Oct 22, 2010

Details about Participating in Envision: Charlotte

Nearly 100 owners and facility managers of Charlotte’s 70 uptown buildings met this week to learn more about participating in Envision: Charlotte – a first-of-its-kind, public / private initiative that works to increase the overall sustainability of Charlotte’s urban core through collaboration.

A key focus of the initiative is to reduce electric energy use by up to 20 percent, avoiding approximately 220,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases by 2016.

This was the first time eligible participants had an opportunity get details about the initiative, which was first announced in September by former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Charlotte Center City Partners CEO Michael Smith opened the hour-long meeting at One Bank of America Center by discussing how Envision: Charlotte is a transformative initiative that goes beyond sustainability.

"Envision: Charlotte is a collaborative effort by public and private entities to cooperatively and systematically advance environmental sustainability in Center City toward shared goals. This effort is inspired by the unique opportunities for sustainable actions that are only found in urban areas because of their infrastructure of transit service, walkability / bikeability, density, mix of uses and concentration of LEED certified buildings. Envision: Charlotte is also a powerful business recruitment tool through offering companies lower operating costs and a more attractive place to recruit tomorrow’s workforce," Smith said.

Envision: Charlotte will use digital energy technologies, including meters and routers to connect, aggregate and share energy usage data. Duke Energy will install digital electric meters onto participating buildings alongside existing analog meters. The meters will gather near real-time energy usage information and send it back to Duke Energy offices using a system of routers and a secure cellular network; building network systems will not be needed.

Once the information is gathered, it will be aggregated and displayed as one collective number on digital display screens – provided by Cisco, a key partner in this initiative – located in participating buildings and in other high traffic areas throughout the city. The energy consumption of each individual building will be kept confidential and made available only to building owners and facility managers.

"Electricity is a key component of Envision: Charlotte and that’s why Duke Energy is helping bring this initiative to life," said Gianna Manes, Duke Energy senior vice president and chief customer officer. "With a broader awareness of how much electricity is being used or, in some cases, wasted in our uptown buildings, the people who occupy these building will have more information available to make energy-saving decisions, like turning off a computer monitor or an office lamp at night. This type of individual action may seem small, but when everyone is taking the same action, the collective result can be huge," Manes said.

The 20% energy reduction goal of Envision: Charlotte is a collective goal and not one that each individual building will need to achieve on its own to make the initiative successful.

"Envision: Charlotte presents the City of Charlotte with an amazing opportunity to be at the forefront of the sustainability movement, specifically in the area of energy efficiency," said Emily Scofield, executive director of the Charlotte Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. "What an honor that Duke Energy and Cisco selected Charlotte to create this unique template that can be replicated throughout the world."

Duke Energy expects to have all participants registered by first quarter 2011. Installation of the digital displays will begin midyear 2011.

The Envision: Charlotte initiative builds on the Charlotte region’s economic development "energy capital USA" initiative that was announced by North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, city and business leaders in April 2009.

If you are an owner or manager of Charlotte office space located inside the I-277 loop and you’re interested in participating in Envision: Charlotte or need more information, Vincent Davis, Duke Energy’s director of community partnerships will host several information forums:

• Tue., Nov. 2; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Tue., Nov. 9; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Tue., Nov. 16; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Mon., Nov 22; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Tue., Nov. 30; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
Register by visiting www.envisioncharlotte.com and clicking the "Building Participants" link the upper right corner.

Categories: Business, Charlotte Center City Partners