Knoxville News Sentinel: New Energy Panel Urged to "Aim Big"

Haslam appointees will first focus on audit of buildings
By Hayes Hickman
Thursday, August 9, 2007

The Sunsphere was built as the centerpiece of Knoxville’s energy-themed World’s Fair in 1982, and City Councilman Chris Woodhull says he’d like to see that symbolism become relevant again.

Woodhull, one of 16 appointees to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s new Energy and Sustainability Task Force, said he hopes the panel will aim for the sort of “big goal” that could establish the city as a leader in energy efficiency.

“I’d like to try to do everything we possibly can to get back to 1982,” he said. “Maybe like a net-zero Knoxville kind of brand. You have to create a big idea.”

The task force, scheduled for its first meeting Aug. 30, will initially focus on an energy-usage audit of all buildings owned and operated by the city, as well as the City County Building, said Madeleine Weil, the city’s deputy director of policy development and the task force’s chairwoman.

A request for proposals is being drafted now for a consultant to conduct the audit and, in turn, offer recommendations for improving efficiency among all city facilities.

“But it’s not going to be limited to that,” said Weil, who coordinated the energy and air quality programs for the city of New Haven, Conn., before joining Haslam’s staff in January.

She also plans to focus the task force’s search for efficiencies in other areas, including the city’s vehicle fleet and its garbage.

Other members of the committee represent a wealth of local expertise on the subject, Weil said, including representatives of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville Utilities Board, the University of Tennessee’s Science Alliance, the local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“These are some of the best experts on energy efficiency in the country,” Weil said.

Such work can make improvements in a variety of areas, such as global climate change and local air quality, “but at the same time, save money,” she said.

“And I agree with (Woodhull), and the mayor’s on board,” Weil said. “We want to aim big.”