By Prism CEO Wendy Simmons
Earth Day: In the Beginning
The First Earth Day was in 1970 and I was nine years old. Thinking of it brings me back to the 4th grade where our teacher, Mr. Lynch taught us about “Ecology”, the equivalent of today’s Green/Sustainability movement. We studied many interesting things: the preservation of fresh and salt water, farming the land (without DDT and fertilizer) and recycling. We even talked about Solar Energy, but it seemed like a far off dream. I used to recycle newspapers with my father, saving them in our garage until the stack was taller than me. We’d turn the newspapers in for cash! There was also a gas shortage, due to, what else, unrest in the Middle East. It’s scary to think that so many of these issues remain unchanged nearly 50 years later. There are still two factions of people: those who don’t think or even realize there’s a problem and those who do and are committed to solutions.
Transitions to Modern Day
From the 1970’s to the almost late 1980’s there was virtually no Energy Efficiency, Renewable or Green Economy; no real market for it, no work force and no technology. I am grateful to be part of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Explosion that began as a trickle in the 1990s and blew up in the 2000s and continues to grow exponentially even today. The most exciting thing about it is the growing marketplace, the sophisticated work force, and the exceptional technology that is being brought to bear. Artificial intelligence will be running our homes and commercial buildings, all the down to plug load in the not too distant future. There is still so much work to do reduce carbon emissions, as well as reverse climate change, but we have the tools necessary to effect real change. Mr. Lynch would be so proud.
What Can You Do?
As we celebrate this Earth Day, and Earth Month, I encourage you to think like a child, as I did in 4th grade. What can you do? What you do matters! In your business, you can limit the use of paper, recycle and buy recycled products. You can install LED lighting, upgrade your HVAC equipment to energy efficient models, implement strategies with computerized building controls to turn equipment on and off ONLY when NEEDED. You can insulate and seal air leaks to keep conditioned air IN and keep unconditioned OUT. Technology can also be leveraged to operate your heating, cooling, ventilation and industrial process according to computerized algorithims and data collected from sensors to optimize the performance of your HVAC or Industrial systems.
How do you do that? Where do you start? Contact Prism for initial discussion and a complimentary site assessment. We can help identify cost-effective Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy Measures. We can qualify your projects for Utility Energy Incentives to offset the cost of your installation. We can also assist in helping you obtain financing to fund your project. LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP!
Have a wonderful Earth Day. We encourage you to take meaningful ACTION for the next generation of 4th graders and many more to come!
Email contact@prismenergyservices.com for more questions on how to take action.