6.2. SR 07-17-2017City of
Elk az
—
River
Request for Action
To
Item Number
Mayor and City Council
6.2
Agenda Section
Meeting Date
Prepared by
Presentations, Awards,
July 17, 2017
Amanda Bednar, Environmental Coordinator
and Recognitions
Item Description
Reviewed by
Climate Smart Municipalities — Germany Tour 2017
Cal Portner, City Administrator
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Presentation on the Climate Smart Municipalities Germany Tour 2017.
Background/Discussion
Cal Portner and Amanda Bednar toured the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany from June 17-25,
2017, as a part of the Climate Smart Municipalities (CSM) partnership. This was the second year of the
CSM three-year grant through the Germany Transatlantic Program, also known as the Marshall Plan.
Five Minnesota Cities (Elk River, Morris, Warren, Duluth, and Rochester) were selected to partner with
five North Rhine-Westphalia communities (Iserlohn, Saerbeck, Arnsberg, Siegen, and Munster) to
collaborate on climate and energy smart projects and programs. The goal of the partnership is to help
Minnesota cities achieve the state's "Next Generation Energy Act" goal of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions at least 30% below 2005 levels by 2025, while boosting the local economy.
The delegation of 27 members represented the five communities, the MN Environmental Quality Board,
the MN Department of Commerce, the Great Plains Institute, and University of Minnesota traveled to
Germany. The delegation met with German agencies including the Germany Foreign Office, the North
Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and
Consumer Protection, International Relations at the EnergyAgency.NRW and numerous local officials.
The delegation traveled throughout the state, visiting local businesses, meeting community leaders and
expanding on much of the discussion from the 2016 delegation. This year we were fortunate enough to
spend more time with our partner city of Iserlohn.
Saerbeck (Morris)
■ Youth education and conference center focused on environmental topics
Drive through local Munsterlandische Parklanschaft — land use and restoration
Tour of local beef cattle farm
■ Saerbeck Bio -Energy Park
Arnsberg (Warren)
■ TRILUX "Simplify Your Light" light manufacturing company
■ Arnsberg Municipal Utilities and its Campus: Entrepreneurial, Scientific and Product
Specific Perspectives
NaA f RE]
■ Stadtwerke Campus Tour
■ Castle Ruins
Iserlohn (Elk River)
■ Lobbe Tour - Europe's most modern sorting facility for recyclables
■ SASE exhibit and information about history of waste management and education center
■ District heat system in Iserlohn
■ Historic city walking tour
■ Dechenhohle cave
■ Schluter System WorkBox tour
■ Barendort village museum
■ E -Bike tour
■ 135 meter Wind Power Plant Turbine
Munster (Rochester)
■ Peace Hall
■ Guided city tour on electric bus
Elk River and Energy City goals for this partnership are:
■ Advance and expand environmental education related to energy efficiency via interactive
learning opportunities
■ Advance electric vehicle education and promotion of charging station
■ Increase recycling tonnage and organics recycling participation
■ Implement goals from updated Climate Action Plan
Financial Impact
None
Attachments
■ N/A
ELKRIVER
EN=R
THE ROWER OF EFFICIENT
Climate Smart
Municipalities
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P O w E R 1 QPAi
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Climate Smart Municipalities
■ Goals:
■ Reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 30% below 2005 levels by 2025
■ Reduce Carbon Footprint
■ Assure economic prosperity
■ Comprehensive sustainability practices Elk River-
■ Model different sized communities/economies
Morris Saerbeck
Warren Arnsberg
Duluth Siegen
Rochester Munster
German Partners
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Landwrirtsckraft, Natury and Verbraucherschutz
des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
■ Germany's Foreign Office
■ Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
■ North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Climate Protection,
Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer
Protection (MKULNV)
Saerbeck
■ Youth education and conference center focused on environmental
topics
■ Drive through local Munsterlandische Parklanschaft — land use and
restoration
■ Tour of local beef cattle farm
■ Saerbeck Bio -Energy Park
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Arnsberg
■ TRILUX "Simplify Your Light" light manufacturing company
■ Arnsberg Municipal Utilities and its Campus: Entrepreneurial,
Scientific and Product Specific Perspectives
■ Stadtwerke Campus Tour
■ Castle Ruins
t
Iserlohn
■ Lobbe Tour - Europe's most modern sorting facility for recyclables
■ SASE exhibit and information about history of waste management and
education center
■ District heat system in Iserlohn
■ Historic city walking tour
■ Dechenhohle cave
■ Schluter System WorkBox tour
■ Barendort village museum
■ E -Bike tour
■ 1-35 meter Wind Power Plant Turbine
N
Munster
■ Peace Hall
■ Guided city tour on electric bus
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Iserlohn Projects
■ deZem Energy Controlling:
energy management software
tracking use down to 15 minute
intervals
■ Efficient street lighting and
remote monitoring
■ Education with residents about
energy efficiency and city
improvements
(jet2em
energy controlling
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Future Goals
■ Energy City 10 -year Action Plan: Implement and advance actions
within this plan
■ Electric vehicle promotion and education — one charging station
already installed, fast charger planned
■ Increase recycling tonnage and organics recycling participation
■ Energy management software — possible deZem pilot
■ Increase education and interactive learning related to energy