HOME > SERVICES > COMMUNITY ENERGY PROJECTS > MERRIAM PARK

Merriam Park Project

From June to November of 2008, Cooperative Energy Futures implemented a pilot project in the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minn. to test community organizing strategies and demonstrate discounted insulation contracting on a neighborhood scale.

Research

At that time, CEF was a semi-formal organization, with a Steering Committee advising its development and a team of organizers handling concrete operations. Summer brought two important assets to the project: (1) a team of graduate students at the Humphrey Institute agreed to research with and advise CEF as a part of their public administration program, and (2) through the Summer of Solutions, a group of eager young innovators committed to working with CEF as a large part of their summer work. This allowed CEF to expand our research and take important strides toward formalization.

Community Outreach

The summer team researched which were the best contractors and basic efficiency materials – and developed resources for outreach. Since a primary goal of the pilot study was to show that residents could receive discounted insulation contracting if they signed up collaboratively with their neighbors, our initial outreach was aimed at developing a critical mass of interested neighbors in one geographic area. Our first list of interested residents came through the congregation at Unity Church Unitarian. The CEF team held a meeting at Unity to introduce the project idea and followed up individually with those interested through phone-calls, emails and in-house meetings, asking them to find neighbors near their home to sign up as well.

Pilot

In July, CEF decided to focus on Merriam Park, because one team member, Christie Manning, lived there and multiple other residents were interested, including an energy auditor, Mark McGough, who agreed to audit homes.

Area Description

Merriam Park is bordered by highway 94 to the north, Summit Ave (and Macalester College) to the south and spans west of Snelling Ave to the Mississippi River. In terms of demographics, it is a middle/higher income neighborhood with a large number of professors and others with high levels of education. The 2000 Census reported that District 13, in which Merriam Park lies, was 80% white. The area contains mostly single family and, to a lesser degree, duplex houses with a small number of apartment buildings. CEF focused outreach on houses within a ½ mile radius, from Fairview to Snelling and Selby to Summit.

Pilot Outreach

In Merriam Park our outreach started with door-knocking, distributing informational brochures along with a personal letter from neighbors and the CEF team. Interested residents were directed through the brochure to fill out an interest survey on our website. We then called people who filled out the interest form to discuss the project, inform them of the process of an energy audit, answer questions and invite them to a community meeting hosted at Macalester College.

Process

The community meeting at Macalester served as a focus group of 8 people in which we went over the CEF model and vision to get their feedback. Supporting advisors from the Humphrey Institute also worked with us in this process. Finally, interested individuals who had completed a home energy audit were contacted again to schedule in-house meetings. At the in-house meetings, a CEF representative went over the audit results, discussed the residents’ efficiency plans for their homes and directed them to steps for insulation contracting if they were interested.

Implementation

As part of these meetings, CEF sold kits of simple efficiency materials (CFLs, faucet aerators etc) and encouraged residents in need of insulation to sign up for our neighborhood-wide insulation week. This follow-up process took over a month, plus several weeks while Houle Insulation, our partner contractor in this project, offered bids. CEF scheduled an insulation week for the end of October. Seven homes received insulation improvements at a 5% discount.

Success

This pilot was both a demonstration project and a successful step towards community-based energy efficiency in Merriam Park. We are currently in discussion with leaders from District 13 about doing further work with block leaders in the area to expand on these efforts.

Lessons Learned

Beyond demonstrating our model, the Merriam Park pilot taught us some valuable lessons and helped us adapt for future partnerships.

• Our aim is for energy efficiency to be a tool for broad empowerment and neighborhood collaboration. We decided to adapt our emphasis to allow for broader engagement. As a result of the pilot, we developed a menu of bulk efficiency materials that residents can order. This is a simple way for interested neighbors to become involved in CEF and to share that opportunity with their neighbors. While not as large a commitment as insulation contracting, it is an entry-point to long-term community energy efficiency.
• In our evaluation materials, we found that word of mouth was a strong reason that participating community members became involved. Designing a project that worked through neighbor-to-neighbor communication was a key recommendation for our next project. It is important to allow significant time for community outreach, response and follow-up.
• According to our feedback, the quantity and complexity of information in the presentations and lack of concrete steps could explain the low levels of follow-through from our community meetings. In future organizing, it is important that CEF and neighborhood partners communicate the larger vision (such as the cooperative model) but emphasize concrete next steps. To get a timely response from community members, use simple, concrete communication.
• Allowing our work to be shaped by community needs while still guiding the discussion in a professional manner is a continual and important challenge in this approach.
• The Humphrey research team provided recommendations and lessons in their report.

Outcomes

Number of Homes/ families affected:

• 7 separate homes insulated in Merriam Park
• 4 different homes installed weatherization kits (bought for $20)
• Additional homes pursued efficiency measures which CEF did not offer

Number of people reached:

• Community meeting: 8 attendees
• Flyers: 250 homes
• Phone Calls: 35-person call list (from interest form)
• Word of mouth: unknown