Meet Helen Chananie, BEEx Project Associate
- Share your favorite energy factoid. Buildings account for nearly 70% of New York City’s total energy use and almost 75% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions – that leaves us with a lot of room for making them greener and more efficient.
- What energy conservation campaign would you start in your office or want to share with other offices? BEEx is great about using the A/C sparingly, but I would love for other offices to turn their thermostats up a few degrees in the summer. Overly air-conditioned spaces are not only uncomfortable and wasteful of energy, but research suggests they actually decrease worker productivity.
- What are you currently reading? Ursula LeGuin’s “City of Illusions” and Robert Putnam’s “Bowling Alone.”
- What are some ways you reduce your carbon footprint at home? Little things like turning off lights and appliances when not in use, programming the thermostat, recycling, carrying reusable shopping bags, and walking more. My biggest vice is probably taking long showers –I’m trying to be more mindful about that.
- What is your personal superpower? Curiosity powered by the internet. Smartphones still seem like magic to me – it blows my mind that we carry around access to nearly infinite information in palms of our hands. I love getting lost down Wikipedia rabbit holes.