Smart Energy Now, the uptown Charlotte energy-efficiency campaign, is now asking building tenants to join owners and property managers in turning out the lights.
Launched a year ago, the campaign aims to cut energy use 20 percent over five years. Sixty-four of the 66 uptown buildings ? organizers won?t name the holdouts ? are taking part.
In recent months, organizers have begun asking tenants to also adopt a ?Declaration of Change? to reduce wasted energy. Forty to fifty tenant companies have signed on, said campaign director Vincent Davis.
Mayor Anthony Foxx lauded the campaign as ?one of the three or four things that make the city distinct? at a luncheon Tuesday at the Duke Energy Center. Uptown workers who take their new energy-saving habits home, he said, could reduce the city?s overall energy use.
Duke is the major underwriter of Smart Energy Now. It?s part of the Envision Charlotte sustainability initiative, coordinated by Charlotte Center City Partners, which also includes a water-conservation campaign.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chair of last month?s Democratic National Convention, admired one of the energy-data kiosks mounted in uptown building lobbies, Foxx said. Villaraigosa?s reaction reminded him of actor Will Smith?s reaction to alien spacecraft in the movie ?Independence Day? ? ?I got to get me one of those.?
The campaign released no numbers on energy saved in its first year. The savings will be verified before they?re reported next year, Davis said.
?The preliminary results are very clear, very clear, that these efforts are making a difference,? he said.
The campaign has signed up 600 ?energy champions? to advocate for energy-saving behaviors. The results are recorded by digital technology.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/09/3587522/uptown-charlottes-energy-saving.html
academy award nominations cynthia nixon cspan state of the union drinking game oscar noms capital gains tim thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment