In 2013, Minneapolis adopted their Climate Action Plan, which put into place a comprehensive set of emission reduction strategies. These strategies cover 3 areas: Buildings and energy, Transportation and land use, Waste and recycling.
For buildings and energy, the goal is to reduce energy usage by 17%, and generate 10% of electricity from local, renewable sources. On the residential building side of things, Minneapolis is proposing a "home energy audit" as part of the Truth In Housing program (TIH or TISH, Truth In Sale of Housing). This would require sellers to have an energy score when listing their house for sale. They are proposing that the TISH inspectors be trained to perform this component of the inspection process. The end result of this energy score would be a single number, for example 37 on a scale of 1 to 100. 100 would mean that the house would have virtually no energy costs.
Another part of this program is to make incentives for sellers to improve their homes energy-wise so that they can get a higher sale price due to energy efficiencies. If they don't, the buyers will at least have some knowledge about the energy efficiency of the house, making it an incentive to them to improve the house energy-wise.
Also on the residential side of things, Minneapolis is proposing a "time of rent" energy disclosure for renters. Renters currently have no way of knowing how much their utility bills will be before renting a unit. The disclosure would be mandated so that renters could compare units on energy efficiency. This would give incentives to the landlord (owners) to improve their buildings to make them more attractive to the rental market.
On the commercial side of things, some of them already have to do an energy score of sorts and disclose to purchasers. Minneapolis would like to extend that to all commercial buildings. They also have an Energy Reduction Challenge called the "Kilowatt Crackdown" to encourage commercial buildings to reduce usage.
For renewable energy, Minneapolis is trying to create policies that promote renewable energy, develop a "solar-ready" certification, and encourage "net-zero" buildings.
Making a building "solar-ready" adds virtually no cost at the time of construction, and would potentially have some value to purchasers. This would involve adding some structural supports and electrical conduit so that solar could be installed without adding structural support to the roof trusses, and/or digging in walls to add conduit. Both of these items can be added at a very low cost when in the construction phase.
What is a net-zero building? Basically net-zero means the building (or house) would generate all the energy it needs to power the building itself. This generally means that the building is super insulated so that it requires less energy to heat and cool the building, as well as solar panels to generate the energy it needs. Oftentimes this type of building uses geo-thermal heat pumps to heat and cool the building, running off solar energy. You can read more about "Net-Zero" buildings at this link.
You can read the entire action plan at the link below. Minneapolis Climate Action Plan:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/sustainability/climate-action-goals/climate-action-planTangletown neighborhood only has one official park, Fuller Park. It was named after a local feminist named Margaret Fuller who lived in the mid-1800s. Fuller Park has a well-loved playground, a wading pool, garden, picnic area, basketball court, and a walking path. Inside the building, there’s a community kitchen, computer lab, craft room, meeting room, and a multipurpose room. The park is located on the corners of West 48th Street and Grand Avenue South.
Cafe Ena is a Latin Fusion Cuisine restaurant, with a fabulous seafood menu of lunch, dinner, and a side menu of fancy wines, beverages, and desserts. They take reservations and also do caterings--this restaurant is high quality and a great place to have a date or celebrate an anniversary.
Prima's (5325 Lyndale Ave, 611-827-7376 ) is an intimate restaurant that has from-scratch Italian pasta, salad, panini, meat, and seafood. They also do catering, and have a farm where they grow all of their ingredients.
Although The Roastery is known for their coffee, they also have burgers, bagels, a breakfast menu, salads, and tea. Grab a quick bite to eat and a carefully brewed cup of coffee at The Roastery.
Sun Street Breads has a delicious collection of breads, soups, and pastries, and even pizza. You can enjoy small and cute tables with the company of two or three friends.
Wise Acre Eatery is good for brunches and dinners, and now takes dinner reservations. It’s great for a quick solitary, duo, or family meal. They believe on the best practices of farmers and chefs. "Wise Acre is a true farm-to-table experience."
Tangletown Gardens, of course, sells plants and decorations for your garden, yard, and house, as well as tools.
If you head East, past 46th street, you’ll reach Driftwood Char Bar, open 7 days a week. Driftwood Char Bar provides live music, bar food, and ice cold beers, which makes a great place to hang out at night!
