Governor's Award
The winners of this year's awards deserve great credit for their innovative approaches to conservation and the protection of our natural resources, the prevention of pollution, and for promoting environmental sustainability.
We can learn from their experiences and congratulate them on their great achievements.
|
Nominee |
Project Name |
Project Location |
Application Type |
Project Description |
|
Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op |
Acorn Energy Solar One, LLC |
Middlebury |
Non-Profit |
The first large scale solar photovoltaic project between two community cooperatives and a municipality, utilizing the former Middlebury wastewater treatment facility site for the 528 panel, 148 KW array. |
|
Burlington International Airport (Honorable Mention) |
Energy Efficiency Projects |
South Burlington |
Municipality |
The airport has reduced its energy consumption 20% by implementing a comprehensive energy conservation project that included the terminal building, roadway, parking garage, and airfield lighting. |
|
Champlain College |
Sustain Champlain |
Burlington |
Educational Institution |
Campus-wide sustainability initiative involving students, faculty and staff that has resulted in 2% decrease in GHG emissions, 26% reduction in energy use, and 60% solid waste diversion rate. Received LEED Platinum certification for new visitor center. Named a "green college" by Princeton Review. |
|
Foley Distributing/Casella Waste Systems |
Power of Three - Closed Loop Recycling |
Statewide |
Business |
Partnership of Casella Waste Management, Foley Distributing, and a Glens Falls paper mill - to provide closed loop recycling of paper and cardboard collected from Vermont businesses, schools, and institutions, and returning them as paper products -reducing the carbon footprint of recycling by supporting local markets. |
|
Gossens Bachman Architects/Housing Vermont/Rockingham Area Community Land Trust |
NAMCO Block |
Windsor |
Non-Profit |
NAMCO Block, a large, energy inefficient, run-down apartment building in Windsor was renovated to reinvent its role in the community as a mixed income, community-oriented facility that retains its historical character while serving as a model of social responsibility and environmental sustainability. |
|
IBM |
PFOS and PFOA Elimination from IBM's Semiconductor Process Chemicals |
Essex Junction |
Large Business |
The first semiconductor manufacturer to eliminate the use of two persistent chemicals that accumulate in the environment (perfluoro octane sulfate and perfluoro octanoic acid), through an innovative collaboration with chemical suppliers to find less harmful substitutes, with these safer substitutes now generally available to the entire semiconductor industry. |
|
Melissa Pierce |
Service Learning - Sustainability and Resource Conservation |
Montpelier |
Individual |
A Service Learning Sustainability and Resource Conservation project has been implemented by 4th and 5th grade teacher Melissa Pierce to create a rich environmental education supplement to the curriculum - involving field trips, source reduction projects for water bottles and plastic bags, waste audits, and a school-wide recycling and composting project where none existed. |
|
Middlebury College (Honorable Mention) |
Solar Decathlon Team |
Middlebury |
Educational Institutution |
A team of 85 Middlebury College students across 25 academic disciplines designed, built, and operated an all solar-powered home, taking fourth place in the 2011 Solar Decathlon international competition sponosored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. |
|
Milton School District |
Stormwater Mitigation and Ground Water Recharge |
Milton |
Educational Institution |
The Milton Junior/Senior High School corrected a major stream erosion problem caused by large storwater discharges from the roofs by construction of an innovative underground stormwater storage and groundwater recharge system that will also conserve water by reusing the water for irrigation. |
|
Northshire Book Store and Alan Benoit |
Northshire Bookstore Solar |
Manchester Center |
Small Business |
A community bookstore that has implemented renewable energy projects, installed a solar interactive kiosk, and partnered with local architect Alan Benoit, who has provided over 30 public workshops on various sustainable living topics at the bookstore. |
|
Sugarbush Resort and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. |
Rice Brook Water Quality Restoration |
Warren |
Business |
Developed and implemented one of the first successful Water Quality Remediation Plans to correct stormwater runoff problems that impaired a mountain stream, Rice Brook, from meeting Vermont's Water Quality Standards. |
|
Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (Honorable Mention) |
Clean and Green Oil Heat Initiative |
Montpelier |
Non-Profit |
In 2011, VFDA launched the Clean and Green Oil Heat Initiative to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and support local family farms - by writing draft legislation (signed into law in 2011) which sets a timeline and trigger for using ultra-low sulfur heating oil blended with biodiesel. |
|
Wake Robin Corporation |
Wake Robin Energy Use and Conservation: From Policy to Practice |
Shelburne |
Large Business |
Comprehensive energy use and natural resource conservation initiative that includes building weatherization, lighting retrofits, ozone laundry system, composting, recycling, environmental education, and partnerships with others to assist in their sustainability efforts. |
|
White River Partnership |
Response to Tropical Storm Irene |
South Royalton |
Non-Profit |
Particularly hard hit by Tropical Storm Irene in the White River watershed, the White River Partnership immediately mobilized to assist municipalities, private residents, state and federal agencies, and served as local liaison in a coordinated flood response - organizing debris cleanup, answering homeowner questions, and overseeing in-stream restoration and construction projects. |