The Austin 2030 District: Energy Efficiency Goes Downtown

Description:

2030 Districts are a voluntary, hyper-local initiative focused on property owners and managers, providing them a focused strategy for increased resources and support around energy and water efficiency. Just as a runner joins a running club to get faster and stronger, property managers join a 2030 District to improve building performance. The Austin 2030 District was officially launched in January 2017 and has 13.8M square feet to date. This presentation will provide background on the initiative and examples of how 2030 Districts work to improve their cities. 



Karen Blaney:

Karen is currently working with the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER), a regional energy efficiency membership organization covering Texas and Oklahoma. She is the District Director for the Austin 2030 District. Karen has more than 15 years of building energy efficiency education, strategic planning, project management and relationship development experience in the nonprofit and higher education sectors, and worked at the University of Texas at Austin for nine years with the Campus Environmental Center and the Office of Sustainability. She has also worked with National 4-H Council on grant programs, and the Student Conservation Association on college internships in natural and cultural resources. Her passions include ocean preservation, recycling and reuse, and facilitating professional growth and development. 



Karen holds degrees from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and Pennsylvania State University. She is also a Senior Fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program.