Interagency Pollution Prevention Advisory Team

MEETING MINUTES

February 27, 2014

MPCA – Training Room 2

9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Introductions

The meeting opened with introductions as there are always new attendees.

Agenda and Minutes

Following introductions all around, the agenda was approved. The minutes from November 21, 2013, were also approved as amended by Joe Arel, DEED.

Special Certificate Awards

Rick Patraw welcomed two past IPPAT participants who no longer serve as representatives—Gene Christenson from the University of Minnesota and Roger Wirkkunen from the Department of Revenue. Both men have stepped down for new representatives to participate in IPPAT. Rick thanked them for sharing their wisdom and experience over the seven to fifteen years they served, and issued them each a “Certificate of Commendation” signed by Governor Dayton. Another Certificate is being mailed to John Thompson who recently retired from the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.

They shared that collaboration, historical carryover, staffing and outreach have been key to the continuation of IPPAT over the years. Gene would still like to see IPPAT added to the Northstar Website one day.

Mike Nevala noted that the mission and wording changed under the Executive Orders from subsequent Governors from “pollution prevention” to “sustainability” as well.

Presentation – “Review of Revised IPPAT Web Page and Tool Kit” by Jeanne Giernet, MPCA

Jeanne demonstrated ways to get to the website within the MPCA site – She explained how the revised Executive Order 11-13 goals and targets are listed on the left sidebar. Opening each of those headings provides full background on each goal:

  • Environmental products
  • Solid Waste
  • Air Pollution
  • Water consumption
  • Energy Use in Leased Buildings
  • Energy Use in State-owned Buildings
  • Fuel

There are also sub-tabs about each of the targets related to the goal. This makes up the “tool kit,” containing explanation and various resources in plain language. These are provided to help agencies with goal implementation. So please sure to bookmark the page for easy access.

If you have questions or suggestions about how to organize the pages, contact Jeanne Giernet at 651-757-2390.

Member Updates

MPCA, Rick Patraw – He is assembling a “dashboard” of IPPAT progress in 2013. It will include graphs and data in a one-page snapshot of red, yellow and green indicators of this progress. This information goes to the Governor and to the Energy and Environment Committee as an update. He noted for example that purchase of bottled water has not gone down; remanufactured toner cartridges were up; and waste diversion of 60% was not doing well at all due to lack of good data. He also stressed that this report is not based on individual agency sustainability plans but based on what can be reported out enterprise-wide. The Governor is interested in state government ding a good job on sustainability.

The objective is to post the results on the IPPAT web site for all to review, or perhaps send it out via GovDelivery.

When asked to define “enterprise-wide” Rick said that this means items that can be measured across all state agencies. For

example, data can be gathered for all agencies such as by the Department of Administration.

E85 Fuel Station List

Linda announced that the link to get this list is now working again. Agencies are encouraged to print out the statewide list of E85 fuel locations and keep the list in all leased or state-owned fleets. She also offered brochures that contained the list. This same link is available on the IPPAT web site under the “Fuel” tab/Gasoline and Fueling sub-tabs -

MCES, Mike Nevala – Announcements and updates on metro environmental services include:

  • Leo Hermes retired after 35 years as Manager of the Industrial Waste and Pollution Prevention Section. He received the initial EPA grant that led to P2 in the Twin Cities and the creation ofIPPAT. Leo was a founder of the pretreatment program and permitting of industrial waste dischargers and the mercury dental amalgam recycling program which has reduced the discharge of mercury by over 50 % to the wastewater treatment plants.
  • Brownfield clean up funds have been awarded to 13 projects, including the Saint’s Ball Field and new Post Office sites in St. Paul. Four million dollars in grants have been distributed to 5 communities.
  • President Obama road the Green Line Light Rail on Feb. 26th when in St. Paul at the newly remodeled Union Depot site. He highlighted sustainable features in the area, such as a rainwater collection system planned for the new Saints Ball Field which collects storm water runoff from nearby roofs.
  • KWIC - Key Water Information Catalog is now available. It’s a unified way water information from an existing database of six agencies.
  • Metropolitan Council got received grant funds from a fitness program offering ten 26 annual subscriptions to employees to check out MN Nice Ride bikes for getting travelling to meetings and other professional and personal purposes.

Mike noted that each agency has its own wellness program which gives out wellness points for such activities.

Veterans Affairs, Mark Paulsen?

  • Their pharmaceutical waste collection project at the Minneapolis campus is going well over the last six months. They’re rolling this out to greater Minnesota.
  • Recycling is starting at the Minneapolis campus too; checking out the program at the Zoo as an example; looking at current processes and hoping to reduce the cost of recycling.

DOT, Jackie Klein – They are also looking at recycling in 800 buildings statewide. Overall, DOT is conducting many projects with various staff toward implementing their sustainability plans.

DMA, Josh Pennington – Josh is the Sustainability Analyst- DMA.

Their top three items are:

  • .Camp Ripley and Arden Hills have Net Zero goals to generate as much energy as they consume; working with National Renewable Energy Lab to conduct Net Zero assessments and workshops.
  • Awareness Campaign being conducted regarding sustainability initiatives. Facilities statewide are receiving sustainability posters and other awareness materials in an effort of engagement.
  • Energy reduction competition beginning April 1st; recognition awards are given to facilities that decrease by 3% from previous year and the overall winner (largest percentage reduction from previous year) will receive an energy efficiency upgrade.

MN Mosquito Control District, Carey LaMere – The District publishes a “Sustainability Report” it is willing to share. The link to the current report is

Rick noted that we consider adding a space on the Sustainability Plan template to note whether individual agencies publish reports. He would also like to know who has done so and would like to see the reports if possible.

Corrections, Reena Solheid

  • The Department seeking a sustainability staff person who would attend IPPAT and oversee ten facilities statewide
  • Steadily reducing bottled water purchases
  • Working with Johanna Kertesz (PCA) and EcoLab to get exemption regarding use of non-contract cleaners [containing triclosan??] that don’t meet the Green Seal standard
  • Milk carton recycling –DOC is trying for a new bid instead of using the American Carton Council. PCA staff are also helping in this effort.
  • Reena is working out arrangements for hosting the May IPPAT meeting at the Warden’s House in Stillwater. She hopes to arrange a tour of the prison if possible.

Linda announced that Mark Wacek said the Metropolitan Airport Commission is hiring a Sustainability Coordinator also to enhance their ongoing sustainability efforts.

UMN, Amy Short

  • UMN published the 2012 -2013 annual sustainability update to the Board of Regents in February. This year the presentation combined sustainability and energy management to streamline the report and connected energy efficiency priorities associated with campus climate action plans. The report includes all campuses statewide. A one-page highlights summarywas also prepared. See the full University of Minnesota Sustainability Report.
  • UMN Twin Cities students compete to save energy this spring. There were competitions locally between residents halls, regionally in the Big 10 Unplugged and nationally in the Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN). National results are being tallied, but the top three residents halls reduced energy by 9300 kWh, that's over $92,000 at the UMN current energy rate.
  • The top three residence halls, Yudof, Bailey, and Frontier, saved a total of 9,306 kWh:
  • Yudof had a 5.2% reduction which saved 7,774 kWh,
  • Bailey had a 1.6% reduction which saved 862 kWh, and
  • Frontier had a 1.0% reduction which saved 670 kWh.

Combined, CCN has resulted in a total savings of about $92,200.00 (based on our rate of $9.91/kWh).

  • Check out the CCN blog at the Sustainability blogspot:
  • A Sustainable Film Series continues, started March 6th on the “Midway Project” regarding bird conservation and plastics. Held at the Bell Museum, two more films will be shown the first Thursday of the month.

Gene Christenson, UMN, noted that the tone of research has become more bio-medical. But the UM has reduced a lot of hazardous and solid waste, and this movement is even stronger now that they are pushing for organic waste recovery. Air, land and water care regarding ice removal and pesticide use has come from IPPAT and others urging toxicity reduction. Improved transportation for cleaner air is in response to all the information IPPAT gets out to the public to promote behavior change.

MnTAP, Laura Babcock –The Minnesota Technical Assistance Program is open for summer intern applications through March 28. They seek applications from junior or senior college students to work on waste reduction and energy efficiency projects at companies in Minnesota. Intern projects for the summer of 2014 have been selected in locations around the state. See

Commerce/Energy, Laura Silver

Laura brought two printouts of programs at Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources:

  • Guaranteed Energy Savings Program (GESP):
  • 2013 Energy Legislation Overview:

Dept. of Revenue, Roger Wirkkunen – Revenue is redoing all lighting and rewiring ballasts and switches. They expect energy savings but no payback over the next twenty years.

Presentation/Discussion – “What new targets should IPPAT measure Enterprise-wide for 2014”Rick Patraw and Linda Countryman
Rick introduced this topic stating that we had agreed earlier to look at what we can agree upon to measure for the next report to the Governor. We have prepared background information to help in the discussion to follow.

The purpose of this topic is to plan now for what to report to Governor in September 2014 by choosing from new 2013 EO 11-13 goals which goals/targets are most feasible by all to complete, and if so, what metrics are feasible for measuring progress. The two that staff suggest are those to be completed by 6/30/14:

  1. Print assessments by state agencies; and
  2. Water distribution audits by state agencies

Staff explained why, what and by whom these two assessments would be done. The background document (handed out) gave most of the rationale and detail behind what could be accomplished. Vendors of printer equipment on state contract are required to help do this assessment. (This same background information is now contained in the IPPAT web page tool kit for easy access and reference –

For print assessments, agencies are to gather a base line with total number of printers/Multi-Function Devices per office and number printers/MFDs per FTE. The same data is to be collected after a plan for equipment change-out has been implemented in following years. Sample table formats for conducting assessments and follow up were shown and are easily customized for each agency (refer to slides).

The purpose of inventorying building water distribution systems is to aim for replacing 10% of inefficient technologies with efficient fixtures, equipment, systems – checking all bathroom, shower, kitchen and drinking systems. Agencies are to conduct the inventory in both leased and owned buildings.

Data from the “WaterSense At Work” guide states that water used in office buildings accounts for approximately nine percent of the total water use in commercial and institutional facilities in the U.S., and that 50% of that water is consumed in kitchens/diswashers and restrooms. The EPA WaterSense guide also notes “Water conservation is both an energy efficiency measure (both pumping water for use and heating water takes energy) and a water resource benefit. Both energy and water use costs state agencies money, whether they are housed in leased space or have operational control over facilities. “

Worksheet samples for this assessment are included in Appendix B of the WaterSense guide, as well as WORD and EXCEL spreadsheet versions will soon be posted on the IPPAT web page/tool kit under the “Water Consumption” tab.

For WaterSense labeled products:

Replacing old technologies with these products allows agencies to estimate water conserved. See also the Energy Star calculator: Calculate savings via Energy Star:

Discussion
Discussion focused on the logistics of conducting water distribution assessments. There was general agreement that the electronic spreadsheet examples would be useful. For both printer and water assessment tasks, metric measures for 2014 would be “yes” to whether agencies conducted the assessments, which we considered to be feasible and easy to measure. The next two years would include measures where equipment or technology replacements had been made so that energy or water savings could then be calculated.

Presentation – Minimize solid waste – “Reduce bottled water purchases by installing refillable bottle stations” Process to accomplish in leased or owned facilities, Diane Droeger, MPCA and Amy Short, UMN Sustainability Coordinator

Diane is a member of the PCA “Alliance for Recycling and Reduction Of Waste” (ARROW) team and is responsible for installing the bottle refill stations in the St. Paul building. She explained the steps involved in changing out the existing water fountains to the new stations with a sensor, water bottle refill feature:

  1. Met with the landlord to discuss the request; determined tenant would pay for equipment purchase and landlord would cover maintenance and pay for carbon filter replacements (approximately $100/each)
  2. Tenant filled out Dept. of Administration paperwork and purchased seven stations for one on each floor; cost was about $14,000 each. Filters last for about 17,000 fills and have an indicator light for when expired.
  3. Purchase was taken from a “Tenant Improvement Allowance” established in the lease. The landlord purchased the equipment and then deducted the cost from the “Allowance.”
  4. Installation involved retrofitting the existing plumbing and some electrical work,start to finish, this process took about three months. These stations still meet ADA compliance.

These refill stations differ from others with a refill option because the water is carbon filtered. Also, there is a built- in counter for number of single-use bottles that would have been wasted. The station fill rate can be set at 15 or 20 ounces/fill.

Regional offices are changing these out too. Costs can vary depending on the situation, In one office the lessor was in the this business and installed the stations at a reduced cost.

Reactions: Staff appreciate them. A drawback is that these have drawn business away from vendors of bottled water—Services to the Blind—who staff the gift shop and vending machines. Vendors are changing out to different products like Vitamin water and other beverages.

Joe Arel, DEED, offered to check with Services for the Blind to see what metric reduction in water sales they’ve experienced.

Some DNR buildings and visitor stations started installing these stations and the PCA followed. Dept. of Military Affairs reported they do batch remodels so get these installed at those times. They also use the “counter” to track troop hydration which is so crucial to their health.

Presentation (continued) Minimize solid waste – “Reduce bottled water purchases by installing refillable bottle stations”Amy Short, UMN

The University has been installing these “hydration stations” for about three years on all UM campuses. They are very popular with students, and requests for these come from both students and faculty.

They replace old drinking fountains with every building upgrade. The installation cost ranges from $200-1,000 for the plumbing and electrical labor. She suggests being aggressive in negotiating with manufacturers to get a bulk rate. Other agencies might be able to save money if purchasing units without “counters,” but the UM uses the metering for educational purposes. For example, a good reason to install these is to encourage drinking of tap water.