A Breath of Fresh Air
Mike LeBeau was a private contractor in Duluth and Lake Superior’s North Shore area, specializing in energy efficient building, who was running into a big problem: he could not find the products he needed for his projects in the North Shore area. Mike figured that if he was having trouble finding 
these products, everyone else must be as well. So he stopped renovating and in 1994 established Conservation Technologies (CT), to start selling the best energy efficient products he could find.
The two products that have been the backbone from the start continue to be in highest demand: air heat exchangers and fiber glass windows. The benefits of fiber glass windows are both environmental and economical. Since the frames are made of fiberglass, they never warp or twist or rot. They expand and contract at the same rate of plate glass so the seals last, they keep the heat out in the southern climates, and keep heat in in the northern climates. They also never have to be replaced (which keeps old windows out of landfills and saves resources form the production of replacements).
“Our products, besides being efficient, are longer lasting so there is less waste and less renovation,” Micky McGilligan, sales manager at CT, explains. “We’re in the business to try to make a contribution…to help stop global warming by making buildings use less fossil fuel. And it’s important to us to help people to have healthy homes.”
“We get a lot of calls from people with mold problems and allergies and chemical sensitivities,” said Mickey. Some of the systems CT sells address these problems that are common in homes now. Mickey explained that homes are being built “tighter” now, but there is no ventilation of fresh air. CT’s vent systems circulate fresh air through homes with out extra energy to heat the air in the winter. The air taken in is heated by taking the warmth from the exhausting air. Mickey said, “It’s the same as having all the windows open with the fresh air coming in, except you don’t lose any heat.”
CT serves an area in a 150-mile radius from their Duluth office. Many of their customers are “off grid” and very rural. Instead of paying to have a power line run all the way out to their home or farm, it makes more economic and environmental sense to install wind or solar systems to power their homes and operations. CT does the research and the purchasing for them, bringing the best technologies to an area of the state that otherwise would not have much access to it.
Community Works
CT is also involved with a variety of community projects, like the Millennium Star Energy Home they helped build in Duluth that is used completely for educational purposes. The home is a Minnesota Power Conservation Improvement Project to construct an innovative, high-efficiency home in a northern climate that can be heated for $300 or less per year! CT installed a solar electric grid for the hot water heating, a fresh air ventilation system, specialized efficient windows, and other energy efficient products that CT supplies.
At Lake Superior College CT has installed a solar electric system that will power the greenhouse and worm composting sites. They are also working on a solar electric system on the Duluth public Library that has a computer monitor hooked up to it that is visible by the public for educational purposes. Visitors to the Library can monitor how much electricity the system is producing each day and learn how it works.
Energy security and efficiency is quickly becoming one of the most pressing issues of our time. Luckily, there are folks like the group at Conservation Technologies who are applying their technological expertise in a way that will help us grow into a more sustainable energy future.