»» Successes
A great deal of progress has already been made since the concept of FortZED was launched in May 2007. Read the following press releases for more information:
Vote with your stomach during FortZED Green Dining Week - November 2008
FortZED launches Green Restaurant Initiative - July 2008
FortZED gets $6.3 million grant, moves forward with 'smart grid' - April 2008
Fort Collins Utilities and the Clean Energy Cluster take on FortZED - March 2008
FortZED initiative demonstrates positive impact of grass-roots community teamwork - October 2007
FortZED raises $525,000 in local funding, meets eligibility requirement for $9 million in sustainable energy funding - July 2007
Vote with your stomach during FortZED Green Dining Week
Restaurants commit to reinvesting portion of week's revenue to sustainable practices
November 2008
Fourteen local restaurants will put their money where their mouths are during FortZED Green Dining Week on Nov. 3-9, when participating establishments will pledge 8 percent of the week’s average daily revenue toward implementing sustainable practices.
With the tagline “Vote with your Stomach,” FortZED Green Dining Week is a way for consumers to show support for restaurants that make practical and significant steps toward energy efficiency and conservation.
“If the community comes out strong for Green Dining Week and the restaurants see an increase in patrons, it sends a strong message that consumers do care about sustainable practices,” said FortZED co-convener Mark Wanger.
These restaurants will commit 8 percent of daily average revenue to sustainable projects:
Mugs Coffee Lounge*
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant*
Austin’s American Grill*
CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing*
The Egg & I*
Carrabba’s Italian Grill
Aspen Grille
The Melting Pot
Eliot’s Mess
Bisetti's Italian Restaurant
Nyala Ethiopian Cuisine
Café Ardour
The Moot House
Enzio’s Italian Kitchen
*FortZED Green Restaurant Initiative Trailblazers
Green Dining Week, Nov. 3-9, 2008, is a product of the FortZED Green Restaurant Initiative, which helps restaurants implement energy conservation and efficiency practices, lowering their traditionally high energy consumption and decreasing spending. In August, five restaurants volunteered to be FortZED Trailblazers: undergoing energy audits, working toward improving efficiency and conservation, and lowering energy, water and natural gas consumption. The trailblazers will participate in Green Dining Week, as well as several more eateries hoping to make a difference.
“By supporting Green Dining Week, diners are supporting grassroots, volunteer-driven community solutions to energy efficiency and conservation that have incredible social and economic benefits,” said Doug Johnson, Director of UniverCity Connections.
Click here to learn more about Green Dining Week 2008.
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FortZED launches Green Restaurant Initiative
July 2008
FortZED has announced the formation of a Green Restaurant Initiative, developed as a community program to help restaurants implement energy conservation and efficiency practices. Energy savings directly affect monthly bills, while sustainable business practices also appeal to the consumers in our community.
FortZED is targeting restaurants because they have the potential to realize substantial cost savings and a quick return on investment from implementing energy conservation and efficiency practices. In addition, restaurants are the perfect staging ground for raising community awareness of the FortZED initiative.
How does the program work?
We are looking for a few “trailblazer” restaurants to commit to improving the efficiency of their establishment. The trailblazers will work with experts who will assess the restaurants and provide an analysis that identifies which changes will provide the greatest and quickest return on investment. Energy use will be measured before and after the changes are implemented to demonstrate the success of the program. Steps include:
• Energy Audit: full operational energy analysis performed in conjunction with the Green Restaurant Association, ClimateWise, and local experts.
• Upgrades: based on analysis, restaurants will begin to implement the highest impact upgrades, with a commitment to implement additional upgrades with the savings realized as the program progresses. Upgrades might include heat capture/exchange, hot water management, HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, solar, etc.
• Results: in November, the trailblazers’ results will be shared with other restaurants and the greater community, and publicized to the community. The intention is to share these “smart and easy” savings so that everyone has the ability to help make FortZED a reality.
Can we succeed?
Without a doubt! Local examples (and many other restaurants nationwide) have achieved ~25% savings in utilities with investments that pay back within weeks to 18 months. FortZED is combining local and national experts to use proven techniques to mitigate the risks and maximize returns.
Click here to read a PDF flier about the FortZED Green Restaurant Initiative (1 MB).
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FortZED gets $6.3 million grant, moves forward with 'smart grid'
By Northern Colorado Business Report staff
Published April 23, 2008
Almost a year after the vision of FortZED was unveiled, the project has landed a $6.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The proposal, submitted by the city of Fort Collins, was one of nine projects selected nationally for $50 million in funds from the DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. A total of 75 projects were submitted for consideration. While the funding is approved, it is dependent on appropriation from Congress.
Judy Dorsey, president of the Brendle Group and executive director of the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, said that the group will be working with the DOE to secure that funding.
FortZED, launched last spring, will transform a zone including the Colorado State University campus and the downtown district that will potentially generate as much energy as it consumes, resulting in a net-zero energy balance. The aim is to demonstrate the use of distributed energy sources -- a "smart grid" -- and to secure Northern Colorado as a leader in clean energy technologies.
The project is the result of a collaboration of many stakeholders, including the city of Fort Collins, Larimer County, CSU, the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, the Governor's Energy Office, UniverCity Connections and other local businesses and organizations. The project was the only one in Colorado to receive funding.
"I think it really helps to excel the progress of FortZED," Dorsey said of the funding. "It also brings national attention (to the project)."
The DOE will provide $6.3 million in federal funds with an additional $4.9 million coming from non-federal sources such as the state and a capital campaign that raised funds from local organizations and entities. The non-federal funds have already been secured through cash, equipment and in-kind commitments.
The next steps for the project will be to finalize contracts with the entities involved and ensure that the money is committed, according to Mike Freeman, CFO for the city of Fort Collins. The DOE grant carries a three-year duration, during which time the goal will be to collectively reduce peak energy usage by 20 percent to 30 percent. Overall, implementing the FortZED vision will be more than a three-year process.
"It's going to be a multi-year effort," Freeman said. "It's going to take a long time to ultimately create a net-zero energy district."
Fort Collins Utilities and the Clean Energy Cluster take on FortZED
By Andra Coberly, Fort Collins Now
Published March 19, 2008
Efforts to turn a section of Fort Collins into a net-zero energy district got a bit more muscle in recent weeks.
Fort ZED will require the district between Old Town and the university to generate as much thermal and electrical energy within a 50-mile radius as it uses within its built environment. The project is the brainchild of UniverCity Connections’ sustainable energy task force. Since the group announced the idea last year, it has continued to gain steam but remained a volunteer-based initiative.
That is until recently. Fort Collins Utilities and the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster have committed to devoting staff, tools and expertise to Fort ZED.
“It's kind of like a volunteer initiative grows up,” said Ryan Keiffer, Fort ZED co-convener. “It's becoming something that can happen. It can be done.”
Making Fort ZED a reality is much more than a grassroots community organization can handle, Keiffer said. There will be a need for committed technical knowledge and man-hours to not only slow or stop energy consumption and to encourage conservation but to also find ways of generating new, renewable energy to support the district.
Currently, the Fort ZED area contains about 4,500 electric customers and its peak load is about 45 megawatts, using some 222,763 megawatt-hours, according to Gary Schroeder, energy services engineer for Fort Collins Utilities. It represents about 15 percent of the city's peak demand and energy use—and will need to be replaced with locally generated renewable energy if Fort ZED is to be successful.
“It makes it a lot more realistic and a lot more attainable to have paid experts leading the whats and hows of the project,” Keiffer said.
One of the initial parts of getting Fort ZED rolling is doing a characterization study, which will be handled by Fort Collins Utilities. That study will give the city and Clean Energy Cluster engineers a sense of how the district is configured with respect to the energy being used: whether the customers are residential, business or industrial, and how much of the load they represent.
With that information they can better tackle growth of the energy load.
“We have a general uptrend in electricity growth, especially with infill development,” Schroeder said. “There are a couple of components to Fort ZED, one is leveling off or reducing the electricity use. And then we will supply the remaining with the renewables.”
Schroeder said the new partnership has given Fort ZED “legs.”
“It has some real substance. It's not just something people are getting excited about,” he said.
The volunteer group will likely focus on the “demand side management” of the project, working to stop or slow energy use in the district by encouraging conservation efforts among businesses and residents. From there it will likely become much more complicated: figuring out how to have grid stability while no longer relying on power from Rawhide Energy Station and only using renewable energy.
What's going to be the biggest challenge?
“Only everything about it,” Schroeder said. “It's a really big goal: To take 45 megawatts of power and make that net zero, that's really big goal. It's probably the biggest initiative of its kind in the country. I think technically it’s feasible. But that's the challenge.”
According to Keiffer, the Clean Energy Cluster will lead the way on the technical side. The science behind the initiative could likely make Fort Collins a leader in distributed energy sources, renewable energy integration and renewable energy development.
The initiative's preliminary efforts need about $9 million as a jump start, which will achieve net zero energy for about 10 percent of the district's energy use. Last year, Fort ZED received more than $525,000 in pledges and donations, going beyond the minimum local funding requirements to receive a U.S. Department of Energy grant for demonstration projects. If the grant is approved, Fort ZED will get a $5 million boost. The DOE announcement is expected to be made within a couple of months.
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FortZED initiative demonstrates positive impact of grass-roots community teamwork
October 2007
Organizers of Fort ZED, a sustainable energy initiative coordinated jointly by the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado’s UniverCity Connections and the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster today issued a statement thanking the community for its volunteer and financial support to compete for a Department of Energy grant which, if funded, could serve as a catalyst for the jump-start zone of a proposed zero energy district.
“The inspiring volunteer response and financial contributions by the public, the business community, and our non-profit and public partners clearly illustrates the forward-looking vision of the Northern Colorado community in establishing our region as a leader in net zero energy,” said Judy Dorsey, executive director of the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster. “On behalf of all involved in the Fort ZED initiative, I believe we should be very proud of our accomplishments in working together in this project to ensure the future well-being of our environment, economy, and quality of life.”
Since 2005, the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster has coordinated business-led partnerships to establish the region as a global leader in renewable, clean, and efficiently distributed energy. In collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Technology Task Group, one of eight community task groups convened by The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado’s UniverCity Connections, the team responded to a Department of Energy RFP to demonstrate a 15% peak load reduction on distribution feeders using distributed generation sources that, if funded, has the potential to become a cornerstone for the jumpstart zone of the Fort Collins Zero Energy District.
Grass-roots fundraising began immediately to acquire $525,000 in local funding by a July 17 deadline to qualify Fort Collins Utilities and the City of Fort Collins as an applicant for a Department of Energy grant with the potential to bring approximately $11 million in funding for local development of sustainable energy infrastructure.
Through the dedicated involvement of over 50 individual public volunteers and numerous local businesses, the DOE Proposal Team grew rapidly to include Fort Collins Utilities, City of Fort Collins, Spirae, The Brendle Group, New Belgium Brewing Company, Colorado State University, Woodward, Advanced Energy, Caterpillar, InteGrid Test and Development Lab, Eaton Corporation, and Larimer County. Over $2 million in in-kind equipment and service pledges and $525,000 in local funds were raised through donations from private individuals and financial commitments from the business and non-profit sectors, including a $250,000 donation from the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority. Conditional pledges subject to the successful funding of the DOE grant included a $150,000 pledge from Woodward and a $35,000 pledge from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. The Governor’s Energy Office also committed $250,000 in funding from the Colorado Clean Energy Fund, contingent upon the pending outcome of the DOE grant application.
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FortZED raises $525,000 in local funding, meets eligibility requirement for $9 million in sustainable energy funding
July 2007
Fort ZED, a sustainable energy initiative resulting from a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado’s UniverCity Connections project and the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, announced pledges and donations totaling more than $525,000 – including $250,000 donated by the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority, $150,000 pledged by Woodward Governor Co., and $35,000 pledged from Community Foundation of Northern Colorado funds – to meet the minimum eligibility requirement of $500,000 in local funding for a U.S. Department of Energy grant that will bring in a combined total of $9 million to fund sustainable energy initiatives in the Fort Collins community. The Department of Energy is intending to fund six demonstration projects nationwide that will reduce peak load on electric distribution feeders using distributed generation (energy produced and shared locally throughout the demonstration zone), renewable energy and energy management systems.
If awarded, the grant will provide approximately $5 million in federal funding, along with nearly $4 million to be provided in cash or in kind by local sources. In addition to the more than $500,000 raised over the past week, the project team identified $2 million from in-kind equipment and services donations and an additional $250,000 in matching funds from the State of Colorado.
While the Fort ZED application meets the minimum grant requirements, the project team is hoping to bring the total in local pledges to $1 million to further strengthen its application.
“I believe the level of engagement and financial generosity shown by the organizations and individuals who stepped up to support this initiative represents a landmark moment for the Fort Collins community,” explained Judy Dorsey, Executive Director of the Northern Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, which is organizing the grant initiative. “We strongly believe in this project’s potential to establish Fort Collins as a national showcase for the development and implementation of sustainable energy technology, and we are proud that the community has shown its support over the past week by pledging and donating the needed money to meet the grant requirements.”
“It has been truly inspiring to watch as our community stepped forward to help this initiative,” stated Ray Caraway, President of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. “In addition to the $420,000 in lead donations from the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority, Woodward Governor Co. and the Community Foundation announced on July 12, we have seen pledges and gifts totaling $125,000 made in only the past week by a wide range of Fort ZED supporters, including a Colorado State University student who pledged $5,000 and encouraged her parents to pledge as well, and a woman who pledge $3,150 to equal the amount she received as a tax credit on the purchase of her Toyota Prius. I have also seen the Community Foundation staff rally around Fort ZED, allocating valuable time and resources to ensure its success, not to mention the volunteer efforts that the UniverCity Connections Sustainable Energy Task Force has given to make the Fort ZED project and this grant application possible. We look forward to the opportunity to play a role in further supporting Fort ZED should it be awarded the Department of Energy grant.”
To make a pledge toward the Fort ZED initiative, please contact the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado at 970-224-3462.
About the Project Team:
The Department of Energy Grant Applicant for this project will be Fort Collins Utilities and the City of Fort Collins. The project team consists of Fort Collins Utilities, the City of Fort Collins, Spirae, Inc., The Brendle Group, new Belgium Brewing Company, Colorado State University, Woodward Governor, Advanced Energy, Caterpillar, Inc., and Larimer County. Caterpillar, Inc., the world leader in diesel and natural gas engines, will contributing in-kind donations in the area of distributed generation; Eaton, a global leader in energy components, will provide donations of switch gear and power components; New Belgium Brewing Company, a world leader in its industry for sustainable practices, will be implementing several renewable energy sources for distributed generation, along with energy management systems, at its brewery in Fort Collins; Colorado State University / Integrid Lab will provide Research and Development; Advanced Energy will provide photovoltaic (PV) and inverter technology; Spirae, Inc. will provide DER system design; and The Brendle Group will provide demand management assistance and consulting.
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