At the beginning of each year we enter a new era and adapt new trends.  As we learn more about our environmental impacts, new trends develop that lead us to a more sustainable way of life.  Today, our society is more conscientious about the air we breathe, the water we drink, energy we use, and waste we produce.  In recent year’s ideas like using BPA free products, buying from local farmers markets and using public transportation have been quickly adopted by society.  Employers have noticed these trends and are encouraging eco-friendly business practices by promoting public transportation, recycling and energy conscious behaviors. As the marketplace grows in competition, building owners are looking at ways to reduce their environmental impact and meet the “green” demands to retain current tenants and attract new tenants.

Many buildings are now Energy Star and LEED Certified. New York City Greener, Greater Buildings Plan & Local Law 84    (planNYC), for example, calls for stricter energy codes that require installation of lighting upgrades and tenant sub-meters in non-residential spaces, and require most buildings over 50,000 SF to undertake benchmarking  audits  and implement identified retro-commissioning measures.  New York City Greener, Greater Buildings Plan & Local Law 84   will ultimately save New Yorkers $700 million in annual energy costs, create thousands of construction-related jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 5%.

While changes in our buildings are occurring at the infrastructure and equipment level, a key component of developing a sustainable environment are the people that work in the buildings. Getting tenants and their employees to turn off unused lights, unplugging unused laptop or cell phone chargers or using the revolving doors is not an easy task.  Smart Energy Now® (SEN) recognizes that most tenants and workers are not as informed on the energy usage and impacts their actions can have.  A key component of our program are the interactive kiosks that display real time energy usage of the participating buildings;  which can help in making smarter decisions  about how we use our energy. Like planNYC , SEN also  hopes to  aid in reducing our environmental impact  and ultimately contribute to the economic development  of the city.

For 2013 we challenge you to start an “energy trend” in your office.  Small actions can have huge impacts on our city. Click here for resources on trends you can start in your office this New Year.

Information for this blog was cited from “New York City Local Law 84 Benchmarking Report  August 2012” by Dr. David HSU and Dr. Constantine Kontokosta.

Susana

Smart Energy Now  ®Project Coordinator

Follow us on Twitter: @DE_SmartEnergy

In support of Smart Energy Now, North Highland will soon launch its “Less is More Campaign” which will focus on energy conservation behaviors at both their local office and out at their client sites.  The program will additionally aim to transition the behaviors from work to homes as well. North Highland is a global consultancy who has reduced its energy impact already thru its local model which aims to be “globally local” with its consultants focusing on living and working where their clients do. The participating office here in Charlotte has 120+ consultants.

The North Highland campaign will last approximately three months to truly drive home the changes in behavior, as real change takes time and focus. A tailored survey will be used to help drive awareness and participation across their clients and their office.  The first of three surveys will look to establish a baseline understanding of current behaviors and the following two surveys will look to track improvement from that baseline, keeping everyone informed and engaged as they go.  Each survey will be approximately 10 questions and will focus on the behaviors that when addressed can have the highest impact for energy reduction.  Between each survey, they will provide several “did you know” newsletters to help inform on how to change and to support behavior change already in process. Towards the end of the campaign, North Highland will inquire to see if these new behaviors are leaving the office and coming home with their employees as well. Seeing these behaviors translate to home will be an additional goal for North Highland.

And of course North Highland will foster some good old friendly competition by creating and tracking surveys for each of their client teams and office team.  Through the competition across the accounts and office, they plan to reward and recognize the behavior changes in categories such as: highest participation in the campaign, the most improved behavior, and most importantly, the greatest demonstration of energy saving behavior overall.

North Highland is scheduled to kick off its Campaign just after the New Year, we look forward to seeing the results of this creative campaign!