COVID-19

After much deliberation, EnviroSummit Executive Board has decided to move forward with a safe, COVID-19 compliant conference in Charlotte, NC with training sessions that follow North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) for those who feel comfortable attending in person. There are three (3) main things that encouraged us to make this decision:

  1. Health and Safety Guidelines are the foundation of the environmental community and we apply them on every project our industry.   This conference will include specially designed sessions that follow Center for Disease Control (CDC) for events, and NC DHHS guidelines for all the workshops and sessions.
  2. Several Large and Challenging Environmental Remediation projects involving coal ash basin closure, PFAS contamination, and specialty technology methods are moving forward across the United States.  All of these projects require implementation and coordination of COVID-19 safety in the midst of planning, design and  remediation. The Global EnviroSummit  2020 in Charlotte will allow leading experts and practitioners to coordinate together in a SAFE and adequately spaced workshop environment.
  3. Charlotte, NC and the Mecklenburg County Health Department might be more prepared than any other city in the US for medium sized, properly spaced event like this because the Republican National Convention was supposed to be held there in late August.   The pre-planning and COVID-19 H&S protocols were already in place for a widely spaced 50,000 person event, and will be used as guidelines for the conference.

Chris Hardin

Managing Director of Energy & Environment Innovation Foundation

Chris Hardin, Managing Director of Energy & Environment Innovation Foundation, is the head of the EnviroSummit COVID-19 Task Force and his company has been hired to write health and safety guidelines for other NC counties during the pandemic.

The EnviroSummit COVID-19 Task Force includes:

  • Dena R. Diorio, Mecklenburg County Manager
  • Allison Nelson, Sr. Health Manager for Mecklenburg County Office of Policy & Prevention
  • Justen Hix, Sheraton Director of Events  
  • Chris Hardin, EnviroSummit COVID-19 Task Force Leader
  • Travis Bowman, EnviroSummit Executive Director
  • Stephanie Garrett, EnviroSummit Operations Manager

 

Below are some of the guidelines that our COVID-19 Task Force is following:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/considerations-for-events-gatherings.html
  2. https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/Phase-2-FAQ.pdf
  3. https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/ashrae%20journal/2020journaldocuments/72-74_ieq_schoen.pdf

We will be taking extra precaution with larger meeting rooms to ensure social distancing that follow CDC and NC DHHS protocols which include social distancing, symptom checks and clear recommendations for masks for attendees. We will also offer virtual presentations to allow interaction by industry experts in accordance with COVID-19 compliance guidelines.