Engaging Green Businesses in Your Community

In this webinar, presented live on December 15, 2021, we learned how cities can promote, support, and engage the green businesses in their community. 

Agenda: 

9:00 am - Welcome

9:15 - Olivia Dorow Hovland, Sustainability Planner - Coon Rapids

• Community Sustainability Partnership

9:35 - Wendy Gorski, Sustainable Stillwater

• Stillwater Area Green Business Directory & Awards

9:55 - Annie Pottorff, Sustainability Specialist - St. Louis Park 

• Climate Champions 

10:15 - Patrick Hanlon, Director of Environmental Programs - Minneapolis 

• Green Cost Share Program

10:35 - Gabrielle Martin, Associate Engineer - MnTAP 

11:00 Conclude

View the workshop recording: 

View the slides and additional materials:

 

Resources: 

• Coon Rapids Community Sustainability Partnership
• Stillwater Area Green Business Directory and Awards
• St. Louis Park Climate Champions 
• Minneapolis Green Cost Share Program
• Minneapolis Green Cost Share program increases clean energy support (CERTs, 2021)
• MnTAP - The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program Strengthens Minnesota businesses by improving efficiency while saving money through energy, water, and waste reduction.
• RETAP - The Minnesota Retiree Environmental Technical Assistance Program (RETAP) employs skilled, retired professionals to provide facility assessments and community sustainability assistance to small businesses, institutions, and communities in Minnesota.
• Waste Wise - MN Chamber of Commerce program to help educate and train your company, and find ways to control waste costs and connect with grants to fund recycling program improvements.
• Energy Smart - MN Chamber of Commerce program to guide your business to find energy and cost saving opportunities.
• Clean Energy Resource Teams
• MPCA - small business assistance

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• 2.4 Describe energy/water efficiency outcomes and other green building practices at businesses and not-for-profit organizations located within/nearby the city.
• 25.1 Grow new/emerging green businesses and green jobs through targeted assistance and new workforce development.
• 25.2 Create or participate in a marketing/outreach program to connect businesses with assistance providers, including utilities, who provide personalized energy, waste or sustainability audits and assistance.
• 25.6 Promote green businesses that are recognized under a local, regional or national program.
• 25.7 Conduct or participate in a buy local campaign for community members and local businesses.

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

New Approaches to Parking Management

In this webinar, presented live on November 17, 2021, we learned about the 'new approaches to parking management' and heard from cities addressing parking issues. 

Agenda: 

9:00 am - Welcome

9:05-9:35 - Barb Thoman, RETAP and GreenStep Cities Advisor

• NEW Approaches to Parking Management Guide

9:35-10:05 - Tony Johnson, Senior Planner - City of Saint Paul

10:05-10:40 - Small Group Discussions

• Are your municipal parking requirements helping or hindering your city’s ability to meet it’s goals?
• What changes do you think would make sense?
• What barriers do you see to improving regulation and management of parking?
• What resources or technical assistance would be helpful to you?

10:40-11:00 Report Back

11:00 Conclude

View the workshop recording: 

View the slides and additional materials:

 Resources: 

• New approaches to parking management Guide (Barb Thoman, 2021)

• St. Paul parking ordinance

• Electric Vehicle ordinances

• Reducing Transportation Emissions Through Better Zoning (Great Plains Institute, 2019)
  
• BPAs 3.3, 6.5, 9.4, 14.1
• Living Streets Best Practices (GreenStep Cities, BP 11)

• American Planning Association Planning Magazine

• National Parking Reform Network 

• Streetsblog (and Talking Headways podcast)

• streets.mn

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• Transportation
• 14.1 Reduce or eliminate parking minimums; add parking maximums; develop district parking; install meters and charge for parking at curb and city-owned lots/ramps.
• Land Use
• 6.2 Demonstrate that regulatory ordinances comply with the comprehensive plan including but not limited to having the zoning ordinance explicitly reference the comprehensive plan as the foundational document for decision making.
• 6.5 Adopt climate mitigation and/or energy independence goals and objectives in the comprehensive plan or in a separate policy document, and include transportation recommendations such as becoming an EV-ready city.

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

RETAP Celebrates 20 Years!

The Minnesota Retired Environmental Professionals Assistance Program (RETAP) has been providing free help to Minnesotans for two decades. A virtual presentation on October 27th, co-hosted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Minnesota GreenStep Cities, highlighted the program’s achievements.

We celebrated the program’s facility assessments and community sustainability projects. RETAPers have completed 422 facility assessments over that past 20 years. After a facility assessment, the assessors draft a report with recommendations. Reports identify retrofits, equipment upgrades, and behavior changes with payback projections. All the proposed recommendations over the years add up to savings of over $4 million. Facilities are encouraged to address all the “low hanging fruit” opportunities. These are things like lighting retrofits and a prescribed control of indoor temperatures. This mix of behavioral and equipment changes has experienced a high implementation rate.

The community sustainability team has been involved in highly impactful work. Work has ranged from quantifying the true cost of public parking, municipal water, urban trees, bike lanes, and more. Providing metrics and realistic action plans has been their recipe for success. RETAP work has engaged local government staff and elected officials in sustainability. This work has supported better long-term decision-making. It often provides the groundwork for continuous improvements.

Agenda: 

9:00: Welcome & Introductions
9:15-9:20 - RETAP overview - Alison Cameron, MPCA
9:20-9:40 - Community Sustainability - Michael Orange and Barb Thoman
9:40-9:55 - Facility Assessments overview - Don Bailey and Rick Person
10:05-10:20 - RETAP highlight projects - Rick Person
10:20-10:40 - RETAP History - Tom Segar
10:40-11:00 - Who should utilize RETAP services, and why? - Rin Porter and Rick Person

View the recording: 

View the slides and additional materials: 

Resources: 

• RETAP website and contacts 
• Join RETAP - applicants may be retired engineers, scientists, managers, or other professionals from a wide range of technical and non-technical fields. You must be a self-starter and independent worker, and be comfortable working with computers. 

• 20-Years of RETAP Infographic

• Road Diet Summary (Barb Thoman)

• New Approaches to Parking Management Guide (Barb Thoman) and Nov. 17 webinar

• West Saint Paul Sustainability Assessment (Michael Orange)

• EAB cost-benefit analysis calculator (Michael Orange)

• Addressing the Sustainability Gap in the Development Review Process (Michael Orange)

Best Practice Actions Related to this Topic: 

• 1.3 Invest in larger energy efficiency projects through performance contracting or other funding or through smaller retro-commissioning/retrofit projects in city-owned/school buildings.
• 2.4 Describe energy/water efficiency outcomes and other green building practices at businesses and not-for-profit organizations located within/nearby the city.
• 25.2 Create or participate in a marketing/outreach program to connect businesses with assistance providers, including utilities, who provide personalized energy, waste or sustainability audits and assistance. 

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

How City Commissions can Advance Sustainability

In this webinar, presented live on October 20, 2021, we learned about how city commissions can set goals and work towards sustainable actions.

Agenda:
9:00: Welcome & Introductions
9:15-9:35 - Michael Orange - RETAP consultant

• Addressing the Sustainability Gap in the Development Review Process: a guide for empowering environmental committees

9:35-9:45 - John Anderson, Conservation Minnesota

• Environmental Commissioner resources (Conference, email listserve, etc.)

9:45-10:00 - Tina Folch - Contract Manager, City of Red Wing; Council Member, City of Hastings
10:05-10:20 - Carolyn Jackson - Council Member, City of Edina
10:25-10:40 - Tim Sandry - Chair, Sustainability Commission, City of Bloomington

• Best practices for starting an Environmental Commission

10:40-11:00 - Q&A and open discussion
11:00 - conclusion

View the workshop recording: 

View the slides and additional materials: 

Resources:

• Addressing the Sustainability Gap in the Development Process: A Guide for Empowering Environmental Committees

        Summary:    

• Green Team Guide 2021: BP 24- benchmarks and community engagement 

• Environmental Commissioners email group - share stories, questions, or success with your colleagues on the commissions listserve: eccmn@googlegroups.com. (Email John Anderson to be added)

• Local community coalitions (source: Resilient Cities & Communities)

• County Clusters, coordinated by Resilient Cities & Communities, are comprised of leaders from citizen coalitions and public commissions who are advancing equity, sustainability, and resilience in their communities.

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• BPA 24.1 - Inclusive and Coordinated Decision-Making: Use a city commission or committee to lead, coordinate, report to and engage community members on the identification and equitable implementation of sustainability best practices.

• And ALL of the GreenStep BPAs :)

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

Equitable Community Engagement

In this webinar, presented live on September 22, 2021, we learned about conducting community engagement in an equitable and inclusive way. 

Agenda

9:00: Welcome & Introductions
9:15-9:45 - Melissa Birch and Chris Meyer - Central and Southeast Regional Coordinators, Clean Energy Resource Teams

• Green Team Guide (coming soon!)
• BP 24 overview and updates

9:45 - 9:55 - Q&A
9:55-10:05 - Kevin Bright - Energy and Sustainability Director, City of Rochester and Destination Medical Center

• Sustainability and Resiliency Task Force
• Discovery Walk

10:05-10:15 - Jonee Brigham - Senior Research Fellow, Minnesota Design Center

• D4CR - Design for Community Regeneration

10:15-10:25 - Becky LaPlant - Public Policy Program Associated (Retired), Blandin Foundation 

• Itasca Area Circle of Healing

10:25-10:35 - Wendy Thompson - Executive Director, Beltrami Area Resiliency Team

• 100 Cups of Coffee

10:35-10:55 - Q&A and open discussion
11:00 - conclusion

View the PDF and additional materials: 

Resources: 

• See the PowerPoints above for many more! 
• 2021 Green Team Guide: Best Practice 24
• 21st Century Development
• Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) MN Cohorts 
• MN BIPOC Local Elected Leaders Network
• Why Treaties Matter
• IllumiNative

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• 24.1 - Inclusive and Coordinated Decision-Making: Use a city commission or committee to lead, coordinate, report to and engage community members on the identification and equitable implementation of sustainability best practices.
• 24.2 - Communicating Progress on Goals: Organize goals/outcome measures from all city plans (social, environmental, economic) and report to community members data that show progress toward meeting these goals.
• 24.3 - Measuring Outcomes: Engage community members and partners in identifying, measuring, and reporting progress on key sustainability and social indicators/ including energy use/greenhouse gas emissions, social vitality/social inclusion outcome measures.
• 24.4 - Public Education for Action: Conduct or support a broad sustainability education and action campaign, building on existing city & community relationships, networks & events involving:
• • a. The entire community, community leaders
  • b. Homeowners, manufactured home communities, landlords and tenants
  • c. Community-based organizations, block clubs, neighborhood associations, front yards/sidewalks
  • d. Congregations.
  • e. Schools, colleges.
• 24.5 - Planning with a Purpose: Conduct a community visioning and planning initiative that engages a diverse set of community members & stakeholders and uses a sustainability, resilience, or environmental justice framework such as:
• a. Strong Towns, Resiliency, Transition, Appreciative Inquiry.
• b. Eco-municipalities, Smart Cities, Healthy Communities. 
• c. Environmental Justice, Race Equity, Equitable Development.
• 24.6 - Engaging the Next Generation: Engage wide representation of community youth and college students by creating opportunities to participate in city government (including commissions).
• 24.7 - Expanding Community Engagement: Engage Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), renters, low-income, new Americans, differently abled and other traditionally under-represented community members by encouragement, and support to participate in current and new opportunities to participate in city government.

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

Maintaining Green Infrastructure

In this webinar, presented live on September 8, 2021, we learned about the the importance and best management practices of green infrastructure maintenance.

So you installed some green infrastructure (yay!) - but now what?

Green infrastructure is an approach to managing urban wet weather impacts that mimics, restores, or maintains natural hydrology. Green infrastructure includes a wide array of practices, including infiltrating, evapotranspiring, or harvesting and using stormwater. Examples of green infrastructure include: 

• Vegetated filter strips at the edges of paved surfaces
• Residential or commercial rain gardens designed to capture and soak in stormwater
• Porous pavers, porous concrete, and porous asphalt
• Rain barrels and cisterns; Green roofs

Agenda
9:00: Welcome & Introduction
9:05-9:15: Random Networking
9:15-9:30 - Carlee Kjeldahl - Environmental Specialist, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
9:30-9:50 - James Wolfin - Sustainable Landcare Manager: Turf Alternatives, Metro Blooms
9:50-10:10 - Anna Eleria - Planning, Projects, and Grants Division Manager, Capital Region Watershed District
10:10-10:30 - Douglas Snyder - Executive Director, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
10:30-10:50 - Mark Maloney - Public Works Director, City of Shoreview
10:50-11:00 - Q&A and open discussion
11:00 - conclusion

View the PDF and additional materials:

Resources: 

• Minnesota Stormwater Manual 
• Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) and sustainable stormwater management 
• Operation and maintenance of green stormwater infrastructure best management practices
• Lawns to Legumes and partner resources, BWSR
• Resources to manage invasive species 
• Blue Thumb workshops & events 
• Capital Region Watershed District raingarden maintenance and Gardening Guide 
• Smart Salting training, MPCA

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• 16.6 Build community capacity to protect existing trees by one or more of:

• a. Having trained tree specialists.

• b. Supporting volunteer forestry efforts.

• c. Adopting an EAB/forest management plan or climate adaptation plan for the urban forest.

• 17.5 Adopt and implement guidelines or design standards/incentives for at least one of the following stormwater infiltration/reuse practices:

• a. Rain gardens/infiltration practices.

• b. Rainwater harvesting practices.

• c. Green alleys or green parking lots.

• d. Pervious/permeable pavement or pavers.

• e. Green roofs / green walls.

• f. Tree trenches / tree boxes.

• g. Incorporate compost and/or native plants into landscape design.

• 18.4 Adopt low-impact design standards in parks and trails that infiltrate or retain all 2 inch, 24-hour stormwater events on site.

• 18.5 Create park/city land management standards/practices that maximize at least one of the following:

• a. Low maintenance turf management; native landscaping; organic or integrated pest management; pollinator/monarch-safe policies.

• b. Recycling/compostables collection; use of compost as a soil amendment.

• c. Sources of nonpotable water, or surface/rain water, for irrigation.

• 18.8 Develop a program to involve community members in hands-on land restoration, invasive species management and stewardship projects.

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.