By GreenerBuildings Staff at Greener World Media –The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy honored five energy efficiency programs in Colorado, New York, Hawaii and Maryland in the organization’s awards competition for exceptional state-led efforts.
ACEEE announced the winners of its inaugural “States Stepping Forward: Best Practices for State-Led Energy Efficiency Programs” awards yesterday.
The state agencies and their winning programs are:
1. The Colorado Governor’s Energy Office and its Colorado ENERGY STAR New Homes Program.
2. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Combined Heat and Power Demonstration Program, which provides technical assistance and incentives to energy users. The program also collects data and assesses trends to help formulate future energy policy.
3. The NYSERDA and its Wastewater Efficiency Program.
4. The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Lead by Example Program, which is a series of energy efficiency initiatives and resources for state employees, the building industry, state residents and homeowners, small businesses, hotels and restaurants.
5. The Maryland Energy Administration’s Statewide Farm Energy Audit Program (pdf).
ACEEE compiled a report on the winning energy efficiency programs, 10 others that received honorable mentions and three that were recognized as emerging programs.
“Energy efficiency efforts are thriving at the state level in ways that most people may not be aware of today,” said David Terry, the executive director of National Association of State Energy Offices, in a statement about the awards and the report on Wednesday. “The program winners demonstrate how state governments can implement successful, cost-effective energy efficiency programs aimed at a variety of customer types.”
ACEEE Executive Director Steve Nadel said in the statement: “This review of state-led energy efficiency programs offers further evidence that cost-effective investments in energy-saving technologies and services improve economic competitiveness. Simply put, energy efficiency works.”
Details on all the programs that received recognition as well as the organization’s report are available from ACEEE at www.aceee.org.
Image components courtesy of ACEEE.