COMMUNITIES
Today in the places where we live and work there is a resurgence of interest for things local. Increasingly, community members want revitalized downtowns with thriving local businesses and local food options like farmer’s markets, co-ops and farm-to-table restaurants. And people want “homegrown” local energy. This is where MEO comes in with our expertise in driving projects that create greater energy efficiency in buildings and more renewable energy generation like solar.
- State of Michigan Community Energy Management Program
Since 2015, MEO and partner nonprofits continue to bring our collective energy expertise to bear on issues facing municipalities across the state that often lack the in-house capacity to address. Our current work has MEO and partners hosting energy management workshop opportunities across the Lower Peninsula. These workshops engage with communities to increase understanding of energy management practices and renewable energy opportunities. The State of Michigan Energy Office is funding our work, along with our partners: EcoWorks and SEEDS.
MEO Contact: Michael Larson
- Community Solar
The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), City of East Lansing, City of Lansing and MEO are partnering to provide BWL electric customers the opportunity to enjoy solar power without having to install panels on their property. A community solar park will be developed in a location optimally positioned for solar exposure, at Burcham Park in East Lansing. The park is slated to produce up to 300 kilowatts of renewable energy, which translates into 1,000 300-watt solar panels.
MEO assisted the Marquette Board of Light & Power (MBLP) to bring the Upper Peninsula’s first community solar garden online. This community solar garden has 480 315-watt solar panels which produce renewable energy for MBLP electric customers who have signed on as participants of the program.
MEO Contact: John Kinch
- Detroit Solar Feasibility Assessment
Michigan Energy options is partnering with Elevate Energy, Data Driven Detroit, EcoWorks, Detroit Collaborative Design Center, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center to complete a Solar Energy Generation Feasibility Assessment for the City of Detroit. The purpose of this project is to complete a broad feasibility assessment for models of solar energy generation within the unique opportunities and constraints that exist in Detroit. The project will create an online interactive Solar Capacity Map, an Equitable Solar Deployment Guide including best practices for solar design, Solar Policy Deployment Guide, and financial models assessing various typologies and methodologies for solar deployment.
MEO Contact: Tim Skrotzki
- Capital Area Housing Partnership
MEO assists the Capital Area Housing Partnership (CAHP) with the refurbishment of distressed houses in the Lansing area. We conduct HERS ratings on homes to initiate a project and confirm the final upgrades to ensure that the home has met its energy efficiency goals, including the ASHRAE 62-89 Minimum Building Airflow Standards. Our work helps assure that all of the thermal boundary upgrades have not made the home unsafe for the occupants.
MEO Contact: Brandon Malaski
- Affordable Multifamily Energy Efficiency Services
After completing a $500,000 Affordable Multifamily Energy Efficiency program with Consumers Energy, including completing 65 energy assessments and benchmarking over one million square feet of affordable multifamily housing, MEO continues to work in partnership with Elevate Energy and the Michigan Energy Efficiency for All network and other partners to ensure Michigan’s low-income multifamily residents live in affordable, energy efficient, and healthy homes.
MEO Contact: Tim Skrotzki
- Western Upper Peninsula Business Energy Audit Program
Partnering with the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR), MEO is conducted energy audits for businesses in the Western Upper Peninsula. Thanks to a grant from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program, participants were eligible to have 75% of their audit costs covered.
MEO Contact: Michael Larson
- Regional Recycling Events
MEO has been a proud supporter of local and regional recycling events for many years. We are an active member of the Recycle Rama Planning Committee, which hosts the Greater Lansing area’s largest annual recycling event, and we proudly sponsor Recycle! East Lansing each year.
MEO Contact: Brandon Kawalec
- Lansing Energy Fitness
For decades the City of Lansing and MEO have combined efforts to bring energy efficiency and homeowner education to Lansing’s households in need. This program includes the direct installation of energy products that help make homes more comfortable to live in and reduces energy bills.
MEO Contact: Brandon Malaski
More on Energy Fitness, call 517-337-0422.
- Ingham County Land Bank
MEO provides pre- and post-construction HERS certifications on abandoned, tax-seized and foreclosed properties that the Ingham County Land Bank rehabilitates for sale to the public. Our assessments of these property help to ensure these houses will be energy efficient and healthy for their new owners.
MEO Contact: Brandon Malaski