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Heat of sun brings cool results for Cedar Rapids engineering firm

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The Design Engineers building uses 360 solar panels.

A building in eastern Iowa that houses a mechanical and electrical engineering firm is now a Net Zero energy user, which means it produces as much power as it uses.

Dwight Schumm is managing principal at Design Engineers in Cedar Rapids, which designs building systems — heating, cooling, plumbing, power and lighting. The headquarters was built in 2009.

“We built it as a low energy or ultra-low energy building but we did not have photovoltaics on it when we originally constructed it,” Schumm says. “We designed it with the idea of making it a low energy building to begin with and then it was in 2016 that we installed the solar panels on it.”

Those 360 solar panels cover some 6,500 square feet of roof, collecting sunlight and converting it to electricity. The 102-kilowatt system supplies power to Alliant Energy during the day and draws power off the grid at night. Schumm says it’s a symbiotic approach.

“Essentially, what Net Zero means is that over the course of a year, we have produced the same amount of energy that we used,” Schumm says. “On a daily basis, it’ll float back and forth where we’re pushing out during the day and then using from the grid at night but the total net effect is that we’re producing as much energy as we use.”

While the building is now considered a Net Zero energy user, Design Engineers is in the process of getting internationally-certified as a Net Zero building. There’s only one other building in the state with that claim to fame, and it’s also in Linn County.

“Indian Creek Nature Center, which actually we did the design for that facility, they were the first commercial building and I think they’re on track to be the first commercial building that’s certified Net Zero in Iowa,” Schumm says, “and we’re hoping to be the second.”

Two of the biggest challenges facing the environment, he says, are climate change and carbon dioxide emissions.

“We design buildings for our clients and for a lot of our clients, it’s also important to them, so we feel, too, that it’s vital that we walk the talk,” Schumm says. “We’re doing it ourselves so that we can show our clients that we’re really committed to it.”

Before adding the solar panels, Design Engineers was already one of the top performing small office sites in country with an Energy Star rating of 98 out of 100.

Last year, he says, the firm prevented the combustion of 68 tons of coal while reducing emissions at the power plant by 212,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.

 

Liquidation of Younkers getting underway

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Going-out-of-business sales start today for a longtime Iowa department store chain.

Officials with retail giant Bon-Ton say the liquidation sales should run ten to twelve weeks, then the stores will close for good.
The company’s list of stores in Iowa includes 17 Younkers and one Herberger’s as well as more than 200 other stores under several names in 23 states. Overall, the chain employs 23,000 people, including more than 800 in Iowa.

Younkers was founded in Keokuk in 1856.

 

Iowa Cancer Consortium meeting in Ames to discuss 5-year plan

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Doctors, nurses, researchers and survivors are gathering in Ames today for a regional meeting of the Iowa Cancer Consortium.

Levi Lappin, a coalition spokesman, says one focus of the conference is to discuss the newly-released Iowa Cancer Plan, a health blueprint for the next five years.

“It essentially guides comprehensive cancer control work in the state,” Lappin says, “and by comprehensive, I mean across the continuum, from prevention like nutrition and physical activity through screening, treatment and quality of life, for survivors or palliative care, hospice.” Lappin says the consortium is a partnership of more than 400 health care providers, public health professionals, caregivers, researchers, cancer survivors and others who work together to reduce the burden of cancer in Iowa.

One priority of the meeting is to provide what’s being described as “health equity.” Lappin says, “As demographics change in the country and specifically in Iowa, there’s a need to help other groups, people of color, LGBTQ folks, to be the healthiest that they can be.” With Iowa being a rural state, he says access to health care can be a burden on many families and individuals.

Representatives from Iowa Safe Routes to School will be making a presentation at today’s meeting in Ames. “That would be more nutrition and physical activity, the prevention side of things,” Lappin says, “getting these kids walking to school, biking to school, giving them safe routes to school — that way they can do that — which then sows the seeds of a healthy lifestyle at a young age.”

The consortium is hosting three meetings across the state this spring. The first was in Council Bluffs earlier this month and the last will be next Tuesday in Dubuque.

 

Senator Grassley says federal tax cuts helping middle class

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Senator Chuck Grassley.

On this federal tax deadline day, some Iowans are considering changing their withholding allowances.

Federal tax cuts enacted late last year put more money into our checks, but the higher take-home pay could end up being a tax liability. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the tax cuts were “absolutely” worthwhile and are a benefit.

“I would look at it from the big picture of economic growth,” Grassley says. “For eight years, we had economic growth of 1.4% and we’ve gotta’ have 3% economic growth and one way to do it is to cut taxes.” Grassley says that money can be better spent by the people who earned it than by Uncle Sam, as he says politicians in Washington too often let politics influence how those tax dollars are allotted.

“This tax cut is really helping middle class America who, probably between 2000 and right now, has not had any pay increase. Maybe today, their salary’s purchasing power is even less than it was in 2000.” Grassley says the 150-million-some taxpayers nationwide should have more say in how the money they earn is spent — or saved — and the tax cuts return more of that money to the people where he says, “it does more economic good.”

“Jobs, growing the economy, more economic freedom — is what tax cuts are all about,” he says. Grassley, a Republican, says there needs to be less regulation and Congress needs to “be more careful how we spend the taxpayers’ money.”

 

Grassley waiting to hear testimony from Facebook CEO

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The creator of the world’s biggest online social network will appear before Congress this afternoon to answer questions about a recent, massive data scandal.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley will be questioning Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg about how and why the political data firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to personal data from 87-million Facebook users.

Grassley says, “This case clearly broke consumer trust and has been a catalyst for an overdue conversation about data privacy.” Facebook has more than two-billion users globally. Grassley says he can’t be forthcoming about how he’ll question Zuckerberg as it will depend on the testimony he gives before the joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees.

Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, says some senators are already introducing legislation to more tightly regulate Facebook and other social media outlets. “I’m not going to say whether we need more legislation until after we get this hearing over and we study the issue a little bit,” Grassley says. “Mr. Zuckerberg has said that maybe legislation is needed, in fact, I think he’s even encouraged some legislation and regulation.”

If Zuckerberg is apologetic and makes it clear Facebook is doing all it can to keep users’ personal information safe, Grassley says it will set the tone. “We have to have strong testimony that they’ve learned a lesson and that they’re going to be transparent with people on what the privacy rights are, how that data is used, what people can do if they don’t want it used, and that it’s pretty simple,” Grassley says. “Short of that, I think they’re going to be inviting legislation.” Anyone who’s signed up for a social media platform has likely seen, Grassley says, how privacy policies are often buried behind layers of settings or they’re shrouded in confusing legal language.

“Consumers need a better understanding of these companies’ practices to make better informed decisions about their personal information,” Grassley says, “and that means renewed transparency from companies that harvest our information.”

Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify starting around 1:30 p.m. central time.

 

Students from Central College take part in annual Service Day

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Central students during previous service day.

About one-third of the students, faculty and staff at Central College will be somewhere other than the campus in Pella today.

A group of about 650 from Central will be fanned out in dozens of other central Iowa communities performing a host of tasks as part of the college’s annual Service Day. Cheri Doane is coordinating the one-day effort.

Doane says, “It ranges everything from outdoor work like landscaping and tree planting and preparing the earth for gardens to projects where people will sit down and chat with people who are aging at long-term care facilities.” Other projects include transplanting native prairie plants at Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, performing music for people with Down Syndrome and transcribing records for a Marion County cemetery and entering them into a database.

“We send out a notice to our community partners in January and ask them to propose a project,” Doane says. “We try to fulfill every project that is submitted but this year we had so many, we had to wait-list a few projects. We do have around 70 projects, requiring different skills and abilities.” Volunteers from Central will contribute to projects in Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, the Des Moines area, Ottumwa, Newton and Otley. Project sites include schools, food banks, churches, community gardens, parks and senior centers. Doane, the director of Central’s Center for Community-based Learning, says the Service Day is a win-win.

“Many, many times, community organizations simply don’t have the staff to meet particular needs so we know they win,” Doane says. “We know that our students, faculty and staff win because they have an enjoyable day and they get to know a group of people with whom they might not already be connected.” She says this 12th annual, single-day event provides hundreds of hours of volunteer service, valued around $75,000.

(Photo courtesy of Central College)

 

The cold to warm to cold weather pattern expected to continue again this week

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A DOT snowplow camera view of Highway 20 near Fort Dodge.

It may be a rollercoaster week ahead where Iowans use both the heaters and air conditioners in their homes and cars.

Meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg, at the National Weather Service office in metro Des Moines, says flurries are still flying this morning after Sunday’s snowstorm that dropped between 6 and 8 inches of snow in northern Iowa.

“We even had a report from Clear Lake, just south of Mason City, that came in with nine inches of snowfall,” Kotenberg says. “It’s pretty widespread, 6 to 7 to 8 inches up in our north, all the way from Estherville to just north of the Waterloo area.”

While we’re 20 days into spring, it hasn’t felt like it in Iowa, with multiple snowfalls and temperatures some 30-degrees below normal. Kotenberg says spring-like weather will be arriving very soon, but it likely won’t last long.

“We’re going to go from 6 to 7 to 8 inches of snowfall in northern Iowa on Sunday to 70s possible by Wednesday, 70s looking even more likely by Thursday and Friday,” Kotenberg says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if even 80s start creeping up in northern Missouri here.”

While many Iowans will welcome the warmth, the forecast calls for it to be gone by Saturday. “We’re dropping back down into the 30s and 40s and we cannot rule out another bit of snowfall for next weekend, especially for northern Iowa,” Kotenberg says. “There’s a lot of time between now and then, but we’re definitely going to be on a rollercoaster this week, in terms of weather.”

Thunderstorms and severe weather are possible on Friday, he says, as the arriving cold front collides with the warm air. Keep up with the changing forecast at weather.gov.

 

U.S. Ag Department website offers info on all types of insect pests

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Asian longhorned beetle (U.S.D.A. photo)

One day soon, the snow will stop falling, it will warm up and start to feel like spring. When that day arrives, so will ants, spiders and other creepy crawlers.

The U.S.D.A. offers Iowans a website that’s a clearinghouse of all sorts of invasive insects that could threaten our gardens, trees, yards and crops. Greg Ibach, Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs, says the growing trouble with emerald ash borer is well publicized, but other pests may not be as familiar.

Ibach says, “Gypsy moth, Asian longhorned beetle, European cherry fruit fly, they’re all things that we’re worried about spreading into Nebraska and Iowa.” The emerald ash borer is in 55 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Infestations in Marshall and Tama counties were confirmed late last month. The website, HungryPests.com, details the top 20 types of bugs that are now — or could soon be — a problem and how we can try to stop their spread.

“When you travel or go camping, make sure you’re not taking your wood with you,” Ibach says. “Pick up the wood you’re going to burn at your campsite there in the local area so that if there’s a pest in the wood from your home area or vice versa, you’re not transporting it.”

Firewood isn’t the only way insects may be trying to hitchhike to a new venue. “Some of the camping equipment and toys and chairs and barbeque grills you’re carrying could have egg masses or insects themselves attached to that,” Ibach says. “Take a good look at those, clean them up and make sure you’re not transporting pests that way.” There’s also a worry about people who may be trying to bring back a treat for themselves or as a gift for someone else from their far-away vacations.

“If you travel abroad, it’s very important that you follow the rules that Customs has posted,” Ibach says. “We’re especially concerned about fruits and vegetables and meat that is coming into the U.S. from other countries. That’s the most likely way that we will bring a disease or a pest into the U.S.”

With the growth of e-commerce, Ibach says invasive pests can also travel through the mail. If you’ve ordered a package from outside the U.S., he says to inspect it closely inside and out to insure there isn’t anything attached that could be harmful. Damage from these pests costs our nation $40 billion each year. Since they have few natural predators here, the insects can wreak havoc on our environment, ecosystems and economy, putting agricultural exports and jobs in jeopardy.

 

Alzheimer’s research underway in Iowa City, volunteers 60+ being sought

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Volunteers in Iowa are needed to take part in the third phase of a long-running study on the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Research director Dr. Michael Weiner says volunteers will be visiting the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City.

“We’re taking everybody over the age of 60,” Dr. Weiner says. “We want normal people. We want people with mild memory problems. We want people who have more serious memory problems. We’re trying to develop better diagnostic techniques that can determine if you have early Alzheimer’s disease.”

In the study, there are no medications, shots or pills and the tests are mostly cognitive, in addition to a blood test and a brain scan.

“As people get older, very often they start to have little slips of memory and they get a little more forgetful,” Weiner says. “People are concerned, ‘Is this a sign of early Alzheimer’s or is this normal aging?’ That’s what our study is all about, finding better ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s to see whether people have a serious problem or not.”

About 63,000 Iowans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2020, that number will be 73,000. Weiner, who’s a radiology professor at the University of California, urges people to sign up for the study.

“You get a completely free, very thorough evaluation by real experts without cost,” Weiner says. “You get to see what modern medicine is like, what modern research is like. It’s very safe. There’s no risk and there’s no experimental treatments or experimental drugs.”

In addition to being the director of the study, Weiner says he’s also one of the subjects.

“My mom passed away from Alzheimer’s disease last year so I know how serious a problem it is and what it’s like to have it in the family,” Weiner says. “As we get older, our risk for getting Alzheimer’s disease grows and grows. This is a way to help find a cure.”

Researchers need to better understand the progression of the disease in order to speed the pace of discovery in the race to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease.

The study is called the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and it’s funded by the National Institutes of Health. For more information, visit: www.adni3.org or call 888-223-6495.

 

Forget the Vegas glitz. Iowa native makes you ‘believe in magic’ (audio)

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Nate Staniforth (Photo by Anna Jones)

A world-touring magician brings his down-to-earth show to his home state of Iowa this week.

Ames native Nate Staniforth says his brand of magic doesn’t involve capes, top hats or rabbits — just a sense of wonder.

Staniforth says the magic industry is shifting away from how it was in decades past, where there was just one “it” magician who all the others worked to copy.

“When I was growing up, everyone tried to be David Copperfield, and then it was David Blaine and then it was Criss Angel,” Staniforth says. “The thing that’s happening with magic now is that it’s splintered, just like music did. There are so many different genres of magic and so many different styles of magic that everyone’s doing their own thing. That’s great. It’s what magic has needed for a long time.”

There are no smoke machines or lasers in Staniforth’s performance and he won’t try to make the golden dome of the state capitol disappear. Magic, he says, should be about instilling astonishment in the audience.

“I’m not interested in comedy. I’m not interested in showmanship or dancing or stage pyrotechnics or any of the Las Vegas trapping normally associated with magic,” Staniforth says. “I have one goal in my show and that’s to give people that sense of awe. It took me a long time to come to that but you have to wear the suit that fits.”

Staniforth lives in Iowa City but tours the planet six months out of the year. At one stage in his career, the 35-year-old says he became disillusioned with the world of professional magic — and the world itself — and discovered he had to return to his roots.

“I am not a great entertainer, I’m not a great comedian, but in my show, I can make you believe in magic,” Staniforth says. “That, to me, is more entertaining than any of the other sort of wrapping paper that is usually associated with magic.”

At age nine, Staniforth decided he would be pursuing a career in magic and he never looked to anything else. He was the only magician in Ames, which was both an advantage and a challenge.

“The closest magic shop was in Des Moines and for a nine-year-old, that’s essentially like having it be on Mars,” Staniforth says. “So, I had to do it all myself. I had to invent my own magic. I could read magic from the library books but that only gets you so far. I had to invent material and perform. If the Boy Scouts in Ames wanted a magic show, I was their only option.”

By age 11, he was performing at birthday parties, banquets and farmers markets, honing his craft. Earlier this decade, he won acclaim hosting the hit TV series, “Breaking Magic,” on the Discover Channel. His memoir, “Here is Real Magic,” was released in January by the Harry Potter-famed Bloomsbury Publishing.

Staniforth is performing this Friday and Saturday night at the Temple Theater in Des Moines.

Hear Matt Kelley’s full interview with Staniforth. Runs 6:38: