Contact: Rebecca Helgesen , 651-757-2421
Saint Paul, Minn. -- For nine years, a group of retired engineers has offered their expertise to help small businesses, schools and even cities find ways to be green and save money. Minnesota’s Retired Engineers Technical Assistance Program (RETAP) provides expert environmental engineering assistance to these clients, helping them decide if new lighting would pay off quickly or how to generate less trash. All services are free.
RETAP teams emphasize opportunities to reduce waste, increase energy efficiency and conservation, and reduce operating costs. Clients who sign up are under no obligation to follow RETAP’s recommendations, but most jump at the chance to save money and increase efficiency. The average client saves $4,300 from implementing changes recommended by RETAP.
Funded through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), RETAP has had between 15 and 20 retired engineer consultants for most of its nine-year existence. These consultants have advised nearly 200 local government facilities, grocery stores, hotels, auto repair shops, bakeries, nursing homes, schools and other facilities.
RETAP was recently recognized by American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) as one of 18 top state energy efficiency programs.
“These programs benefit clients in numerous ways,” said ACEEE Executive Director Steve Nadel, “by using low-cost methods of generating significant energy savings, lowering costs and reducing the negative impacts of energy use.”
“Our program is creatively structured to accommodate our retirees ,” said Madalyn Cioci of the MPCA. “Working with them means respecting their schedules and balancing the free time they’ve earned. In turn, RETAP teams offer their accumulated expertise back to Minnesotans for free.”
For more information about RETAP or to request a RETAP environmental assessment, visit www.pca.state.mn.us and type “RETAP” into the search box.
