(L-R: Rob Phocas, Vincent Davis, Mayor Anthony Foxx)
Two years ago, Envision Charlotte was announced by President Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. At the same time this announcement was being made, we were holding a small press conference in the lobby of the Duke Energy Center. I had just accepted the role as director of the Smart Energy Now program the week before, so I stood on the sidelines as our community leaders stepped up to the microphone touting the potential impact that Envision Charlotte would have on our community. I still remember the excitement in the air and the large Monarch butterflies in my stomach!
Since that time, our community has responded with a clear commitment to achieve the goals of Envision Charlotte. Smart Energy Now® is well underway and each day we continue to see the results of an active community engagement plan.
Most of you already know these facts but they are worth repeating:
- Over 800 uptown employees trained as energy champions
- Over 500 Twitter followers
- Over 350 LinkedIn members
- Over 1500 subscribers to our quarterly newsletter
- Over 98% of the eligible square footage participating in the program
- Two successful town hall sessions with facility managers with over 75% of the building represented
We continue to grow each day. In fact, many in the community have now come to the realization that we are steadfast in our commitment and that the call to join us is getting louder. We are now reaching out to the tenants that work in the participating buildings and we are asking them to commit to our “Declaration of Change”. The commitment is that their company will actively support the Smart Energy Now effort via campaigns, communications and actions focused on reducing wasted energy. Over 50 companies have committed to the declaration and the list continues to grow. On Oct.9th, 2012 we held a luncheon with Mayor Foxx for the companies that have committed to the declaration. After a few brief remarks from Mayor Foxx; Rob Phocas (Energy and Sustainability Manager for the City of Charlotte) the Mayor and I conducted a Q&A session for the attendees. I was also pleased to announce that our preliminary results indicate that energy usage is down (click here for press release).
In closing, it is important to note the acknowledgement that Envision Charlotte received from the USGBC last week at their annual Green Gala. Our program was selected for the leadership award in the non-profit category!
If you have not actively done something to reduce wasted energy – now is the time! Follow us on Twitter @DE_SmartEnergy , join our discussions on Linkedin and pledge your support at http://smartenergycharlotte.com/
Let’s keep moving forward as a community and continue to reduce wasted energy.
Vincent
