VT Governor's Environmental Awards DEC WM

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Governor's Environmental Awards


	Business Compliance Assistance

	Municipal Compliance Assistance

	Permit Assistance

	Pollution Prevention Planning

	Business/Environmental Partnership

	Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State

	Mercury Education & Reduction Campaign

	EAO Staff Contact Information

Picture of Governor Peter Shumlin

Vermont Governor's Awards
for
Environmental Excellence

2012 Recipients

Small Business Category

Foley Distributing/Casella Waste Systems(Rutland)
Power of Three – Closed Loop Recycling

Partnership with 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 environmental footprint of recycling by supporting local markets.

Northshire Book Store and Alan Benoit (Manchester Center)
Northshire Book Store Solar

A community bookstore that has implemented renewable energy projects, installed a solar interactive education kiosk, and partnered with local architect Alan Benoit, who has provided over 30 workshops on various sustainable living topics at the bookstore for the general public.

Large Business Category

IBM (Essex Junction)
PFOS and PFOA Elimination from IBM's Semiconductor Process Chemicals

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.

Sugarbush Resort and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (Warren)
Rice Brook Water Quality Restoration

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.

Wake Robin (Shelburne)
Energy Use and Conservation: From Policy to Practice

Comprehensive energy and natural resource conservation initiative that included building weatherization, lighting retrofits, ozone laundry system, solid waste reduction and composting, environmental education, and partnerships with others to assist in their sustainability efforts.

Non-Profit Category

Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op (Middlebury)
Acorn Energy Solar One

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 photovoltaic array.

Gossens Bachman Architects/Housing Vermont/Rockingham Area Community Land Trust (Windsor)
NAMCO Block

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.

White River Partnership
(South Royalton)Response to Tropical Storm Irene

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.

Individual Category

Melissa Pierce (Montpelier)
Service Learning – Sustainability and Resource Conservation

A Service Learning Sustainability and Resource Conservation Project has been implemented by 4^th and 5^th 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 program where none existed.

Educational Institution Category

Milton School District (Milton)
Stormwater Mitigation and Groundwater Recharge

The junior/senior high school corrected a major erosion problem caused by stormwater discharges and constructed an innovative stormwater storage and groundwater recharge system that will also conserve water by reusing the water for irrigation.

Champlain College (Burlington)
Sustain Champlain

Campus-wide sustainability initiative that has resulted in a 26% reduction in energy use, 2% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and advances in environmental curriculum at the college.

Honorable Mention

Burlington International Airport (South Burlington)
Energy Efficiency Projects

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.

Middlebury College (Middlebury)
Solar Decathlon Team

A team of 85 Middlebury College students across 25 academic disciplines designed and built an all-solar powered home, taking fourth place in the 2011 Solar Decathlon International Competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (Montpelier)
Clean and Green Oil Heat Initiative

In 2011, the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association launched their clean and Green Oil Heat Initiative to improve 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 time line and trigger for using ultra low sulfur heating oil blended with biodiesel.

2012
Governor's Awards
Recipients

2011
Governor's Awards Ceremony
Program
Recipient Guide
and Images