What is the Cool Capital Challenge?
The Challenge is an unprecedented, one-year initiative to produce a one-billion-pound reduction in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area's carbon dioxide emissions. The Challenge is like a fundraising campaign – only instead of pledging money, Cool Partners pledge to reduce the region’s greenhouse gas emissions. Pledges are measured in pounds of carbon-dioxide (“CO2”).
How to Become a Cool Capital Challenge Partner
Cool Capital Challenge partners (“Cool Partners”) share a commitment to helping the people and institutions of our region combat global warming through a transition to an energy-efficient economy that reduces emissions of greenhouse gases to a sustainable level.
As a Cool Partner, you identify your institution as a leader in this effort and commit to promoting participation in the Challenge and to increasing the energy efficiency of your operations, referred to as “reducing your institution’s carbon footprint.” (Every institution and individual has a “carbon footprint,” which is the amount of greenhouse gases it is responsible for generating.)
A business, agency, membership organization or other institution can become a Cool Capital Challenge partner without calculating its carbon footprint and even before it determines the exact size of its CO2–reduction pledge. First, contact Cool Capital Challenge at institutions@coolcapital.org, take the first three steps below, and commit to quickly take the remaining steps. If you have questions, please contact institutions@coolcapital.org or 202-462-7275.
1) Commit to develop an “ambitious and achievable” CO2-reduction pledge. (Calculating the exact pledge is step 6.)
2) Identify a Cool Leader within your institution as the liaison with the Cool Capital Challenge network. Cool leaders are empowered to approve use of the institution’s name, logo, participation in events and other Cool activities.
3) Link to Cool Capital from your website. Accept recognition as a “Cool Partner” on Cool’s website and in other communications.
4) Reach out to your employees, customers and other networks. They will view your institution in a better light knowing you have taken the Challenge. Promote the Challenge at your locations and with your customers, members, suppliers, peers, employees and other networks. Feature the Challenge in your regular newsletters, email messages and events. You can also help your members, employees, customers and others organize one or more Cool teams to help each other save energy and be part of the solution by hosting team meetings, house parties, online forum and email discussion groups.
5) Develop or improve a carbon-footprint-reduction plan. The institutional calculator will help with this step. Plans address improving the broadest practical scope of operations including buildings, vehicle fleets, procurement and employees’ commutes. Step up your institution's existing plan for reducing your footprint or create the outlines of a new plan to do so. Cool partners who consume an insignificant amount of energy (such as a PTA or Scout Troop) can skip this step and focus on step 4.
6) Pledge: By Earth Day 2008 secure all necessary approval (including budgetary approval) for the above plans and commit to execute them. Predict the CO2 savings from your plans that will occur in the Washington region in any one-year period commencing by September 2008 in order to make an ambitious and achievable CO2-reduction pledge.[1] Provide your plans and calculations to Cool with your pledge. Downloadable pledge template spreadsheet
7) Execute the plans and improve them as needed.
Contact institutions@coolcapital.org if you have questions, need help with carbon emission reduction ideas or want to think about other ways to accomplish your pledge.
Printable version of "How To Become a Cool Capital Challenge Partner"
For more information, including links to energy-saving resources for institutions go to Cool's institutional resources page