Iowa Association for Energy Efficiency

2009 and Past Tours

December 2009

Home being constructed with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) near Cedar Rapids

Don Otto, owner of DPO Construction LC, is now celebrating 31 years of building environmentally friendly homes. Beginning with building Iowa's first 5-star energy rated home, he has continually researched, developed and incorporated cost-effective, energy efficient techniques in his construction business.

Don provided a tour of a home currently under construction that has incorporated structural insulated panels.

October 7, 2009

Members tour Consumers Energy near Marshalltown

Consumers Energy serves over 5,000 members throughout Central Iowa in six countries: Marshall, Story, Polk, Jasper, Tama, and Hardin. The cooperative was incorporated in 1938 as Marshall County REC and then later in 2000 changed its name to Consumers Energy. During the visit the IAEE was introduced to two exciting projects being conducted by Consumers Energy.

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) project. The cooperative’s Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle project is experimenting with a 2008 Toyota Prius hybrid, whose electric power pack has been retrofitted from the on-board rechargeable system that is common place in hybrids to a plug-in version that supporters say can take the hybrid at least twice the 12 to 15 miles per hour that the current Prius batteries can provide. This is the first retrofit project of its kind in Iowa.

$ensible Energy Road Show showcases common sense energy efficiency technologies that everyone can implement at home.

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