Where are we today?

In collaboration with the USGBC North Carolina Chapter, we held our first Building Recognition Ceremony to recognize high performing buildings, outstanding property management and our community partner. The building recognition program compared the actual energy consumption to the predicted energy consumption over a three month period from December of 2012 to February of 2013 for each building participating in Smart Energy Now. This comparison was done for three building segments based on overall building area: buildings less than 100,000 sf, buildings between 100,000 sf and 500,000 sf, and buildings greater than 500,000 sf. The difference between the actual and predicted energy consumption was calculated for each building and the top three from each building segment were recognized.

Building Recognition Program Winners

100,000 Sq Ft. or less:

• 402 W Trade – Managed by Percival McGuire Commercial Real Estate
• Torrence Building – Owned and Managed by Joann Wheaton
• Old City Hall –Owned and Managed by the City of Charlotte

100,000-500,000 Sq Ft. -500,000 Sq Ft.

• NASCAR Plaza – Managed by Parkway Properties
• Gateway Center – Managed by Gramercy Realty and Jones Lang Lasalle
• Transamerica Square – Managed by Bank of America and Lincoln Harris

500,000 Sq Ft. and above

• One Wells Fargo Center – Managed by Childress Klein
• Fifth Third Plaza – Managed by Parmenter Realty Partners
• 1 Bank of America Center – Managed by Bank of America and Lincoln Harris

Community Partner Award

• City of Charlotte – Rob Phocas

Outstanding Building Management Award

• Lincoln Harris – Kristen Deese

It was a special event; which clearly demonstrated the commitment that the community has made to become the most sustainable urban core in the country!

Susana Ayala
Smart Energy Now®

Follow us on Twitter @DE_SmartEnergy

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

LEED certification has emerged as the standard of excellence in many office markets across the country because the principles of sustainable development are closely aligned with the requirements for Class A assets. These high-performance buildings are often the most prestigious in their markets and compete for prospective tenants by not only offering operational efficiencies and an attractive work environment, but also by providing tenants with a means of demonstrating their commitment to environmental conservation.

The latter of these objectives has become increasingly important as a result of the corporate social responsibility movement and the resulting pressure placed on companies to evaluate their performance using economic, social and environmental measures of success. Notwithstanding the aforementioned benefits, real estate investors must evaluate the financial viability of LEED certified projects using traditional valuation methodologies. Continue to full article>

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!

(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.9^th, 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

Accenture and Perficient, Inc. are setting an example for consulting firms in Uptown Charlotte. They’ve recently launched the Power Down campaign which focuses on energy conservation behaviors both in their local offices and out at their clients. Accenture is a global management consulting firm with more than 1500  employees in Charlotte. Perficient, Inc. is a leading information technology consulting firm serving clients throughout North America with just over 100 local consultants.

Both companies have joined Smart Energy Now® (SEN) to help their employees share smart energy-saving habits throughout the Charlotte area. Power Down allows employees to get credit (and win prizes) for making a difference, regardless of whether they work in their office or at a client site.

We joined Accenture  at their bi-annual meeting to help them kick off their campaign and get  their local  employees excited about Powering Down. Perficient introduced their Power Down campaign at their 1^st quarter office meeting and held a lunch n learn to help their employees understand Envision: Charlotte, Smart Energy Now® and how they could get involved in the Power Down campaign.  Both companies are thrilled about creating a competition between employees that will generate excitement around taking simple actions that will have an impact in Uptown Charlotte.  Each energy-saving action in the Power Down campaign has a small point value; however the actions that are worth the most are the ones that involve assisting your neighbor and office to turn out the lights.

In the Charlotte region, lighting can account for approximately 24% of all the energy used in a commercial office building, which is why these simple actions really can make a difference.  Rewarding good behavior is key to reinforcing these new energy-saving habits and both companies stepped up to make sure their employees knew that this initiative was core to their culture.  Perficient recently wrapped up their campaign with a $50 gift card reward to their employee that turned in the most points.  At the end of its 6 week campaign, Accenture will distribute four prizes for the top scorers. The grand prize is a $500 gift card, first prize is a $250 gift card, second prize is a $100 gift card, and third prize is a $50 gift card! Who wouldn’t want to turn off their lights?

The campaign has already encouraged many Accenture and Perficient employees to make a pledge to reduce their energy use. For more Powering Down campaign examples visit the “How Can I Help” section of our new website.

Susana

Uptown office market in Charlotte has been booming for the past 24 months.  According to Charlotte CITY CENTER Partners, Uptown Charlotte led the nation last year by totaling 1.2 million square feet of office space.

This and many other related factors make Charlotte an extremely interesting and unique place to live and do business.

In fact, this year Harvard Business School (HBS) produced a HBS case study featuring Envision Charlotte, which deals directly with reducing energy in Uptown’s office spaces.

The “Envision Charlotte: Building An Energy Cluster” HBS case pulls together the city’s challenges and weaknesses alongside its innovations and strengths.  For example, in 2008 Charlotte was hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis due to many jobs being located within the banking industry.  However, smaller financial companies and banks took this opportunity to grow.  Three years later the financial sector rebounded within .4 percent of its original employment rate.

Although Uptown has a large number of jobs in one industry, its strength is the community, showing the flexibility to diversify and strengthen the city’s economy when unemployment challenges arise.  William George, author of the Envision Charlotte case study quotes Jim Rogers, Duke Energy CEO “By attracting more companies with efficient technology to a business district focused on sustainability, we can achieve the energy reduction goal with new technologies and become a more competitive city.”

To stay competitive Charlotte is acting now with innovative programs like Envision Charlotte and Smart Energy Now® that focus on reducing the city’s energy consumption by 20% by 2016.  William George notes additional actions, between the year 2000 and 2010, including “$6 billion in public and private investment flowed into center city to develop office buildings, housing, cultural, sports and entertainment venues, and infrastructure such as greenways, parks, and light rail.” By diversifying investments across the city, Charlotte is constantly preparing the way for growth and jobs. It is this investment in the community that keeps the population growth high, and attracts startups and small businesses.

Come visit Smart Energy Now® at the  Legacy Village September 3^rd through the 7th to learn more about the sustainability initiatives in Charlotte!

The information for this blog was cited from “Envision Charlotte: Building An Energy Cluster” by William W. George.

Photo Credit: TouchByPhoto

Susana

“Hey, weren’t you guys the ones who did the Crab You’re It game?” said the Mayor of town. Biz Town, that is.

Every summer, Junior Achievement hosts the JA Summer Biz Camp, where kids from ages 10 to 14 get to create their own businesses, invent new products, and run their own simulated town. Complete with a radio station, town hall, and cafeteria, these kids have the opportunity to learn about financial planning, balancing checkbooks, and how to spend a paycheck.

Smart Energy Now (SEN) and Envision Charlotte are volunteering to reach Uptown employees in a new way—through their kids. We were invited to come speak at this program to educate boys and girls about what we’re doing in the real city.

Our goal is for the students to be so inspired by what SEN and Envision Charlotte are doing around the city that they go home to tell their parents, since about ¾ of the kids at each week-long camp have parents that work Uptown.

And the kids are responding well to the talks; one of the mayors even decided to start a “Crab You’re It” game within Biz Town. We even sneak a few SEN brochures in their Biz City goodie bags. They are not only learning about Envision Charlotte and Smart Energy Now, but also how their parents are conserving energy in their office space and how they can do the same actions at home and school.

At the end of our presentation, we leave them with a few challenges:

1. For the CEOs of all the companies to be leaders in sustainability for the rest of their town by signing a Pledge of Change.
2. For the student population to develop one sustainable habit throughout the week by signing a big banner with their pledges.
3. To spread what they’ve learned to their family, friends, “coworkers,” and so on.

By teaching the young minds at Junior Achievement about Smart Energy Now, Envision Charlotte, and sustainability in general, we hope they will pass on this information to not only their parents, but the next generation.

Follow us on Twitter: @DE_SmartEnergy

One of our country’s most iconic buildings will be saving $4.4 million annually in energy costs due to recent efficiency renovations.  The Empire State building, according to Kelly Vaughn of the Rocky Mountain Institute, is “…establishing a commercial real estate model for reducing costs, maximizing return on investment, increasing real estate value, and protecting the environment.”

How did they do it? Through eight different energy efficiency measures, including adjusting tenant lighting, which tops the list as the “biggest energy saver.”

It also shows the biggest savings at a whopping $940,862 per year. The power density of tenant lighting was reduced through measures such as dimmable fixtures. In addition to turning off lights, reducing the power density of lights can contribute to substantial savings as proven by the Empire State Building.

The smallest energy saver on the list of eight was the window retrofit coming in at $338,508 of savings per year.  The 6,500 existing windows were improved, and by re-using the same windows the project saved $17 million.  This also helped the project whittle down payback time to just three years!

Now, take this model of infrastructure, and add a community of employees that are energy-conscience.  With those that care to turn off lights and unnecessary equipment, the new renovation could reach an even higher potential; even 5 percent higher! Uptown Charlotte is working on energy efficient building retrofits as well.  Within 5 years, buildings across Uptown will make similar progress, including the 5 percent savings created by the office communities through instilling energy-saving habits among employees.  By equipping tenants with energy-saving knowledge, behavior change tactics, and an efficient infrastructure, Uptown is looking to make major strides by 2016!

Check out our resources to see how you can make a difference!

Photo Credit: Brian1875

Susana

• If everyone in uptown took the stairs just 10 flights each work day for one year, together we would reduce almost 10 million kWh of electricity generation, equivalent to about $600,000.
• If everyone in uptown turned off their computer monitors overnight, together we could reduce our energy waste by 24 million kWh, or about $1.4 million.

These simple actions can help reduce uptown Charlotte’s energy consumption by 5% by the end of 2013, one of the goals of Smart Energy Now®.  To achieve reductions in energy waste, we all need to take small steps to change our behavior.

Stanford behavior change expert, B.J. Fogg outlines three simple steps to create habits and we’ve customized it for Smart Energy Now®:

1. Tiny steps! – Recognize small measures that can be accomplished super quick, like Flipping Out a light switch, Powering Down a monitor, or unplugging an unused electronics charger.

2. Time slot – Recognize when it is best to check energy saving measures, such as checking blinds after lunch to block out the afternoon heat. Or, seeing if office equipment has been powered down before leaving in the evening.

3. Train and repeat – Stick with the tiny steps everyday so that it becomes a routine. The routine can then transform into a solid habit.  And, these tiny habits will add up to a big change for uptown!

Are you looking to prompt and remind your coworkers to create energy saving habits?  Click here for resources on tactics that you can quickly adapt in your office, like Crab, You’re It, and Adopt-a-Light.

Susana