U.S. Department of the Navy, Rep. Edward Markey, City of Austin, Frito-Lay, Johnson Controls Win 2003 Energy Efficiency Awards from Alliance to Save Energy
A branch of the nation's armed forces, a prominent energy-efficiency advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives, a municipal government that helps residents and businesses cut energy use and costs, the world's larges convenience food company that prides itself on energy-efficient plant operations, and a multi-billion dollar corporation that produces energy-efficient products will be honored this year by the Alliance to Save Energy for outstanding contributions to the advancement of energy efficiency.
The prestigious Alliance awards will be presented November 4 in Washington, D.C., at a black-tie dinner in the atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building. Alliance Chair Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Alliance Co-Chair Dean T. Langford are chairs of the 2003 awards gala. The Corporate Co-Chair is 3M Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Jay Ihlenfeld.
The Alliance's 2003 “Stars of Energy Efficiency” are the U.S. Department of the Navy, Frito-Lay, Inc., and Johnson Controls, Inc. In addition, the Alliance's prestigious Charles H. Percy Award for Public Service will go to the city of Austin, Texas, and the Chairman's Award will go to Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in recognition of his years of congressional leadership in the cause of energy efficiency.
“This year's award winners represent an exemplary cross section of the public and private sectors,” observed Alliance Acting Co-President Leslie Cordes . “Each awardee makes a critical contribution to increasing energy efficiency in a key sector of our economy.”
The award to the U.S. Department of the Navy pays tribute to this vital military branch's energy-saving projects which totaled nearly $200 million world-wide for FY '02 and are expected to reduce the department's annual energy consumption by 900,000 MMBtus, generating more than $400 million in total life cycle savings.
The Navy's Energy Team works with Congress and the Pentagon on energy policy and with top level Navy and U.S. Marine Corps officials to establish directives and programs in support of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable design.
Frito-Lay, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, has a successful energy-efficiency and water conservation effort including a company-wide productivity strategy for its 45 manufacturing plants and 193 distribution centers in the U.S. Annual plant energy audits allow the company to disseminate best practices company-wide.
The convenience food company is well on the way to meeting its five-year goals for saving water, fuel and electricity. Two years into the program, Frito-Lay has already met nearly fifty-percent for each of the respective targets.
The company attributes this progress to capital projects, process re-design, and focused awareness and training programs. In addition, more than 150 of the company's sites boast energy-efficient lighting.
Since its start in 1885, Johnson Controls, Inc., with headquarters in Milwaukee and 300 locations worldwide, has grown into a 20+billion dollar corporation, ranked 86th on the Fortune 500 list, with worldwide leadership in two businesses - automotive systems and building controls.
Aside from producing energy-efficient solutions for non-residential facilities, Johnson Controls' services include energy auditing, engineering design and specification, equipment installation, financing for energy-efficient upgrades, and performance contracting. As one example, the company's Energy Savings Performance Contract with Fort Sam Houston looks to exceed the federally-mandated goal of 30 percent energy reduction per square foot of building space by 2005.
Leading by example, Johnson Controls has upgraded 46 of its own facilities to reduce energy costs by more than 25 percent - a saving of more than $820,000 - and has decreased its overall energy usage by more than 30 percent since 1997, avoiding more than 20 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Austin Mayor Will Wynn will accept the Alliance's highest honor, the Charles H. Percy Award, on behalf of his city and Austin Energy, which invests nearly $15 million annually on energy-efficiency programs, including energy audits, rebates and loans, and free weatherization for low income customers. Residential customers enjoy one of the lowest average monthly electric bills in Texas . Since 1982, the utility's efforts have yielded electricity savings equivalent to the annual output of a 500-megawatt power plant. In addition, Austin Energy has attracted almost half-a-million participants to its energy-efficiency programs since 2000.
The City of Austin was recognized as the leader in municipal renewable power sales in 2002, when Austin Energy sold more than 251 million kWh of green power to its customers – approximately three percent of the city's current power needs. The mayor has set a goal of five percent renewable power by 2005.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), recipient of the Alliance 's Chairman's Award, has long been an outstanding spokesperson for energy efficiency and energy policy in general. Since his election to the House in 1976, he has championed several key initiatives, including the Efficient Energy through Certified Technologies Act (EFFECT), minimum energy efficiency standards for major energy-consuming household appliances, and major portions of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct). Markey serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. He has been a congressional vice chair of the Alliance to Save Energy since 1997 and a member of the Alliance Board since 1995.
