GreenStep City Best Practices: Resilient Economic and Community Development
Business Synergies and EcoDistricts No. 28
Network/cluster businesses and design neighborhoods and developments to achieve better energy, social, economic and environmental outcomes in service of a more circular and equitable economy.
Document that at least one business/building uses waste heat or water discharge from another business or conducts materials exchange activities with another organization.
The Minnesota Materials Exchange is a free service that links organizations that have reusable goods they no longer need to those who can use them, at no or low cost. This business reuse network helps prevent usable materials from becoming waste and saves users money.
Michael Foods Northern Star Potato plant in Chaska demonstrated a Ultramizer® on a 1,000 HP boiler that recovers heat and achieved a fuel-to-steam efficiency increase from as much as 75%
MnTAP can assist business and governmental processes to reduce wastes and increase efficiencies.
See also GreenStep business assistance resources under action 25.2.
1 or more organizations registered as users of the MN Materials Exchange; energy/water reuse includes: reuse of non-contact industrial cooling water; reuse of hot water from a laundromat by a nearby greenhouse; use of waste heat from a crematory to heat a nearby recreation center and its pool; using waste heat from a data center. Record projects under best practice action 20.6 where a city wastewater plant sells reclaimed water for non-potable ag-processing, irrigation, cooling or power plant uses, or when the plant co-generates electricity and heat and sells it to businesses.
Describe how the city facilitated at least one such energy/water/materials reuse project.
Report how the city is, on an ongoing basis, helping businesses complete these reuse projects and how many completed projects exist.
Who's doing it
Burnsville - 2 star
Date action report first entered:
Date of last report update:
Year action initially completed:
Implementation details:
The City of Burnsville utilizes water pumped from Kramer Quarry for potable drinking water. The City coordinated efforts for joint powers agreement with the City of Savage and Kramer Quarry to use water that had been pumped from the quarry for dewatering to allow for limestone collection and to re-use the water for municipal drinking water supply.
Reuse projects are possible because of the cities designation of a PUD zoning district that allows the necessary land uses and zoning clearances. Another reuse project is in operation between Waste Management and the City of Burnsville. Waste Management operates a plant that converts methane gas produced from the landfill into electrical energy and sells this to the electric utility.
In January 2012 the City of Grand Rapids began using waste hot water from paper production at the Blandin Paper Mill to heat the Grand Rapids Public Library. This was accomplished by construction a new building to house a wide-gap plate heat exchanger which transfers the heat from the waste water to the glycol which circulates through the library. This project has allowed us to reduce our natural gas consumption by nearly 70%. The new building also has a living roof. Half of the new building also will house and education center which will be able to be monitored by anyone with access to the internet. One can view the flow through the heat exchange from an adjoining viewing room. Those viewing the internet will be able to monitor the entire library heating system and actually see how the system works. Internet users will also have access to the k-12 curriculum which will pose a question and answer specific to each grade. Solar and wind project will also be monitored in educational portion of this project.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
70% natural gas reduction. Educational portion of project available for all to view via internet.
The City's Wastewater Treatment Plant generates methane as part of the water treatment process. The methane gas is captured and returned to the boiler to heat the entire facility, including the tanks where methane is formed.
