Green partnership wins Pyramid Award

            The award will be presented Oct. 24 at the center’s 14th annual conference at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport Expo Center.

Together, partnership members Louisville Metro Government, Jefferson County Public Schools, University of Louisville and Jefferson Community and Technical College employ about 30,000 workers, educate 138,000 students and oversee more than 25,000 acres of property.

Since the group formed in 2004, members have teamed up to increase recycling, ramp up energy efficiency, adopt earth-friendly purchasing policies and show people the merits of sustainability, said partnership director Brent Fryrear.

“We manage more than 500 buildings and 7,000 vehicles, so we have a large carbon footprint,” he said. “Because of our size, we’ve been able to make significant inroads in improving the health and well-being of our community.”

For example, the partners collaborated to reduce their total electricity use by more than 100 million kilowatt hours from 2011 to 2013, yielding a savings of $3 million.

“That amount would pay utility bills in nearly 9,400 homes for a year,” Fryrear said.

In the past three years, the partners have recycled an annual average of 639 million pounds of materials, and each has set up a composting program. Last year, UofL alone composted 1.1 million pounds of food and plant waste.

The Center for Non Profit Excellence, founded in 1999, promotes innovation and excellence in Louisville’s nonprofit community through collaboration, shared learning and advocacy.

For more details, contact Fryrear at 502-852-8854 or brent@partnershipforagreencity.org