MINNEAPOLIS, Apr 29, 2009 -- BUSINESS WIRE


The University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) has partnered with McKinstry, a leading design/build construction, engineering, energy services and facilities management firm, in order to realize its long-held ambition of becoming the first Carbon Neutral University in the Midwest.

In 2004, UMM began acting on its sustainability target by constructing a 1.65 megawatt wind turbine. The 230-foot turbine provides UMM with 5.6 million kilowatt hours of power each year and is the first large-scale wind research turbine at a U.S. public university. In 2008, the University used funding received from the State of Minnesota to construct a biomass gasifier and steam boiler.

To further assist these efforts, UMM hired McKinstry's Minnesota team, located at 8451 Xerxes Ave N, Brooklyn Park. McKinstry performed a thorough analysis of the campus' energy supply and demand which included an evaluation of campus energy supply side options; identifying demand side reductions; creating a plan for an energy education and awareness system; and formulating a plan for actively managing energy production, storage, and consumption.

McKinstry's completed energy analysis of UMM resulted in the development of the Carbon Management Tool - an interactive predictive tool that visually demonstrates impacts and interactions between a multitude of conservation, energy storage, and supply side options.

"McKinstry used the tool to help us identify a self-funding project with a 14-year payback," says Lowell Rasmussen, UMM's Vice Chancellor for Finance and Facilities. "Not only has this resolved the campus' chilled water shortage, but it will reduce our carbon emissions by more than 80% by 2010. This will allow us to purchase carbon offsets for the remaining carbon footprint, and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral."

Since the original Earth Day nearly 40 years ago, the University of Minnesota, Morris has been advancing sustainable, environmentally friendly initiatives that touch nearly every aspect of campus life - from power, food, water, and transportation to waste stream infrastructure, academic study, and quality of life. UMM's commitment to environmental stewardship has grown to levels of national leadership, and it holds active membership in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS).

McKinstry projects in the State of Minnesota and across the nation have collectively eliminated 247,025 metric tons of CO2 emissions since 2001, which is equivalent to removing 45,243 cars from US highways or offsetting the energy use of 21, 803 homes or conserving 28,039,163 gallons of gasoline or saving 1,723 acres of forest from destruction or recycling 85,181 tons of waste instead of sending it to the landfill.

About McKinstry

McKinstry is a full-service design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) firm with over 1,600 employees and $400 million in 2008 annual revenue. McKinstry's professional staff and trades people deliver consulting, construction, energy, and facility services. As an early adopter of the DBOM process, the company advocates collaborative and sustainable solutions that are designed to ensure occupant comfort, improve systems efficiency, reduce facility operational costs, and ultimately optimize client profitability for the life of their building.

For more information, visit www.mckinstry.com

About University of Minnesota Morris

The University of Minnesota, Morris is one of five campuses of the University of Minnesota and is located on the prairie of west central Minnesota. The Morris campus is an undergraduate, residential public, Liberal Arts College that prepares its graduates through experiences and opportunities in and beyond the classroom including undergraduate research, service learning, study abroad and internships. The Morris campus is a national leader in sustainability initiatives with a vision of energy self-sufficiency and carbon neutrality by 2010.

Learn more at http://www.morris.umn.edu

SOURCE: McKinstry

News Provided By