• Start year: 2010
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: In operation

CharlestonWISE™ provides expert assistance to take the guesswork out of making your home or small business more energy efficient. With CharlestonWISE you will get: customized and unbiased energy-saving recommendations; expert help in selecting a trained and certified contractor; and knowledgeable assistance with rebates, tax credits and financing.

• Start year: 2010
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

The City of Charleston found sponsors to provide free transit service in downtown Charleston. Now they are working with the our area transit providers to improve the timing of the routes to enhance accessiblilty and desirability of the bus service. The cost to make the DASH buses free is over $416,000 a year. Ridership on the DASH tripled in 5 weeks. Ridership overall has increase by 10% in 4 years.

• Start year: 2010
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

The goals of Charleston’s voluntary Green Business Challenge (GBC) are to improve the performance of commercial and institutional buildings and their operations through reducing energy and water consumption, and waste reduction. Of the 11 participants who reported savings there was over $64,000 in energy savings, water savings, and waste reduction.
$36,000 in Energy Savings

• Start year: 2012
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

The goal is to plant 10,000 trees in suburban areas of Charleston to enhance the streetscape, livability and beauty of these parts of the City. Additional benefits are reduced urban heat and carbon sequestration from growing new trees.

• Start year: 2007
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: In operation

In 2007, City Council decided that Charleston needed its own innovative thinkers to address sustainability issues at the local level. Though Council originally appointed 22 citizens and business leaders from academia to non profits to small and large businesses to create this plan, imagine our surprise and satisfaction when hundreds more people joined this group, bringing many new skills to the table. The Green Committee itself met 26 times in various locations designed to be convenitent to public participation and advertised through public announcements such as the local paper as well as e letters all of which included the bus routes on which the meeting location could be found. Green Committee meeting attendance ranged from 80 to 120 persons. Engaging speakers were brought to share topical background knowledge. Mayor Riley was the speaker 4 times during this period. The fully engaged subcommittees met an additional 120 times,
also advertising each meeting to the public and
welcoming new ideas and a growing membership. The
Committee has enthusiastically studied what other
sustainable cities are doing. At these open meetings,
the subcommittees debated and drafted their
recommendations. We diligently studied other cities’
sustainability plans, which helped us to craft our
recommendations using the best practices of other
cities and using the subcommittee members’
knowledge and experiences of Charleston.
New ideas continued to emerge. City Council members
have carefully studied the plan and have proposed
suggestions and amendments. The Green Plan document is the work of 800 local people who want Charleston to have cleaner, greener and more sustainable choices for all who work, live
and play in the Holy City. This includes both citizens
and City staffers have worked
together to assess the needs,
priorities and opportunities
for Charleston to pursue a
greener path. Here, they
offer their consensus about
practical, achievable ways for
the City to grow and develop
sustainably, minimizing
negative impacts on natural
resources, quality of life, and
Charleston’s unique character.