Metropolitan Energy Center (MEC)

Sustainable Transportation: Through our projects and programmatic activities, in 2022 alone we helped local government and private fleets to directly eliminate approximately 11,000 tons of greenhouse gases by replacing approximately 7,000,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel with clean fuels, electricity, and reduced vehicle usage. These benefits also directly increase human health in affected deployment areas. Our activities include providing decision-support resources to organizational management, as well as direct technical and funding assistance. We also engage directly with the general public through information campaigns and with local and state policymakers as subject matter experts. Long-term programmatic areas of engagement include Kansas City Regional Clean Cities and Central Kansas Clean Cities coalitions, both of which operate locally, and access and contribute to a nationwide network of peers; Mid-America Green Fleets, providing fleet technical assistance and coaching; Electrify Heartland, overseeing electric vehicle projects and programming, including to the general public; and Biodiesel Outreach and Training, providing informational resources to fleets and fuel retailers and providing training to college students.

Building Performance: Through our projects and programmatic activities, Metropolitan Energy Center facilitates education, resource matchmaking and technical assistance to various constituencies, including municipal officials, residential homeowners and renters, commercial property managers and government agencies, with the goal of increasing uptake of energy efficiency technologies and practices, increasing compliance with municipal codes by property owners and managers, and helping all of them to access available external funding sources. Our Energy Solutions Hub also provides healthy housing education and supports research related to understanding the impact of energy efficiency measures on human health. We reach homeowners, renters and the public generally through Project Living Proof, our demonstration home that tangibly illustrates sustainable building materials, xeriscaped lawns, and healthy homes education. It is also used for small business workforce development training in the energy and environment fields.