This year has been hard (seems like a gross understatement). The pandemic has challenged us in many ways. Safety and health have been common and constant concerns that we have lived with in every action and interaction we have taken. Some people have lost jobs or been furloughed for extended periods of time because of community shutdowns to “flatten the curve” or restrictions on businesses in order to stop the spread of COVID 19. Some people have been feeling isolated due to the pandemic. Some have experienced illnesses, both related and unrelated, to the pandemic. As if that wasn’t enough, it was also an election year which brought about its own uncertainties and stresses. However, we are heading into the last weeks of this monumental year and it is time to reflect on what we are grateful for– which is a lot.
Throughout the year, the team at Energility has continued to work and make a positive impact on the environment. Many people are working from home, this has led to buildings being at low or no occupancy. This low/no occupancy of some buildings has created more time or circumstances for some of our clients to do energy audits and/or energy efficiency projects. We are grateful that our clients (new and established) have continued to trust us to assist in achieving their goals of energy efficiency.
One way we were able to continue to efficiently work is because one of the founding concepts at Energility is that our team should be able to work from wherever we may be. We do not require paper files; we use a great online software program to keep projects and tasks up to date, as well as communicate with each other about specific projects and tasks. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet have allowed us to continue to interact with each other as well as clients in a safe way. Energility also has a flexible work time/hours policy which allowed the team to be able to adjust depending on their personal needs (especially important during the pandemic). We are grateful for the foresight to have remote working as a foundation of how we work and a flexible work time policy in place so we could tend to both our work and personal needs.
Over the past 8 months, we witnessed the Earth shift as people were driving less, working less, and generally using less resources. This shift allowed us to see that we can make an impact on the environment. We were home more this year than in the past decade, and this allowed for more family time, more time to enjoy nature, more time to decide what’s important to us as individuals. We are grateful for the ability to slow down a bit in order to see what is important to us as individuals.
No one has escaped the stress and worry that this monumental year has caused. We wanted to take time to show our gratitude. Hopefully, the positives of this year: work flexibility, checking in regularly with loved ones and neighbors, getting outside for a walk, and understanding we are all in this together will follow us for years to come. Wash your hands. Mask up. And be well.