EDF Staff | July 8, 2011
By: Carrie Gonnella, 2011 Climate Corps Public Sector Fellow at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC; MEM/MBA candidate at the Nicholas School of the Environment/Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Two weeks into my EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) fellowship, I attended an energy assessment training put on by the State of North Carolina and hosted by the Center for the Environment at Catawba College. This was a great opportunity to expand on what I learned at CCPS training. This three day training included a dozen energy topics, hands-on demos, and a practice energy assessment of a Catawba dormitory.
Dr. Joe Davis, who led the training, works in North Carolina's Energy Office and has many years of experience in energy assessment. I completed training with 40 representatives from colleges and municipalities. We were eager to develop our understanding of the tools and steps needed in a comprehensive energy assessment. We covered lighting, HVAC, motors, compressed air, boilers, and chillers. Dr. Davis showed us tools that were applicable to each situation. By the end of the training I was able to develop a list of tools that would assist me in my own energy assessment of Catawba's buildings. Catawba's Center for the Environment purchased these tools, which will be useful to my work this summer, and can be used as teaching tools in the future.