Case Study:
Building a Sustainable Big City with a Competitive Edge
Large cities with growing populations need to sustainably balance their social, economic and environmental resources. Two environmental concerns for urban areas are that they consume huge amounts of energy and generate 60 percent of the global carbon emissions.
Charlotte’s Sustainability Plan Gives it a Competitive Edge Over Other Large Cities
In mid-2011, a public-private collaboration named Envision Charlotte was announced among businesses in the City of Charlotte in North Carolina, Duke Energy, and Cisco to change energy-use habits and consumer behavior. This firstof-its kind collaboration is making commercial buildings in Charlotte’s urban core, known as the I-277 loop, more energy efficient—and ultimately the most sustainable urban core in the U.S. Michael Smith, the president of Charlotte Center City Partners, explained that “Charlotte differentiates itself by taking a very ’private sector’ approach to city-building through the action of corporate leadership. With Envision Charlotte, we are once again setting a priority (environmental sustainability) and creating an architecture that aligns infrastructure investments, policy and commerce to achieve a shared goal.”
Behavioral Feedback Loops Facilitating Energy Improvements Envision Charlotte will cut energy use in Uptown Charlotte by 20 percent and avoid approximately 220,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases by 2016. Unlike other eco-cities or smart-grid (see smartgridnews.com) projects, Envision Charlotte provides behavioral feedback loops that show people how their behavior affects energy-usage and how to modify their actions accordingly. Feedback that is gathered is helping Duke Energy and other stakeholders develop strategies to promote energyefficient behaviors to building occupants. Envision Charlotte’s IT Infrastructure Verizon Wireless provided the telecommunications network that connects the digital meters, signs, and media players used in Envision Charlotte—creating its IT infrastructure. As of fall 2011, large interactive screens from Cisco were installed in the lobbies of all buildings participating in Envision Charlotte. Using digital energy technologies connected by Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE (fourth generation) network, Duke Energy collects and processes energy usage data from about 70 participating buildings and streams it to the screens in lobbies. Building tenants see the near real-time commercial energy consumption data for the community and suggested actions they can take to reduce their personal energy usage in the office. Having near real-time energy usage information keeps people aware and is a first step toward proactive human engagement to reduce wasted energy in commercial buildings. Machine-to-Machine IT Supports Sustainability Envision Charlotte is important because of its environment benefits and the application of the latest 4G technology to sustainability. Mark Bartolomeo, a Verizon Wireless vice president, pointed out: “This is a real-life example of how machineto-machine (M2M) technology is an effective way to empower people as they become stewards for energy savings.”
Q1. Why was Charlotte a good candidate for this project to reduce energy waste? For your answer, research Charlotte’s economic condition as of 2010–2011.
Q2. What competitive edge does Envision Charlotte provide the I-277 loop over other urban centers?
Q3. How is near real-time information the substitute for energy use?
Q4. Explain the role of the behavioral feedback loop.
Q5. What core technologies were needed for this project?
Q6. Visit the Smart Energy Now web site at duke-energy.com/ SmartEnergyNow/.
a. What information is made available to the public?
b. In what ways does the site try to engage visitors?
c. What might this real-time information impact or influence achieving Charlotte’s goal of sustainability?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.