City of Rocky Mount – David Tucker – 2011

Goals 

David Tucker spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at the City of Rocky Mount in North Carolina. Tucker was evaluating the Imperial Centre and City Hall for energy efficiency upgrades as part of Rocky Mount’s efforts to become more efficient and sustainable.

Solutions

One of the Rocky Mount’s unique traits is that it straddles two counties. During his fellowship, Tucker saw the need for a sustainability coordinator, a regional Green Team and stronger cooperation between the home counties. This partnership would assist the city’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions reductions efforts, as well as provide cross-pollination of energy efficiency ideas. Tucker analyzed current sustainability initiatives at City Hall and the Imperial Centre and identified immediate opportunities to build upon the progress already made by replacing inefficient T12 lights with T8 lights, upgrading dozens of exit signs to LEDs, and swapping several hundred 75W halogen lights with 50W halogen lights.

Potential Impact

Overall, if the City of Rocky Mount implements Tucker’s projects, it could save more than $90,000 in annual energy costs at City Hall and the Imperial Centre, which represents a 32 percent annual reduction in energy costs and over 1 million kWh saved each year.