As we get close to the end of the project - but not our journey - we have accomplished something wonderful. First we changed policy in our school. Now we have changed policy in our city government, the City of Louisville, Kentucky. We worked with the head of the city's green initiative to get a pledge from our city. They have pledged to turn down the thermostats 4 degrees in the winter, and up 4 degrees in the summer in all city buildings. They also pledged to replace 1,000 incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. This pledge totals 3,260,000 lbs. CO2 saved!
We calculated the carbon emission savings like this:
According to the EPA, the average office building emits 17.5 pounds of CO2 per square foot. Air-conditioning and heating make up 45% of this, so 17.5 X .45 = 7.88 lbs. CO2. According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, lowering/raising the thermostat decreases this by 20%. 7.88 X .20 = 1.58 lbs. CO2 saved. The Director of Facilities for the City of Louisville said that the city houses 2 million square feet. So 1.58 X 2,000,000 = 3,160,000 lbs. CO2 saved. Add to this the 100,000 lbs. CO2 saved from the new lightbulbs (100 lbs. CO2 saved per lightbulb, 1000 X 100 = 100,000 lbs.), and the total comes to 3,260,000 lbs.
We feel very grateful to live in a community that is willing to help us with our mission. We want to thank our school system, the Jefferson County School System, and our great community, the City of Louisville, for making these huge pledges. They will make a huge difference in carbon dioxide emissions, and help us save the polar bears.
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