News Release

Green building expert, Polk Place events
featured in UNC’s Earth Day celebration

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Earth Day celebration, to be held April 19 and 21, will feature a keynote speech by "green" building expert Greg Kats and student-led events on Polk Place.

The Earth Day talk, "Climate Change, Energy Policy and National Competitiveness … Where are We Going?", will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 19. The location will be the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History Theatre. An informal reception, giving UNC undergraduates and others an opportunity to meet Kats, will follow in the center’s Hitchcock Multipurpose Room.

The event is free to the public. A large turnout is expected; those wishing to attend are asked to make a reservation by e-mailing slach@fac.unc.edu or by calling (919) 843-7284.

Kats is a principal of Capital E, a clean energy technology consulting firm for Fortune 500 and public sector clients, and a senior adviser to Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh. He is a former director of financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the U.S. Department of Energy and is the author of "Green Office Buildings: a Practical Guide to Development."

Kats is a 1981 English graduate of UNC and was a Morehead Scholar while at Carolina. He also holds advanced degrees from Stanford and Princeton universities.

Earth Day events continue on April 21 with informational displays by about 20 UNC-affiliated environmental organizations on Polk Place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The displays will focus both on Earth Day and on UNC’s activities related to the environment and sustainability. That evening, bands will perform in a concert on Polk Place in honor of Earth Day.

Proceeds from the April 21 Earth Day events will be donated to the UNC Micro-credit Investment Pool, which aims to raise $50,000 to invest in micro-credit initiatives that will help foster sustainable development abroad.

Carolina’s Earth Day events are co-sponsored by UNC’s Student Government, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Carolina Environmental Program and Sustainability Office.

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Kats: http://www.cep.unc.edu/images/greg_kats.jpg

Carolina Environmental Program contact: Tony Reevy, (919) 966-9927 or tony_reevy@unc.edu

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu