Who is involved in the Greening of Greenville?
It is a partnership between the City of Greenville, the City’s Green Ribbon Advisory Committee, Greenville County, Duke Energy, GSP Airport, Hubbell and General Electric. This program continues Greenville’s long history of public-private partnerships and shows that Greenville, through these partnerships, continues to be a leader in innovation.
What is the Greening of Greenville all about?
There are a number of programs involved including expanding the electric vehicle network to energy saving measures in commercial buildings to a pilot LED streetlight program downtown. The Greening of Greenville is a first step in making proactive decisions on how we use energy. It is also another way for Greenville to step out and establish a leadership role in emerging green technologies. A lot of communities can talk about such initiatives, but we live it. We have world-class companies and universities leading the way, including GE, Hubbell Lighting, Kemet, Proterra, Furman and Clemson.
How will the Electric Vehicle (EV) network be expanded?
GE, in cooperation with Enterprise car rental and Thurso Power Systems, has been installing electric vehicle charging stations throughout the county. This includes more than 16 chargers in downtown garages, chargers at the airport, local hotels, SCTAC and at businesses like Kemet and Harper Corporation. In all, more than 40 chargers are being installed. This network will support a fleet of EVs that Enterprise will rent to visitors at the airport and lease to business customers, creating the nation’s first EV Ecosystem, allowing people to use EVs without the worry about finding a charging location. Already more than a dozen companies have pledged to be involved in this program. Enterprise will also be launching its WeCar program here with its first electric vehicles, where if you don’t have a car, you can rent one by the hour. This is a great opportunity for people to see if an EV is right for their lifestyle.
Where will the LED street light program be in downtown?
We have chosen the block along Main Street in front of the Hyatt Hotel. The block was easily divided into four areas to allow us to test four very different LED lights provided by Hubbell. These lights will have special monitoring equipment that will allow Duke to measure energy efficiency and fixture performance. Hubbell and GE have also provided LED Cobra head street fixtures in this same area. This six-month test will allow everyone in the community to evaluate the light quality while we measure the energy efficiency.
How will commercial buildings be involved?
Duke Power is piloting its SmartBuilding Advantage Program in Greenville. This program already has almost a dozen buildings signed on for energy audits and offers the potential for some of the first smart metering in South Carolina. Duke and building owners will partner on the audit and look at short and long-term solutions to save energy. The owner can choose what energy upgrades make sense for their building.
For more information and to become engaged in any of the programs, go to our new website, donated by Mediasation at www.greeningofgreenville.com.