Mid America Destinations

Illinois River Towns Quad Cities North Shore and South Dakota

Illinois and Iowa

Champaign County is nearly equidistant from Chicago, St Louis and Indianapolis; a thriving micro-urban oasis supported by local agriculture, technology and research and home to the University of Illinois.

The College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Science is a leader in crop science, bio-energy and animal science. Farmer-owned Grain Cooperatives in America’s heartland and the Illinois grain belt; rich soils and modern farm practices produce record yields of quality grains. Ethanol and distiller’s grain production. Research in soybeans, from production to consumption, by the National Soybeans Research Laboratory. The National Center for Super Computing Applications, whose Blue Waters Supercomputer is the largest and most powerful on a university campus and among the largest in the world.

The River Towns of Illinois along the banks and bluffs of the Mississippi River hug the western border of Illinois for 550 miles. Experience an Illinois winery, brewery, farm, u-pick, or local farm to table restaurant. Four Centuries of history and heritage and thousands of stories that recount America's evolution while experiencing breathtaking views, majestic landscapes and species that travel thousands of miles for a visit or to make themselves a home.

The Quad Cities area consists of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Moline, East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois. The region has the excitement of a big city and the hospitality of a small town with award-winning museums and cultural centers, internationally-recognized festivals, beautiful riverfronts and a vibrant nightlife.
Davenport has beautiful riverfront vistas and an active downtown area with the Figge Art and Putnam History Museums and great shopping at the North Park Mall.
 

Bettendorf the Library and adjacent Family Museum provide exciting programs and storytelling. The numerous outdoor activities include the Splash Landing water park, Wallace's Garden Center and Duck Creek Recreational Trail.

Rock Island downtown is known for its festivals and nightlife with Cajun food and zydeco music; Jamaican food and reggae music; and a fall Irish folk festival. Family activities include the country's largest go-kart street race. 

Experience a Downtown Architectural Tour and the Broadway Historic District

 

Moline is one of the agricultural capitals of the world, home of John Deere and steeped in history. The modern downtown area features great riverfront views and evening entertainment with musicals performed by local actors.
East Moline is home to many great events and festivities. Empire Park is right on the Mississippi River, walk along the riverfront trails of The Quarter or visit to the John Deere Harvester Works, one of the world's largest combine factories.

The North Shore Communities along Lake Michigan are minutes from Chicago’s city center: Evanston, Glenview, Northbrook, Prospect Heights, Skokie, Wheeling and Winnekta.

South Dakota

Aberdeen South Dakota Before the arrival of European settlers, the area was inhabited by the Sioux Indians. The first group of Euro-American settlers to reach the area in the 1820s was a party of four people, three horses, two mules, fifteen cattle, and two wagons. This group of settlers was later joined by another group the following spring, and eventually more settlers migrated toward this general area. Like many towns of the Midwest, Aberdeen was built around the newly developing railroads. Officially plotted as a town site on January 3, 1881 by the Milwaukee Road which was presided over by Alexander Mitchell, who was born in Scotland, hence the name Aberdeen. The town was officially founded on July 6, 1881, the date of the first arrival of a Milwaukee Railroad train.

Aberdeen the perfect family and business destination

The Dacotah Prairie Museum The idea for a community museum in Aberdeen dates back almost 70 years. In 1938, John Murphy, a Northern State College professor, and Marc Cleworth, a salesman, created the Northern South Dakota History Museum which was housed in the Central building on Northern's campus. The collection of this first museum grew rapidly through loans and donations until by 1941, it had amassed a collection of over 500 items.

Rapid City is centrally located to visit the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park and the Badlands. Western and Native American Heritage throughout the city you will find Native American history exhibits, fine arts display, and interactive museums like the Journey Museum that takes you from the formation of the Black Hills over 2.5 billion years-ago to the continuing saga of the Western frontier.

Digital Metering and Smart Grids in Your Community

Smart Meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system; unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. With the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing, utilities have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Smart meters provide a way of measuring site-specific information, allowing utility companies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.

Supply and Demand Integration

Data Management a critical element for smart meter systems is information technology at the utility that integrates networks with utility applications such as billing and customer service.

Historic Development of the Electric Grid the first alternating current power grid system was installed in 1886 as a centralized unidirectional system of electric power transmission and distribution. During the 20^th century, local grids were interconnected for economy and reliability; power stations were strategically located close to fossil fuel sources, railroad, highways or ports. The 21^st century is characterized by smart grid deployments, electronic communication technology, the application of alternative renewable energy sources and a de-emphasis on large, centralized power stations.

Digital Metering and Smart Grids are full ecosystems with multiple technologies characterized by: usage by time, outages in real-time, remote disconnection, detection of electricity fraud, automated billing and contract management, demand side management, distributed generation management.

Advanced Metering and Grids Infrastructures the evolution of the network is instrumental for the wide diffusion and high penetration of renewable energy sources and the implementation of energy saving measures, hence to the reduction of CO2 gas emissions.

Smart Grids Enable and Presume Active Consumer Participation

ESCo is an energy and water service/savings company that provides design, implementation and financing of energy/water saving projects, retrofitting, conservation, infrastructure outsourcing, power generation and supply, as well as risk management.

Smart Metering Benefits

Client Management flexible and tariffs, bad credit management and consumption patterns data.

Cost Efficiency and Loss Reductions no field teams for meter reading and disconnections.

Value Added Services bidirectional metering, remote curtailment, automation and smart appliances.

Smart Metering: 65% Energy Efficiency Improvements 25% more Micro Generation

Energy Management Systems and Software in Your Community

EMS are computer-aided tools that monitor, control, and optimize the performance of the generation and transmission of electric utility grids. Energy Management Systems can be used to centrally control devices like HVAC units and lighting systems across multiple locations. EMS also provide metering, sub-metering and monitoring functions that allow facility managers to gather data and insight to make more informed decisions about energy activities across their sites.

Operating Systems EMS rely on a model based approach. Traditional planning models and EMS models were always independently maintained and seldom in synchronism with each other. Using EMS software allows planners and operators to share a common model reducing the mismatch between the two as well as cutting model maintenance.

A Common User Interface allows for Easier Information Transition from Planning to Operations

EMS Suppliers began to deliver solutions based on industry standard hardware platforms with Windows based solutions and blade servers occupy a fraction of the space previously required; a blade rack of 20 servers occupy the same space previously occupied by a single server.

Energy Efficiency EMS can also refer to a system designed to achieve energy efficiency through process optimization by reporting on granular energy use by individual pieces of equipment. Newer, cloud-based energy management systems provide the ability to remotely control HVAC and other energy-consuming equipment, gather real-time data and generate intelligent guidance on finding and capturing the most compelling savings opportunities.

ESCo is an energy and water service/savings company that provides design, implementation and financing of energy/water saving projects, retrofitting, conservation, infrastructure outsourcing, power generation and supply, as well as risk management.

Building Automated Systems energy management system also refers to a computer system designed specifically for the automated control and monitoring of electro mechanical facilities in a building which yield significant energy consumption such as heating, ventilation and lighting installations for single or groups of buildings. Most of these energy management systems also provide facilities for the reading of electricity, gas and water meters. The data obtained from these can then be used to perform diagnostic and optimization routines on a frequent basis to produce trend analysis and consumption forecasts.

Energy Management Software is a general term and category referring to a variety of energy-related software applications which may provide utility bill tracking, real-time metering, building HVAC and lighting control systems, building simulation and modeling, carbon and sustainability reporting, IT equipment management and energy audits.

Tools for Energy Cost Reduction and Consumption in Buildings and Communities

Data Collection is for three main purposes: Reporting, Monitoring and Engagement. Electricity and Natural Gas are the most common utilities measured, though systems may monitor steam, petroleum or other energy uses, water use, and even locally generated energy:

Reporting tools are targeted at owners and executives who want to automate energy and emissions auditing. Cost and consumption data from a number of buildings can be aggregated or compared with the software, saving time relative to manual reporting.

Monitoring tools track and display real-time and historical data with various bench marking tools such as energy consumption per square foot, weather normalization or more advanced analysis using energy modeling algorithms to identify anomalous consumption.

Engagement refers to automated or manual responses to collected and analyzed energy data. Building control systems can respond as readily to energy fluctuation as a heating system can respond to temperature variation. Another objective of Engagement is to connect occupants’ daily choices with building energy consumption. By displaying real-time consumption information, occupants see the immediate impact of their actions. The software can be used to promote energy conservation initiatives, offer advice to the occupants, or provide a forum for feedback on sustainability initiatives.