RenewAire Becomes WindMade Pioneer
Member With the Help of MGE’s Green
Power Tomorrow Program
When RenewAire, a local manufacturer of energy
recovery ventilation systems, opened its doors in
1978, U.S. manufacturers were in crisis mode. The
Arab oil embargo and various other energy shocks
of the era had forced companies to take a hard look
at their business practices. “We knew energy efficiency was critical to long-term competitiveness and
that became a key management criteria,” said Doug
Steege, vice president of marketing and sales at the
70-employee Madison-based company. “We wanted
to be as energy efficient as possible in our manufacturing processes and facility operations, and to
create products that allowed our customers to save
energy too.”
In the decades since that time, energy efficiency has
remained top of mind for RenewAire. The company
has installed more than 150,000 energy-efficient
ventilation systems in homes and businesses from
Puerto Rico to Point Barrow, Alaska. And when its
continuing success drove the construction of new
office and manufacturing space in 2005, RenewAire
designed it to qualify for LEED (at the Silver level),
Green Globes and ENERGY STAR® certifications. As
part of its commitment to efficiency and renewable
energy, RenewAire also joined MGE’s Green Power
Tomorrow (GPT) program and now gets 100% of its
electricity from renewable energy sources, largely
wind. It’s through participation in GPT that RenewAire
hopes to achieve its latest energy efficiency goal:
certification as a WindMade company. They are
currently going through the certification process.
Doug Steege, vice president of marketing and sales, RenewAire.
An international organization launched in November
2011, WindMade promotes and certifies the use of
wind-generated electricity for businesses around the
world. Vestas, one of the world’s largest producers of
wind power technologies, founded the organization,
which has quickly garnered international interest,
including support from the United Nations.
RenewAire is one of the few U.S. companies to be a
pioneering member of the group. In this role, the
company has played an active part in offering feedback on the criteria that will be used in the WindMade
certification process. And RenewAire encouraged
MGE, as their wind power supplier, to do the same.
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“When WindMade put its certification criteria out for
public comments we were very interested in sharing
our thoughts,” said Laura Williams, market development manager for MGE. “We thought it important that
WindMade heard from utilities in smaller markets like
MGE who provide renewable energy for local businesses through regional programs like GPT. We’ve
worked diligently to create a program (GPT) that delivers renewable energy in a manner that’s consistent
with industry standards for determining what constitutes qualified renewable resources. We are proud to
support RenewAire’s pursuit of WindMade certification of their wind power purchase through GPT.”
For Steege, being involved in the development of
an international wind power certification process is
just the latest example of RenewAire’s lifetime commitment to efficiency—a commitment he believes is
integral to the company’s success. “U.S. companies
operate in an international marketplace, and if we
continue to use existing systems and processes
we are not going to remain viable. Other countries
are gaining competitive advantage over us because
they’re actively working to become more efficient
and they’re using renewable energy.”
Although RenewAire could support wind power by
purchasing renewable energy credits at the national
level, the company is glad to have a local option.
“We are strongly supportive of local investment,”
Steege said. “This helps to create jobs and keeps
the local economy growing. We appreciate the investments MGE has made in local wind power and that
they’ve offered consumers and businesses a way to
sustain it. I know that MGE makes good long-term
investments in renewable energy and that our company’s support will help to further their efforts.”
“RenewAire has always been at the forefront of issues
related to sustainability and renewable energy, and
it’s no surprise that they’re a pioneer in these certification efforts,” said Bob Maney, senior account
manager at MGE. “We’re very excited that they’ve
chosen to support local wind power through MGE and
hopeful that our product meets the standards of an
international brand.”
Energy certification programs
RenewAire has been certified by three of the most
widely recognized and respected energy efficiency
programs:
ENERGY STAR certified buildings typically use 35%
less energy than average buildings and cost 50 cents
less per square foot to operate. They tend to have
higher occupancy rates, increased asset value and
lower carbon emissions.
Green Globes is a green building assessment and
certification system that is designed to offer effective,
practical and affordable ways to advance the overall
environmental performance and sustainability of
commercial buildings. The program is under the jurisdiction of the Green Building Initiative, a not-for-profit
organization.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) is a green building rating system developed
and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council.
LEED certification provides independent, third-party
verification that a building, home or community was
designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and
environmental health: sustainable site development,
water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection
and indoor environmental quality.
For more information about these certification programs
visit: mge.com/certify.
Learn more about Green Power Tomorrow
Want to learn more about Green Power Tomorrow?
Visit mge.com/gogreen or call our Business Energy
Line at 252-7007.