Sustainability may have become a bit of a 'buzz word', but when looking to the future, it is necessary for communities to include when preparing for the unexpected. What does it mean to be resilient? Building communities that are more readily prepared for the unexpected helps municipalities protect their residents' lives, homes, and infrastructure. By investing in sustainability, local governments can minimize the risks and impacts of climate-related events and other hazards, ultimately ensuring the safety and well-being of their constituents. Formulating and implementing policies geared toward sustainable development position your community to be better prepared to withstand large-scale emergencies, economic downturns, and natural disasters. Local governments need to be ready and at the forefront of innovation in order to reduce economic loss, maintain infrastructure, and protect local commerce.

The Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin (CECW) held their inaugral meeting March 29th, announcing the main objectives of the coalition and what those goals look like for the future of the a greener state-wide economy. By working together, the CECW hopes to leverage combined influence and expertise of its founding members, as well as recruit other organizations to join them in those initiatives.

Earlier this month the City of Madison passed a new Building Energy Savings Program in efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and keep the community on pace to meet their net zero goal of 2050. At present, the city's commercial buildings account for 30% of pollution. The new program, which had been under development for the last two years, will require nonresidential, commercial buildings to log and track energy use with program benchmarks, and also require a "tune up" to these systems every four years. Mayor Rhodes-Conway released in a statement “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our era, and everybody needs be part of the solution. By enacting the Building Energy Savings Program, we are working with covered building owners [to] take common-sense actions to save energy. This is good for the climate, it saves businesses money on their bills, and supports green jobs.” What does this mean for your business?

The recent unveiling of the proposed State budget once again brings funding in K-12 public schools to the forefront of discussion. In recent years, school districts have been forced to do more with less, due to state-imposed "spending" limits. Twenty years ago, Wisconsin ranked 11th in the nation in terms of spending per student. Today that ranking has fallen to 25th.

Funding energy efficiency and facility improvement projects can seem like a daunting task for your organization's budget.  Did you know grant funding exists for many of those types of projects?

This past week our team had the privilege of attending the 102nd Annual Wisconsin State Education Convention, where we were able to connect with old friends and make many new connections over the course of the four day conference. We were also able to show off a bit of our new look too! The theme of this year's State Education Convention touched on the principles of unity, community, and opportunity — areas we strive to highlight and create in each project we participate in here at Upper 90. Some of our favorite moments and key takeaways this year included listening to insights from both educators and students that shared some of their experiences from the 2022 academic year in energy efficiency and sustainability. Agricultural Sciences Instructor and FFA Adviser, David Kruse, and his students from Elkhorn Area High School presented their amazing journey of making solar a reality for their school greenhouse in the Solar Schools Pavilion area. It was a great opportunity to hear first-hand how this initiative created buy-in not only amongst the student body and faculty at the school, but also within the surrounding community. They shared what resources were available to help spur on this project through local, state, and regional levels, like grants . They also used this opportunity for community outreach through forums to address concerns, as well as answer questions and share knowledge. The district plans to expand into other school facilities in the coming year. It's truly an inspiring story!

Upper 90 prides itself on a consortium approach with the work we do, delivering innovative and cutting-edge techniques with our extensive list of talented partners, vendors, knowledge, and expertise.