93,000 Reasons to Join the Charlottesville Better Business Challenge

Need a reason to go green and join C3's 2018 Charlottesville Better Business Challenge, a friendly year-long competition that helps local organizations reduce their environmental footprint? 

WE CAN GIVE YOU 93,000 OF THEM. 

Let’s flashback to 2014, when Plow & Hearth, a national catalog, retail, and internet company specializing in home and lifestyle products, participated in the Better Business Challenge. By upgrading the lighting system at their corporate HQ in Madison, Va., Plow & Hearth slashed their electricity bill by $93,000 per year and reduced their energy use by a whopping 887,895 kilowatts per year. The energy use overhaul included installation of warehouse lighting motion sensors and office lighting improvements. That year, Plow & Hearth was crowned "Better Business Challenge Champion” along with five other companies – including Rivanna Natural Designs, Vinegar Hill Café, M-CAM, Indoor Biotechnologies, and Relay Foods –  for earning the highest number of points on the Challenge Scorecards.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, lighting is the second largest “end use” of electricity consumed by U.S. commercial buildings. Even a few updates and improvements to a company’s lighting system, as Plow & Hearth’s success story illustrates, can reap significant rewards, for both energy efficiency and the bottom line.

We’ve made it easy for organizations to participate in the Charlottesville Better Business Challenge – check out our “Tools to Win” section for ideas on how you can cut costs while boosting sustainability. Tools include an “Energy Catalyst Toolkit,” which you can use to tailor solutions to business needs. Another tool at your disposal: access to “Lunch n’ Learns” networking events highlighting the latest trends in sustainability. Learn more about how we can support your participation in the challenge HERE! 

Ready to save energy – and money? JOIN THE CHALLENGE now at cvillebizchallenge.org!