Ashden Awards 2009 make major CO2 savings

The UK’s top sustainable energy pioneers were rewarded at the 2009 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy ceremony hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales in London. Businesses, local authorities, schools and charities were recipients of international accolades, and cash awards for scheme development. The winners are saving thousands of tonnes in carbon emissions annually and leading the way in sustainable innovation, education and design.

Prince Charles said: “Meeting the winners has, as always, raised my spirits. The major value of these awards is that they demonstrate what is possible, not only for small scale-scale projects, but what is achievable for the whole world. So much of what we need to build cleaner and more efficient communities is already with us.”

Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chair of the Ashden Awards said: “We are delighted that we can bring such great examples of innovation and inspiration to the attention of policy makers and the public to help push forward the agenda on practical measures to combat climate change. Our winners are showing that it is not only possible to continue implementing sustainable energy measures in a tough economic climate – it actually makes financial as well as environmental sense.”

There are eight UK winners in the 2009 Ashden Awards, two in each of four categories:

Business Awards
First Prize: Geothermal International – bringing sustainable heating and cooling into the commercial mainstream. GI installs ground source heat pumps in the UK, specialising in large commercial and public sector buildings.

Second prize: Architype – designing energy- and carbon-saving building
Architype is an architectural practice with 25 year’s experience in putting the environment at the heart of its design, going way beyond the standards stipulated.

Charity Awards
First Prize: The Sustainable Energy Academy – giving high profile to the enormous carbon savings that can be made from existing buildings and inspiring others to follow
SEA is showing how carbon emissions from homes can be radically reduced: it has set up a network of ‘Superhomes’, mostly built before 1919, whose owners have installed measures to reduce their carbon emissions by up to 70%.

Second Prize: Marches Energy Agency – motivating communities to adopt low-carbon lifestyles. MEA’s Low Carbon Communities (LCC) programme works with households, businesses and groups within a community to deliver lower CO2 emissions.

Local Authority Awards, supported by NESTA
First Prize: Kirklees Council – insulation scheme blankets borough and creates jobs at no cost to homeowners. The Council has launched a ground-breaking scheme to roll out home insulation across the region. ‘Kirklees Warm Zone’ (KWZ) is unique because it offers cavity-wall and loft insulation free of charge to all households, which greatly increases take-up rates.

Second Prize: Devon County Council – wind of change harnessed for green gain
The Renewable Energy for Devon (RE4D) scheme is boosting a green rural regeneration in Devon by stimulating both supply and demand for renewable energy.

Schools Awards, supported by WWF
Joint First Prize: Ashley CofE Primary School – primary school energy plan inspired by penguins in a pickle. After witnessing climate change first-hand in 2007 when leading an education team to learn about its impact on the Antarctic, Richard Dunne, head teacher of Ashley School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, returned home determined to embark on an ambitious carbon-cutting programme at his school.

Joint First Prize: Currie Community High School – young people take giant strides to reduce energy use. Currie is a 900-pupil secondary school near Edinburgh that has taken giant strides in reducing energy use over the past 10 years.

Photos show: Ashley CofE Primary School and Geothermal International heat pumps

More information: www.ashdenawards.org