In 2009, the City of Spokane launched a “Being Green” initiative which encouraged businesses in Washington State’s second largest city to be good stewards of the environment. As part of this initiative, the City of Spokane started to explore ways to reduce facilities costs while also decreasing its carbon
footprint.

The City of Spokane explored options for IT power management to reduce the energy being used by approximately 1,500 computers across 60 different sites in the organization’s network. Director of Management Information Systems, Michael Sloon, led the charge and started the research process through an association of IT directors from across Washington State called The Association of County and City information Systems (ACCIS). Sloon explored the
top recommendations he received from his colleagues to identify if the solutions would meet the budgetary and policy issues faced by the City of Spokane.

“We did not want to spend a dollar chasing a dime. The trial with Verdiem proved that we could not only implement software to reduce our energy expenditures, but that the return on investment for the new technology would be rapid. Surveyor worked well with our current infrastructure and made sure we
received a reimbursement from Avista. This was the deciding factor.”

- Michael Sloon, Director of Management Information Services, City of Spokane