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Green Institute Collection M/A 2012.23
| Creator: | Young, Annie |
| Title: | Green Institute Collection |
| Dates: | 1980-2012 |
| Quantity: | 5.0 boxes |
| Repository: | James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library |
History
The Green Institute was a nonprofit community economic development organization incorporated in the State of Minnesota in 1993. The Institute was founded as the result of an environmental justice movement against the siting of a large garbage transfer station in a residential area of the Phillips neighborhood in South Minneapolis. The Institute's original mission, as defined in Sam Grant's 1993 business plan (see below), was dedicated to a non-oppressive environmental-economic restoration of our urban community, aiming to be a model for energy conservation, generation of renewable energy and reduction of solid waste, and striving to create and maintain an ecologically balanced urban environment through sustainable economic development, environmental education, environmental job training, and fostering urban environmental awareness.
In the early 1980's Hennepin County razed 28 homes and five businesses to clear a 10 acre site for the transfer station, but Phillips residents ultimately prevailed and turned their attention to a more sustainable vision for the cleared 10-acre site. A plan emerged for a clean, commercial facility for high-growth, innovative businesses developing products and services to help restore the environment. The original plan included wind and solar energy systems, green space, and a resource center for residents who wanted to continue their work on sustainable development initiatives.
A fundamental goal of this vision was also to bring living wage jobs to the Phillips area, an area of widespread poverty and unemployment. Because of these socioeconomic factors, Phillips was included in the federal Enterprise Community area designated in Minneapolis and the Green Institute received federal funding as part of this program.
Over the course of the transfer station battle, Phillips residents learned a great deal about the solid waste system and about their own ability to create economic opportunity in their neighborhood. One of the things residents learned about solid waste was that large quantities of reusable building materials were going into the waste stream -- a total of 800,000 tons of construction and demolition debris in the seven-county metro area each year. As a result, in October 1995 the Green Institute opened the ReUse Center, a 26,000 square foot retail center that marketed salvaged, reusable building materials and provided 11 jobs paying living wages and including health and other benefits.
In its first two years of operation, most of the ReUse Center's inventory was donated by individuals, businesses or institutions that were remodeling or demolishing residential and commercial structures. In the same period, the ReUse Center generated revenues of more than $400,000 from the sale of this material to homeowners and small contractors. With the award of a $50,000 grant from the Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA), in 1998 the Green Institute developed its own salvage or "deconstruction" program, including trained and insured crews that salvaged materials from building sites. Educating the public about reuse and how to take care of their homes was also part of the mission, and the class schedule included topics such as electrical wiring, sink and toilet repair, and the basics of winterizing a home.
The goals of the ReUse Center were to: 1) create living wage jobs; 2) divert reusable material from the waste stream; 3) build the capacity and understanding of residents and homeowners through education and training; and 4) preserve some of the area's architectural heritage in structures scheduled for demolition.
In October 1996, the Green Institute was awarded a three-year grant of $498,500 from the Office of Community Services in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program. The goal of the JOLI grant was to move 100 low-income individuals from public assistance to self-sufficiency by the year 2000. The Green Institute was a top priority of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program in Phillips, and was awarded $153,000 for the business development program and $282,000 for capital and education program funding for the ReUse Center, as well as design and construction of the Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center (PEEC), a state-of-the-art commercial-industrial facility completed in 1999, housing energy and environmental firms. The Green Institute received support from numerous area foundations including Northwest Area, McKnight, Honeywell, Minneapolis Foundation, Norris Institute, Norwest and several others. In May 1997, the Minnesota Legislature granted an exception from the state sales tax for materials used in the PEEC.
As foreseen in the Green Institute's vision, major civic infrastructure projects unfolded in close succession to the opening of the PEEC in Phillips, including the 2001 construction of light rail transit, the 1999-2005 rehabilitation of an abandoned railroad corridor into the Midtown Greenway, and the 2000 opening of a $22 million YWCA, most of which abutted the PEEC site. Community activism also led to the identification and remediation of arsenic-contaminated soils in Phillips and its eventual declaration as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In April 1997 the Green Institute was awarded Community Environmental Organization of the Year by the Minnesota Environmental Initiative. In June, the ReUse Center won the Renewing the City award from the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.
Milestones in the history of the Green Institute, from 1993 to 2003, are listed in the document "Green Institute Milestones" (see below), as follows:
November 1992: First recorded meeting of Green Institute Coalition.
May 1993: Annie Young contracted as consultant/project manager for Green Institute.
June 1993: Interim advisory board named to oversee Green Institute operations and ReUse Center project manager hired.
August 1993: Green Institute incorporated as non-profit Minnesota corporation.
November 1993: County abandons plans for garbage transfer station.
April 1994: First office opens in Franklin Business Center with two staff.
Summer 1994: Green Institute receives approval for $800,000 Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) grant.
October 1994: Board of Directors elected at first annual meeting.
January 1995: George Garnett begins duties as first Executive Director and organization receives non-profit tax status from IRS.
October 1995: ReUse Center opens in Hi-Lake Shopping Center and first PEEC design charrete held at U of M.
May 1996: Michael Krause becomes Acting Executive Director, Institute wins development rights to transfer station site and receives $218,500 from Northwest Area Foundation to support PEEC development.
September 1996: Green Institute receives 3-year, $498,500 JOLI grant.
October 1996: Sirney Architects chosen to create master planning document for PEEC and Green Institute staff attend one of the first national conferences on eco-industrial parks sponsored by the EPA in Cape Charles, VA.
December 1996: Michael Krause hired as Executive Director.
1997: GreenSpace partners (then Phillips ETC) becomes a program of the Green Institute.
March 1997: Board accepts Design Master Plan for new building.
April 1997: Green Institute named "Community Environmental Organization of the Year" by MEI and LHB Engineers & Architects selected to design PEEC
September 1997: DeConstruction Services bbegins operations.
January 1998: DeConstruction Services contracts to completely deconstruct a 6,000 sq. ft. home in Edina -- its first full deconstruction project.
March 1998: Institute wins $250,000 Sustainable Development Challenge Grant from EPA.
June 1998: Governor signs bill granting $1.5 million to the Green Institute for its new building and G.I. is featured as part of the "Planet Neighborhood" series aired nationally by PBS.
November 1998: PEEC construction begins.
April 1999: Legislature approves $250,000 LCMR grant for DCS.
May 1999: Green Institute wins "National Award for Sustainability" from President's Council on Sustainable Development.
June 1999: Green Institute hosts the national Eco-Industrial Development Program Roundtable meeting.
October 1999: Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center opens to first tenants.
December 1999: Green Institute moves into new offices in the PEEC.
January 2000: Phillips and Near North designated as federal Empowerment Zone and PEEC wins Committee on the Urban Environment Award.
April 2000: PEEC named to Earth Day Top Ten list of green buildings by American Institute of Architects; and for its efforts in urban forestry, GreenSpace Partners wins the "Arbor Day 2000" award from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
May 2000: Richard McCarthy makes personal gift of $300,000 to PEEC capital campaign and Minneapolis City Council approves Institute's application for $3.5 million HUD Section 108 loan.
September 2000: Green Institute signs three-year agreement with Confederation of Indian Industry in Washington, D.C. and PEEC wins Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention.
October 2000: Board approves five-year strategic plan.
January 2001: Construction begins on Hiawatha LRT line; and GreenSpace Partners is awarded for the "Best Parks Project 1991-2000" by the Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
April 2001: Phillips ETC becomes GreenSpace Partners.
September 2001: PEEC becomes 100 percent occupied for the 1st time.
October 2001: GreenSpace Partners wins the St. Paul Garden Club Award for excellence in community vegetable gardening from the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.
December 2001: ReUse Center and DeConstruction Services are officially recognized as one program.
February 2002: HUD Section 108 financing finally closed (originally applied for in May 2002 [2000?]).
April 2002: Phillips Community Energy Co-op Kickoff.
June 2002: Green Resource Center opening.
September 2002: GreenSpace Partners completes the purchase of two lots from the City of Minneapolis, removing these lots from competition and permanently designating these sites as community gardens.
November 2002: Conservation Improvement Program (PIC) funds secured from Xcel per an order from the MN Dept. of Commerce.
January 2003: RC/DCS passes $1 million mark in sales for calendar '02.
February 2003: $2 million appropriation for biomass secured by Congressman Sabo with support from former Senator Paul Wellstone.
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By 2008, however, the Green Institute had fallen into serious financial difficulties even as public interest in green technology was blooming.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on July 15, 2008 that the city of Minneapolis, wary of its role as the Institute's chief creditor, was pondering what action to take on its chronically overdue debt payments.
The Star-Tribune reported on June 15, 2009 that The Green Institute sold the PEEC, a 57,609-square-foot building at 2801 21st Avenue South near Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue, for $5.1 million, to an investment affiliate of St. Paul-based Wellington Management for $5.1 million. At that time, The Green Institute occupied about 2,200 square feet of office space and another 6,500 square feet for its ReUse Center; and other tenants included Peace Coffee, the Non-Profits Assistance Fund, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Community Action of Minneapolis.
The Star-Tribune reported on January 11, 2011 that the Green Institute had closed its struggling ReUse Center in Minneapolis the previous month amid ongoing financial challenges for the Minneapolis-based nonprofit.
In the March 2011 edition of The Alley newspaper, Annie Young published an article, "GI Hi-Jacked at Hi-Lake!... Green Institute dead to South Mpls." (see Box 1, Folder 2), in which she wrote that on January 25th the PEEC's name came down and Greenway signage was put up in its place. On January 29th the Green Institute offices, including the ReUse Center and Deconstruction Services, moved out of the building with a smattering of files and limited staff to the other ReUse Center store in Maplewood.
The Star-Tribune reported on August 6, 2011 that the Green Institute itself was closing down, more than a year after its executive director, Jamie Heipel, was dismissed by the board over financial issues. Several employees were laid off, the energy-conservation program was transferred to another nonprofit, and the used building materials supply business was closed. The board president, Lisa McDonald, who took over in 2010, and Tim Keane, a longtime volunteer lawyer for the organization, confirmed that a consulting firm's examination revealed deep financial problems that the wounded organization was unable to overcome. McDonald said she hoped the "Green Institute" name and its cornerstone construction-demolition and ReUse Center business could eventually be merged into another nonprofit involved in neighborhood renovation in north Minneapolis. The same article reported that the PEEC remained open and was full of tenants.
-See:
Grant, Sam. "The Green Institute A Business Incubator Nurturing Urban Environmental and Community Regeneration." December 1993. (Box 1, Folder 1).
Vaaler, Agatha. "Phase 1 The Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center: A Retrospective." January 30, 2009. (Box 1, Folder 2).
"Green Institute Milestones." (Box 1, Folder 3).
The Green Institute. "Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center Project Information." March 15, 1998. (Box 2, Folder 4).
Collection Description
5 boxes.
Boxes 1 and 2 contain clippings, annual meeting information and files on the Garbage Transfer Station.
Contents of Box 3:
Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center. Project Information. Prepared by the Green Institute. January 12, 1998. (Report in a Ring Binder)
Phillips Neighborhood Campaign Against the Siting of the Hennepin County Garbage Transfer Station 1987-1993. Case Study from a Personal Perspective. Joan Valhalla. Fall 2006. (Personal case study with attached articles, newsletters, photographs, correspondence, petitions, meeting notices, press releases, etc.)
[in an unknown Asian language] (VHS)
[unlabelled] (VHS)
Contents of Box 4:
Green Institute Video Mix Ground Breaking (SVHS) Master
Green Institute: Year in Review 1995 PCTV (VHS)
Green Institute "Year in Review" 1996 (VHS)
The Green Institute 1997 Year in Review (VHS)
Green Institute Year in Review 1995 1996 1997 (DVD copy of three original VHS tapes)
Green Institute presentation EIP / Design Charrette Oct. 16, 1996 (VHS)
Annie Young on the Green Institute / Windmills in hwy / Headwaters (VHS)
Lake Street Partners: Success Through Partnership (VHS)
The Green Institute -- Making a Difference / Deconstruction Services / Merit Project (VHS)
HGTV Tips - Cross Channel Promos (VHS)
Escape from Affluenza (VHS)
ReUse Center Special - Ch. 9 July 31, 1997 (VHS)
Deconstruction St. Paul Garage 10/17/97 (VHS)
Long Version -- Detroit May 2-5-99 With Numens (VHS)
Deconstruction Ch. 5 9/20/99 (VHS)
Decon - Merrit Project (VHS)
The Green Institute (VHS)
The Green Institute (VHS)
A Look at the Green Institute (VHS)
Videotape for Design Charrette / Green Institute Site Tour (VHS)
KARE-TV Green Institute Segment January 24, 2001 4/2/01 DUB (VHS)
KARE-TV Green Institute Segment January 24, 2001 4/2/01 DUB (VHS)
Reuse Center Store KARE11 10-28-1001 (VHS)
The Green Institute Reconstruction Services (VHS)
KARE-TV Reuse Center "Extra" October 28, 2001 10 pm News 11/13/01 DUB (VHS)
Annie Young on the Green Institute (VHS)
The Minnesota State Lottery's Environmental Journal Program 172 (VHS)
The Minnesota State Lottery's Environmental Journal Program #321 (VHS)
The Minnesota State Lottery's Environmental Journal Program - Green Institute (VHS)
The Minnesota State Lottery's Environmental Journal Program - Green Institute - PEEC construction (VHS)
The Minnesota State Lottery's Environmental Journal Program - Green Institute - PEEC construction (VHS)
The Ground Breaking Peec (VHS)
Green Plans (VHS)
Contents of Box 5:
Photographs, slides and negatives c. 1994-2005
8mm videotapes
1. All Staff Gathering PEEC #1
2. All Staff Gathering 5/21/99
3. PEEC Construction
CDs
1. Winona F/R remarks 9-26-10
2. Diana L. 1 hr.
3. Annie Young
4. Annie Young auditor SCC Linton 1 hr. (58 min)
5. Almanac 29 Sep 2010
6. Even Ringo knew the yellow submarine was green.
7. Even Ringo knew the yellow submarine was green.
8. Photo CD - Unidentified
9. Banner
10. 10 min.
11. Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center
12. Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center
13. Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center
14. Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center
Subject Headings
Corporate Bodies
Green Institute (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Subjects
Building materials -- Environmental aspects.
Community development -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
Community organization -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Citizen participation.
Energy conservation.
Environmental education.
Environmental justice.
Nonprofit organizations -- Minnesota.
Recycling (Waste, etc.)
Sustainable urban development.
Places
Phillips Neighborhood (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Table of Contents
| Green Institute Clippings, Brochures, Reports 1993-1999 -- Box 1, Folder 1 |
| Green Institute Clippings, Brochures 2000-2011 -- Box 1, Folder 2 |
| Green Institute Annual Meetings 2000-2004 -- Box 1, Folder 3 |
| Green Institute Partnership Awards 2004 -- Box 1, Folder 4 |
| Green Institute State Certifications & Board Resolutions 1994-1998 -- Box 1, Folder 5 |
| Green Institute Newsletters. Greensense, and others 1995-2001 -- Box 1, Folder 6 |
| Garbage Transfer Station. Alternate Site Task Force. Correspondence, Reports 1987-1991 -- Box 2, Folder 1 |
| Garbage Transfer Station. Correspondence, Clippings 1992-2004 -- Box 2, Folder 2 |
| Garbage Transfer Station Maps 1991-1996 -- Box 2, Folder 3 |
| Phillips Neighborhood & Neighborhood Revitalization Program, including People of Phillips & Village Block Club. Clippings, Reports 1990-2004 -- Box 2, Folder 4 |
| Environmental Justice. Clippings, Reports 1991-2003 -- Box 2, Folder 5 |
| Re-Use Center. Clippings, Reports, etc. 1995-2004 -- Box 2, Folder 6 |
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