The
Appalachian Energy Summit, for those who have not heard of it, is an annual event held
at Appalachian State University for the past 5 years. The event is
organized by Geb Moody and staff from the Appalachian States Office of
Sustainability over 3 days to provide a communication forum for North
Carolina's 16 system campuses, plus 3 independent Colleges and Universities. They
discuss and share information, ideas, and results on how to save money through
sustainable practices. Since the inception of this event, the participants have
saved over $499,000,000 in energy costs from implementing many
innovative sustainable ideas, along with nine billion pounds of Co2e emissions
over the past five years. The event is also open to many companies involved in the UNC system planning or execution of these plans, students, and
professionals in the sustainability field. In fact, many of these companies
donate the money used to hold this event, thus making it a free event that does
not affect the budgets of these Universities. The keynote address was given
this year by 350. org Bill McKibben, followed by a question and answer session
with him and Amory Lovins from the Rocky Mountain Institute. The theme for this
year's event was "Knowledge. Collaboration. Action." and several Universities
outside of North Carolina attended this year's event. Although all of the ideas
discussed at this event are about producing green energy, energy reduction, waste
reduction, and reducing environmental impact. The idea that stood out most to me
was the importance of spreading the savings from low-cost / high-payback
projects or "low-lying fruit" to offset the cost of larger, more
expensive projects. The sustainable concept is about a total change of
business, lifestyle, energy usage, and environmental impact, adding
importance to the diversification of saving to make these changes more appealing to
any entity pursuing the sustainable concept. The growth of this event, coupled
with the savings to date, is a testament to how effective sustainability can
be. Participation in this event was a gratifying experience, and I hope to be a
part of many more of them and many more like it. Sharing knowledge in this
field is the only way to provide the opportunity to accelerate a change in lifestyle and move toward reversing the effects of climate change.
Simply put, the
technology is available. It is time to use it. Thank you, Appalachian State, for
your leadership in innovation once more.
