGY STAR Challenge on Thursday, April 21st, 2016 at Faith Lutheran Church to show not only what services were offered to save energy, but also demonstrate that energy efficiency is already something that is happening in our community! Faith Lutheran in 2010 installed geothermal wells to heat and cool their place of worship. At this event we highlighted that success, as well as others around our community, to show how easy it is to do your part to help the environment. We also talked about how to go about making your building more energy efficient, and what free services the ENERGY STAR Challenge team offers to help you track your building’s energy usage.
Who can benefit from the resources provided by the Energy Star Challenge?
Anyone owning a business, representing a nonprofit (including Churches!), or operating a building!
- Churches
- Medical offices
- Office buildings
- Multi-family housing
- Senior Care Facilities
- Retail Spaces
- Businesses
One important goal of the Challenge was to achieve recognition of sustainability and efficiency throughout our beautiful city! That’s why the Challenge offered financial assistance to participants to achieve ENERGY STAR Certification for their building! When growing body of research demonstrates that ENERGY STAR certified buildings on average use 35% less energy than comparable buildings, command higher occupancy rates and rental premiums, and reduce air emissions as well as operating costs, applying for certification can only add benefit to your buildings, business, or organization.