University of Minnesota, Duluth
IN-2: Innovation 2

The Clean Energy Resource Teams, or CERTs, is a collaborative effort of the University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Minnesota Office of Energy Security’s State Energy Office, two non-profits, and a regional unit of government. CERTs connects individuals and communities to the resources they need to identify and implement clean energy projects. CERTs is a non-partisan, non-advocacy program that works with citizens across the state to strengthen their communities by supporting money-saving conservation and energy efficiency projects and building entrepreneurship around growing renewable energy industries.
Over the past two years we’ve also coupled with on-the-ground regional coordinators in each of our seven regions across the state to offer a unique way to mobilize community members, connect them to additional technical assistance, garner earned media attention, allow participants to take immediate action, and track implementation and energy savings. In the past year, CERTs has implemented a new approach called the CERTified Campaigns, to provide a measurable and impactful opportunity for individual actions to save energy. The statewide CERTified campaigns include a programmable thermostat rebate (with partner Honeywell), holiday light recycling program, and a rebate for solar thermal units made in Minnesota. CERTs is finding this approach to be a promising new way to impact Minnesota and the Midwest’s energy future.