Representatives from the Minnesota Green Communities Initiative accepted the Green Building, Development, and Land Use award at the 2010 Minnesota Environmental Initiative awards. Andersen is a proud partner of the MEI and sponsored this category at the awards event.
For more than a decade, Andersen Corporation has sponsored the Minnesota Environmental Initiative (MEI) awards held last night in Minneapolis. The awards recognize large and small environmental achievements around the state.
In 2007, Andersen Corporation was honored by MEI in the Green Business and Environmental Management category for the company’s innovative steam generating facility located in Bayport, Minnesota.
MEI seeks solutions to Minnesota’s environmental problems through collaborative action with innovative partnerships. MEI brings together nonprofits, businesses and government agencies to work together on critical issues and respond with actions that have measurable, positive environmental outcomes.
The MEI awards recognize innovative projects that have achieved extraordinary environmental outcomes by harnessing the power of partnership. Award results for 2010 fall into five categories:
- Energy and Climate Protection
- Environmental Education
- Green Building, Development, and Land Use
- Green Business and Environmental Management
- Natural Resource Protection and Restoration
Congratulations to all the winners, including the Minnesota Green Communities Initiative, which was honored with the Green Building, Development, and Land Use award sponsored by Andersen.
The Minnesota Green Communities Initiative is an effort between the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, the Family Housing Fund, and Enterprise to foster the creation of affordable, healthier, more energy-efficient housing throughout Minnesota. It also seeks to ensure that new affordable housing built in Minnesota is green. The project partnered with local nonprofits to demonstrate the viability of green affordable housing. All affordable housing units and projects in Minnesota funded with state dollars must now meet the nationally recognized Green Communities Criteria. To date, 4,000 units are complete, under construction, or in planning stages around the state. The initiative also provided green building training and introduced new financing tools, helping Minnesota become a national model for integrating green building into affordable housing policy.
