RALEIGH – With its Cleantech Innovation Awards program, the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster is celebrating the individuals, organizations and projects behind the Triangle’s growing clean energy sector.
The ceremony will convene 200 attendees at Market Hall in downtown Raleigh on December 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Cleantech Innovation Awards span eight categories. Here’s a breakdown (with nominees):
- Cleantech Community Award (nominees are the City of Durham for its smart building analytics system, Durham’s Innovate Durham program, Fayetteville PWC for its Community Solar Project and the GreenToGo food waste service)
- Cleantech Impact Award (nominees are ABB’s new manufacturing plant in Mebane, Medline’s new distribution facility in Orange County, the RIoT Accelerator Program and Trilliant for relocating its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Cary)
- Cleantech Talent Initiative Award (nominees are ABB’s LEAD Early Career Program, the FREEDM Systems Center‘s Education and Outreach Program, Itron’s Conservation Station with Discovery Education, the NC Clean Energy Technology Center‘s clean energy training program, NC Electric Cooperatives‘ Powering the Future program with Athens Drive High School STEM Academy, STEM RTP‘s outreach and education programs and UNC Institute for the Environment’s Energy Literacy Fellows Program)
- Diversity in Cleantech (nominees are the NC Sustainable Energy Association’s Women in Clean Energy Initiative, RTI’s Employee Resource Group Initiative and the EPA’s Community Engagement & STEM Education Program)
- Grid Innovation Award (nominees are Atom Power‘s digital circuit breaker, Duke Energy’s Hot Springs microgrid project, Itron’s distributed intelligence program, Microgrid Labs‘ grid technology solutions, New River Light and Power‘s grid innovation and PowerSecure’s advanced campus microgrid)
- Water Innovation Award (nominees are EPRI‘s paste encapsulation technology for wastewater management, Gannett Fleming‘s adaptive mixing technologies to optimize wastewater treatment for its plant in Clayton, GreenStream‘s stormwater sensor project, Itron’s work on improving water utilities in Fuquay Varina and WithersRavenel’s Project Axis in Garner)
- Transportation Innovation Award (nominees are Greensboro Transit Authority’s battery-electric bus fleet, NC Department of Transportation’s use of drones for medical delivery, RDU Airport’s battery-electric bus fleet and TransLoc‘s transit technology)
- Cleantech Champion of the Year: An individual who has demonstrated their commitment to the cleantech industry. The winner will be announced during the ceremony.
The judges for the awards are RTI International Senior Director of Sustainability and Resource Management Coleen Northeim, Fox Rothschild LLP Counsel Deborah Ross, and Duke Professor and EDGE Director Dan Vermeer.
Susan Sanford, director of the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster, says that staff invited these individuals to volunteer “given their leadership in the public sector and understanding of the connection between energy innovation and economic development.”
Sanford added that nominees were judged broadly on environmental impact, economic impact, social impact and innovation. For the two talent-related awards—Talent and Diversity—the judges made their decisions based on effectiveness, innovation and long-term sustainability.
https://wraltechwire.com/event/2019-cleantech-innovation-awards/
