(Photo above: Robert Hamerly and Lindsey Hardy Project Director, Bend Energy Challenge)
The 2016 Sustainability Awards were announced by The Environmental Center tonight at a celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon. The Environmental Center received 12 nominations and the winners were selected by a community review committee.
“GreenSavers enables homeowners to live more sustainable without sacrificing their creature comforts. It is pretty cool to cut your homes carbon emissions and receive more personalized comfort for you and your family. Over 1,000 Oregonians are realizing these benefits today,” said Robert Hamerly, principal, GreenSavers .
The Environmental Center presented seven awards:
·∙ _Individual: Allison Murphy
_Small Business: Pacific Crest Affordable Housing
_Large Business: Pine Mountain Sports
_Special Award—Pioneers: Bob and Mary Devore
_Special Award—Rookie of the Year: The Broomsmen
_Special Award—Industry Leader: GreenSavers
_Special Award—Forward Momentum: City of Bend
An eight-‐member citizen committee reviewed the nominations and selected the final winners. The committee members were: Christy Nikey, owner of Cosmic Depot; Daniele McKay, instructor at OSU-‐Cascades; Dave Howe, Environmental Center board of directors; Gillian Ockner, senior policy analyst at City of Bend; Jennifer Letz, Environmental Center board of directors; Karen Kassey, 2012 individual winner; Kevin Grove, instructor at COCC and Serena Dietrich, sustainability project manager at Deschutes Brewery. This year’s awards were designed and created by local artist Christian Brown.
The nominees were scored on the basis of their leadership, innovation, and operating practices with regards to sustainability, as well as their community involvement and promotion of social equity. The nominees’ scores were compared to their peers for each category (Individual, Small Business and Large Business) to determine the winner. The review committee also presented four special awards for Pioneers, Rookie of the Year, Industry Leader, and Forward Momentum in the field.
The 2016 Sustainability Awards are sponsored by Supporting Sponsors Timberline Construction of Bend, Strictly Organic Coffee Co. and Fortis Construction.
Special Award – Industry Leader: GreenSavers
GreenSavers is a locally owned and operated company with a focus on comprehensive home energy assessments and whole-‐house energy improvements. GreenSavers is dedicated to helping Oregon residents increase the energy efficiency, comfort and overall health of their homes. This not only reduces utility costs, but ultimately reduces carbon emissions as well.
GreenSavers has been in business for over 10 years, and has proved that they have a growing, sustainable business. They are industry leaders, not just in Central Oregon, but statewide.
Greensavers is an Efficiency First founding member, and one of the early home performance contractors in Oregon. They were an early participant in Clean Energy Works, both in Portland and Central Oregon. Robert Hamerly, the owner, sits on the Board of Directors of the Home Performance Guild of Oregon, and is a past president of the Board. And GreenSavers has been recognized as a state and national leader, most recently by the US EPA as a 2016 Energy Star Contractor of the Year. They are 1 of only 6 contractors from across the country to win this prestigious award.
In addition, GreenSavers has given back to the community in a number of ways, especially through staff participation in Central Oregon and Portland Green Jobs Mentoring Days, which provide students with insight into green building career paths.
Part of what makes GreenSavers successful is the way they engage and educate the public, their employees, and homeowners on what it means to have an energy efficient home. We’ve heard time and time again that many people were referred to GreenSavers by a happy customer who benefited from their services. GreenSavers customers become ambassadors of residential efficiency within the community. Their community-‐based marketing is effective and genuine. It allows homeowners to open their minds and take action toward a more energy-‐efficient future.
