{"id":1865,"date":"2011-11-01T16:53:16","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T16:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=1865"},"modified":"2012-04-04T19:27:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-04T19:27:13","slug":"making-the-queen-city-a-green-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte is North Carolina\u2019s largest city, nicknamed the \u201cQueen City\u201d after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen-consort of King George III (okay, I\u2019ll admit that I had to look that up).\u00a0 I grew up nearby and over the years, I\u2019ve watched in awe as the city has grown both upward, with high-rises housing the corporate headquarters of Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Duke Energy, and outward, as the suburbs expand to accommodate the ever-growing population.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, efforts are underway to make the Queen City a green city, as part of a major sustainability initiative announced last year.\u00a0 Envision Charlotte<\/a> was launched in September 2010 as part of the Clinton Global Initiative<\/a>; partners include Duke Energy, Charlotte Center City Partners, the City of Charlotte, and many other corporate citizens.\u00a0 This unique public-private partnership comprises volunteers from 28 different organizations, including EDF, that have come together to make Charlotte the most sustainable urban core in the nation.\u00a0 The program focuses on four pillars to achieve this goal:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. energy efficiency,<\/li>\n
  2. air quality,<\/li>\n
  3. water reduction, and<\/li>\n
  4. waste reduction.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Last week, my colleague Michael Regan<\/a> and I attended a public event in Uptown Charlotte to celebrate the installation of interactive displays, provided by Cisco, in almost 70 buildings.\u00a0 These displays show how much energy is being consumed at any given moment in the city\u2019s center, and provide tips on how to reduce that load.\u00a0 The idea is to provide information to building workers and visitors on what they as individuals and collectively can do to use energy more wisely, and at no cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s estimated that simple behavior changes, like turning off lights and computer monitors when not in use, can reduce 5% of the energy being used in the participating buildings.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

    That\u2019s impressive, but the overall energy goal for Envision Charlotte is more ambitious: to reduce energy by 20% in five years.<\/strong>\u00a0 And that will require investments in building energy management systems, smart grid technologies and aggressive education efforts.\u00a0 Making these investments will ultimately allow companies to save money by reducing what they spend on energy.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

    And making these energy-saving improvements will save money for taxpayers too, since several local government buildings are participating in Envision Charlotte.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    EDF has contributed to this effort, by providing two Climate Corps<\/a> fellows to Mecklenburg County (where Charlotte is located) <\/strong>this summer to identify low- and no-cost energy savings in county-owned buildings.\u00a0 In reviewing three buildings, they found measures that could save the county more than $500,000 in five years.<\/strong> Imagine the impact of identifying and implementing similar energy efficiency measures in all city and county owned buildings!\u00a0<\/p>\n

    EDF will continue working with Envision Charlotte to make the energy savings goal a reality.\u00a0 I have served for the past year on the Envision Charlotte steering committee, which is now a board of directors for the newly created non-profit entity.\u00a0 And we will document the actions taken so that they can be replicated in other communities around the country.\u00a0 Stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Charlotte is North Carolina\u2019s largest city, nicknamed the \u201cQueen City\u201d after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen-consort of King George III (okay, I\u2019ll admit that I had to look that up).\u00a0 I grew up nearby and over the years, I\u2019ve watched in awe as the city has grown both upward, with high-rises housing the corporate headquarters of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5355,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,1077,254,557],"tags":[27618],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate","category-edf-climate-corps","category-energy-efficiency","category-north-carolina","tag-envision-charlotte-2012"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnvision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Charlotte is North Carolina\u2019s largest city, nicknamed the \u201cQueen City\u201d after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen-consort of King George III (okay, I\u2019ll admit that I had to look that up).\u00a0 I grew up nearby and over the years, I\u2019ve watched in awe as the city has grown both upward, with high-rises housing the corporate headquarters of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristen Coracini\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristen Coracini\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kristen Coracini\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56\"},\"headline\":\"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":501,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Envision Charlotte - 2012\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Climate\",\"EDF Climate Corps\",\"Energy Efficiency\",\"North Carolina\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/\",\"name\":\"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/01\\\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56\",\"name\":\"Kristen Coracini\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\\\/page.cfm?tagID=50181\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/kcoracini\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange","og_description":"Charlotte is North Carolina\u2019s largest city, nicknamed the \u201cQueen City\u201d after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen-consort of King George III (okay, I\u2019ll admit that I had to look that up).\u00a0 I grew up nearby and over the years, I\u2019ve watched in awe as the city has grown both upward, with high-rises housing the corporate headquarters of ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00","author":"Kristen Coracini","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kristen Coracini","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/"},"author":{"name":"Kristen Coracini","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56"},"headline":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City","datePublished":"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/"},"wordCount":501,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Envision Charlotte - 2012"],"articleSection":["Climate","EDF Climate Corps","Energy Efficiency","North Carolina"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/","name":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-01T16:53:16+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-04T19:27:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2011\/11\/01\/making-the-queen-city-a-green-city\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Envision Charlotte is Making the Queen City a Green City"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/f7dff93a77088f57b0439bb3606c1f56","name":"Kristen Coracini","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/page.cfm?tagID=50181"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/kcoracini\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1865"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}