Speakers

Kate Buczek is the Energy Manager for Cook County in Illinois and has been working on Cook County's energy and sustainability projects for the last 9 years. As the second largest county in the U.S., Cook County has many opportunities to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across its building portfolio of approximately 19 million square feet, which Kate strives to achieve through implementation of Cook County’s Clean Energy Plan and using data insights to benchmark and inform cost effective decisions. Kate led the effort to successfully negotiate Cook County's first off-site solar Power Purchase Agreement for about 25% of the electricity used at Cook County owned-and-operated buildings, and decarbonization projects including on-site solar, electric vehicle charging stations, and energy efficiency projects to help Cook County make progress toward its ambitious goals. She also calculates the County's greenhouse gas emissions inventory each year to transparently showcase Cook County's decarbonization progress. Kate is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and has a Science-Business degree from the University of Notre Dame and Masters of Environmental Management degree focused on energy from Duke University