CONTACT: Darryll L. Fortune
darryll.l.fortune@jci.com
(414) 524-7770
SEEC program saves companies money by making sustainability efforts more effective.
MILWAUKEE (Oct. 7, 2005) – Companies and organizations can save money by reducing energy and water, and operating more sustainably when they utilize the Sustainable Energy Education & Communications (SEEC) employee training and communications program developed by Johnson Controls, Inc. Details about the program will be explained at the 2005 Greenbuild Show, November 9-11, 2005 in Atlanta.
SEEC includes a 10-module series of lessons that show how employees can find financial, environmental and social benefits at work and home. Companies have embraced sustainability because they want to contain costs, increase employee productivity, protect the environment, strengthen community ties and enhance their corporate or organizational image.
“Through SEEC, employees learn in compelling and interactive ways how saving energy and water, keeping indoor air clean, and other sustainable strategies can save money, reduce harmful emissions and help them stay healthy – both on the job and at home,” said Paul von Paumgartten, director of energy and environmental affairs for the Controls Group of Johnson Controls.
SEEC can help companies achieve innovation credits for LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council. It also includes a customizable communications package to showcase each company’s own accomplishments, including LEED and ENERGY STAR® achievements.
The concept was developed in cooperation with the National Energy Foundation using the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)’s Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence.
NAAEE defines six key characteristics of high quality environmental education materials: fairness/accuracy, depth, emphasis on skills building, action orientation, instructional soundness and usability. As experts in both employee training and sustainability, Johnson Controls kept all these characteristics in mind while creating SEEC.
Johnson Controls has been widely regarded as one of the best education sources in the building environments industry since establishing the Johnson Controls Institute in 1947. The Institute provides professional education for thousands of people each year at its 12 locations across the country.
SEEC also continues Johnson Controls ongoing commitment to sustainability education, following its Academy of Energy Education curriculum which combines the study of science, energy and math with real world experience for K-12 students. Some 95 percent of American adults think environmental education should be taught in school, and 90 percent believe that people in the workplace also should receive environmental education, according to National Environmental Education and Training Foundation/Roper research.
Johnson Controls, Inc., is a global market leader in automotive systems and facilities management and control. In the automotive market, it is a major supplier of seating and interior systems, and batteries. For nonresidential facilities, Johnson Controls provides control systems and services including comfort, energy management and security management. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), founded in 1885, has headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its sales for 2004 totaled $24.6 billion. For more information on Johnson Controls, Inc., visit the company’s web site at www.johnsoncontrols.com. Visit our Online Press Room for releases, white papers and other information regarding the Controls Group at Johnson Controls, http://www.jci.com/cg-pressroom/. This news release available at http://www.jci.com/CorpPR/Releases/cg/release929.asp
