Thank You from the Youth Advisory Group to the Baltimore Office of Sustainability

Thank you to everyone who participated in Earth Hour Baltimore 2009! A full list of the major participants can be found at our website, along with pictures and a compilation of our local media appearances promoting Earth Hour, but some highlights include the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon, Johns Hopkins University, City Hall, Baltimore World Trade Center, The National Aquarium, The Maryland Science Center, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP. Thanks again to Mayor Shelia Dixon for declaring March 28th Earth Hour Day, and we are excited to see what we can do next year!

-Hannah Freedman, and the Youth Advisors to the Baltimore City Sustainability Commision.

Earth Hour 2009 Video

Federal Hill and the Inner Harbor

Rusty Scupper Restaurant

Downtown

Legg Mason Building

War Memorial Plaza

100 East Pratt Street

National Aquarium in Baltimore

City Hall

Fox 45 News Coverage of Earth Hour

Many thanks to Emilio Martinez for putting this video together.

Washington Monument to go dark for Earth Hour

The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks is proud to announce that the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon will go dark for Earth Hour 2009. We are so pleased to have this iconic piece of the Baltimore skyline join in this historic event.

For more information or if you have a building or business that is participating in Earth Hour and would like to be added to the website, please contact Brett Buikema at the Baltimore Office of Sustainability at Brett.Buikema@baltimorecity.gov

Venable LLP Joins Earth Hour

Venable will be observing Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Earth Hour focuses global attention on the issue of climate change by encouraging people to turn off lights for one hour. Property Management for 750 E. Pratt and the Candler Building are also observing Earth Hour by turning off all non-essential lights for one hour on Saturday. The goal is to have one billion people worldwide observe this symbolic hour of conservation.

Johns Hopkins Joins Earth Hour

March 27, 2009

Celebrate Earth Hour at Hopkins this Saturday night

Earth Hour, a global initiative to raise awareness about global warming, will take place this weekend on Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Johns Hopkins has joined the City of Baltimore and other area businesses to support this effort, and encourages all faculty and staff to turn off all non-essential lights and electronic appliances – including monitors, printers, and copiers – on Friday before leaving for the weekend. For more information visit http://www.sustainability.jhu.edu

Baltimore City Department of Public Works Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 26, 2009

Lights go out in city buildings during Earth Hour on March 28

Baltimore City Department of Public Works Director David E. Scott, P.E. has announced that the agency will participate in Earth Hour, a world-wide call to switch off lights on Saturday, March 28, 2009. Earth Hour begins at 8:30 p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m.Lights will go off at 10 city-maintained landmark buildings in the downtown area.

Earth Hour is an annual international event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, to spotlight concerns about climate change. Switching off your light is a symbolic vote of support for the Earth and the environment. During Earth Hour, lights will be switched-off in the following city buildings: City Hall, the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, the MECU building, the Charles L. Benton building, the Peoples Court, the War Memorial Building and the Fire Department Headquarters. These buildings are all located around City Hall in the area bounded by Baltimore Street, Saratoga Street, Guilford Avenue and President Street.

DPW Bureau of General Services Head Khalil Zaied said the bureau is happy to support this event. “Not only does it help reduce carbon emissions but encourages citizens to reflect on ways they can help save on energy costs and make Baltimore and their environment greener.” The Bureau of General Services not only maintains city buildings and vehicles, but also has an Energy Office that works to implement energy efficiency measures and increase the use of renewable energy sources in City facilities.

Earth Hour began in 2007 and has grown into a global sustainability event, with millions more joining in the event each year. DPW recommends that people call ahead to establishments they plan to visit during Earth Hour to see how they are commemorating this event.

For additional information, visit EarthHour.org.

Contact: Celeste Amato or Cathy C. Powell
Celeste.Amato@baltimorecity.gov
Cathy.Powell@baltimorecity.gov

The Baltimore World Trade Center Joins Earth Hour Baltimore

The Baltimore World Trade Center, the world's tallest equilateral five-sided building, joins the growing list of landmark buildings participating in Earth Hour 2009. We are pleased to have them on board.

If you would like to join, visit http://www.earthhourus.org/ for more information and contact Brett.Buikema@baltimorecity.gov to have your building added to the website.

Wells Real Estate Funds to Observe "Earth Hour"

Wells Real Estate Funds to Observe “Earth Hour” on March 28
Buildings Going Dark to Promote Environmental Awareness

March 24, 2009 11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NORCROSS, Ga.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Wells Real Estate Funds, a nationally recognized leader in real estate investing, will turn out the lights at properties nationwide this Saturday in observance of Earth Hour.

Homes, companies and cities around the world will go dark for one hour, starting at 8:30 p.m., to promote environmental awareness, in an effort founded by the World Wildlife Fund. Wells is based in the suburbs of Atlanta, one of Earth Hour’s key cities.

Wells specializes in Class-A office properties; its investment programs own 117 buildings nationwide. Wells intends to darken its owned-and-operated buildings, and the company also has invited tenants at some three dozen net-leased buildings to do likewise. Participating Wells buildings in Saturday’s Earth Hour event will include 222 E. 41st Street in Manhattan, 100 East Pratt Street in Baltimore, 5 Houston Center, and the Key Center tower in Cleveland.

“We are proud to join this worldwide call for environmental awareness,” said Don Henry, chief real estate officer for Wells. “This is our second year as a supporting company of Earth Hour, and our tenants and staff are excited about this opportunity to display our shared environmental commitment.”

WWF bills Earth Hour as the largest global climate event in history. An estimated 50 million people worldwide participated in 2008.

In keeping with Earth Hour, Wells buildings will turn off interior and exterior lights between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. local time, except for lighting that is essential for safety or tenant commitments.

Wells is a certified ENERGY STAR® partner and has earned ENERGY STAR recognition at 23 of its properties nationwide in the past two years. Wells’ portfolios also include five LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings.

Since its founding in 1984, Wells Real Estate Funds has invested more than $12 billion in real estate for more than 250,000 investors. Wells funds include REITs, mutual funds and other commercial real estate investment vehicles. For more information, see http://www.wellsref.com/.

Contacts
Rubenstein Communications
Josh Hamilton, 212-843-8304

Earth Hour - Baltimore Welcomes The National Aquarium

The National Aquarium will go dark on Saturday, March 28, 2009 between 8:30pm and 9:30pm in support of Earth Hour to help make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solution.

As a major attraction that lights up Baltimore’s sky line, the Aquarium has become an important landmark on the Inner Harbor. It a very intricate building that is home to over 16,000 animals, and so turning off the lights off is no easy feat.

The following parts of the National Aquarium will be dark: the glass pavilion which houses Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes, the Rain Forest exhibit, upper and lower lobbies, gift shop and café, the ticket center, and all outdoor perimeter lights, spot lights, ground lights, tree lights and tri-vision sign lights on Pier 3. For safety purposes, all essential emergency lights will stay on.

The Maryland Science Center Joins Earth Hour

The Maryland Science Center is planning to celebrate Earth Hour by turning off their Earth science news exhibit, TerraLink, from 2-3pm on Saturday. Instead of having electricity-based exhibits in that hour, they will be playing games and doing Earth-related activities that don’t require power.

They will also be turning off the neon signs on the sides of their buildings, plus the lighted columns near the walkways on Light Street and Key Highway for the actual 8:30-9:30pm time frame.

Downtown Baltimore Buildings Join Earth Hour

The following Downtown Baltimore Buildings have pledged to join Earth Hour 2009. We are so proud to have them join us for this fun, educational, and symbolic event.

1 E Pratt
1 South Street
100 E Pratt
100 Light
100 S. Charles
20 S. Charles
25 S. Charles
250 West Pratt
500 East Pratt


If you would like to join our list, please contact Brett Buikema at the Baltimore Office of Sustainability at Brett.Buikema@baltimorecity.gov

Earth Hour Baltimore Welcomes the Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP Baltimore Office

Earth Hour - Baltimore is pleased to announce the addition of the Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP Baltimore Office and 100 East Pratt Street to our growing list of participants. The members of the PwC Baltimore Green Team have generously offered to help solicit the participation of fellow downtown offices as part of their year round efforts to improve the environmental behaviors of their office members.

Steve Hatfield, the PwC Baltimore Green Team Leader has offered to share the following summary of the great work they are doing.

The PwC Baltimore office is committed to promoting green behaviors in an office setting and the community while utilizing sustainable products and methods of conducting business. In order to keep this important initiative focused and progressing, the first ever PwC Baltimore green team was created in the fall of 2007. Our mission statement is to enact and improve environmental behaviors within the office and the community by educating employees and citizens on the benefits of making daily choices that are advantageous to the environment. The PwC Baltimore green team is composed of a 4 chair person committee and partner champion. The 4 members of the committee each have their own initiatives that they are in charge of organizing and promoting. These initiatives include in-house green management, transportation, client site green management, and community service. The partner champion’s role is to facilitate communication between the green team and upper management in order to expedite the implementation of environmentally friendly initiatives throughout the workplace. Each initiative has identified important areas where green behavior can be improved upon.

One of our yearly key events that we take part in is promoting and supporting the Earth Hour campaign in Baltimore. This important global movement is pivotal to gathering support and increasing awareness of the environmental sustainability challenges that we face not only as a city or a nation, but as a planet. The PwC Baltimore Green Team is doing its part by reaching out to all corporations in the downtown area to foster support and most importantly make sure they turn their lights out on March 28th. Additionally, the team will be holding in-house educational programs to teach fellow employees the concept of Earth Hour and instill lasting behavioral changes that stretch beyond this finite event. An email will also be sent to all employees in the PwC Washington Metro market (which includes Baltimore, Tysons Corner and Richmond) that will explain our firms' involvement in Earth Hour and request their participation at their homes by having them submit an electronic pledge. Finally to spread the word to those who will not be in the city on March 28th to participate, the team will have volunteers working in the building lobby to spread the word on Earth Hour and increase general awareness.

By continuing to advance green initiatives in our office and beyond, the PwC Baltimore green team will demonstrate to its clients and the community that a responsible member of the corporate community can successfully overcome the dichotomy of being a leader in the client services industry while simultaneously operating in an environmentally sustainable manner. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Steve Hatfield
Tax Associate – Baltimore Green Team Leader

Mayor Sheila Dixon Designates March 28, 2009 as Earth Hour Day

City Hall to go dark for Earth Hour

The City of Baltimore is pleased to announce that City Hall will be going dark for Earth Hour.

Also participating are the following surrounding buildings:

Charles L. Benton, Jr. Building
Abel Wolman Municipal Building
The War Memorial Building
The MECU Building

Please join the City and turn off your lights for one hour March 28th, starting at 8:30 PM.

Join us on Facebook!

Show your support for Earth Hour 2009 by joining us on Facebook at Earth Hour - Baltimore. Over 800 people have already been invited, our goal is 1000. Please join and invite your friends!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=71970072558&ref=ts

Baltimore will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund. More than 950 cities around the world have already committed to go dark for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 PM, as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.

The Baltimore Earth Hour is being led by the Youth Advisory Group to the Office of Sustainability with support from the Office of Sustainability, The Department of Planning, and the Mayor’s Office. Participation in Earth Hour is a money saving project that would serve as an educational forum demonstrating how to reduce energy use and lower greenhouse gas emissions. All of which are goals of the recently completed Baltimore Sustainability Plan.

Hannah Freedman, one of the members of the Youth Advisory Group, has been working to spread the word about Earth Hour among young people because she believes, “Tomorrow’s politicians, doctors, and lawyers are in Baltimore City Schools right now and together, we will find and implement a more sustainable way to live on our planet.” She feels that this event will lead to, “perhaps a small reduction in energy consumption, but more importantly, a lasting awareness of the environmental issues facing civilization. This awareness is what is needed for citywide cooperation on the Sustainability Plan.”