Winners of 2021 Global Leadership Awards in Energy Management Announced

The international Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) forum is pleased to announce the winners of its Energy Management Leadership Awards for 2021. These awards recognize organizations that have implemented energy management systems to achieve energy, economic, and sustainability benefits. Four organizations have attained the prestigious Award of Excellence in Energy Management:

• Abastible S.A., in Chile
• JW Marriott Washington, DC, in the United States of America
• Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, in Malaysia
• Dubai Municipality, in the United Arab Emirates

Another 28 organizations (listed below) have earned the distinguished Energy Management Insight Award.

Recipients of the Award of Excellence were formally recognized during the CEM Global Energy Management Leadership and Impact webinar and awards ceremony on 9 December 2021. Fundamental to the vision of a low- or no-carbon future is energy management, which saves energy and reduces emissions. To that end, CEM offers the Energy Management Leadership Awards to honor those organizations that have demonstrated sustainable practices through a structured energy management system that is certified to ISO 50001, the international energy management standard.

“On behalf of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s global community, I want to congratulate all of the winners of the 2021 Energy Management Awards,” said Dan Dorner, Head of the CEM Secretariat. “These prestigious awards are a great recognition of international leadership in taking action to improve energy management. These impressive leaders are a shining example that I hope many more will be inspired to follow, both in implementing robust energy management systems and in realising the strong benefits from them.”

To qualify for an award, an organization first has to establish an energy management system at one or more company facilities. Although single facilities can reap the benefits of implementation, seven organizations leveraged their energy management expertise across multiple facilities to multiply their savings. The next step is having the system certified to ISO 50001, which involves more than simply meeting a set of criteria (such as energy savings targets). The standard provides a framework that guides facilities toward a system in which energy awareness becomes an integral part of business operations, shaping behaviors (e.g., aim for optimal energy performance settings and operations across different business units of the organization) and decision-making (e.g., purchasing low-emissions equipment). Organizations must submit a structured case study describing the system, its implementation, the benefits, and any challenges. The case studies are submitted for review by the 2021 Selection Committee, an independent panel of international experts, who determine the winners.

Case studies by the 2021 award winners are now available on the CEM website. CEM has also published the 2021 awards summary, “Global ISO 50001 Achievements: Reducing costs, energy use, and CO₂ emissions,” which provides highlights about all 32 recipients. The CEM website also provides biographies of the energy management experts on the 2021 Selection Committee.

The case studies become part of an online library to encourage, inspire, and assist other organizations looking to improve their energy performance. In this way, all awardees not only further the CEM mission directly by reducing emissions but also help raise global awareness of ISO 50001 systems and the energy, environmental, and business benefits that energy management can achieve.

The awards also underscore ISO 50001’s flexibility and applicability across sectors, as award winners represent diverse organization types. There are 18 of the 2021 class of awardees in the industrial sector, five in the commercial sector, and nine in the public. Collectively, this year’s winners (representing 102 facilities in 20 countries and regions) reported annual energy cost savings of over $44 million, and emissions reductions of over 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking 482,065 passenger vehicles off the road.

As we reaffirm the key principle that the energy transition remains a responsibility of all of us, it is greatly encouraging to see the growing commitment and leadership of private and public sectors in this 2021 Energy Management Leadership Awards”, said Tareq Emtairah, director of the Department of Energy of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). “These awardees are demonstrating how energy management systems can drive continuous energy performance improvement and innovation as key pillars of business sound sustainability programmes and climate change mitigation strategies. By establishing a corporate culture of sustainability and energy efficiency, these organizations are taking actions that have impacts in both the short and long terms, lowering utility costs, reducing harmful emissions and enhancing productivity and overall socio-economic gains.

“We greatly thank all our awardees for helping us showcasing transformative changes that are essential to our sustainable economic and environmental futures.”

The Energy Management Leadership Award case studies, including those from the 2021 award winners, are now available on the CEM website. A brief overview of each the four Award of Excellence winners is below:

• Abastible S.A.: An energy solutions market leader, Abastible sees sustainability as an integral part of its mission. Its first energy management system was implemented at the Lenga plant, one of the company’s main facilities, with the goal of reducing energy intensity 1% each year, year over year. The plant successfully met this savings target solely through operational changes (i.e., without capital investment). The company also developed an innovative savings and emissions reduction service that uses Blockchain technology to provide stakeholders with transparency about energy savings methods and emissions reductions achieved—7,870 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent in one year. The associated cost savings during that period were USD 18,246.
• JW Marriott Washington, DC: This luxury hotel is part of the Marriott International, Inc., chain. Marriott International has sustainability goals that include reducing carbon intensity by 30% by 2025, and the JW Marriot sets its own annual energy reduction goal to achieve long-term targets. The DC facility first achieved ISO 50001 in 2013 and was recertified in 2016. Top management are directly involved in monitoring data provided through the energy management system to gauge energy use and make adjustments to ensure progress. Management also appointed a hotel energy team that incorporates representatives from all major departments, ensuring a holistic and inclusive approach that has saved over 9,500 gigajoules of energy and USD 221,551 of energy costs over three years.
• Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club: This 36-hole standard tournament golf course is committed to upholding the industry’s standards and best practices. The club established an ISO 50001 energy management system in 2013 and, since then, has reduced electricity consumption by 22% and LPG consumption by 54%, with associated energy cost savings of USD 1,428,565. Operational adjustments account for most of these savings, but the club has also undertaken significant projects such as installing heat pump technology and replacing a gas-based hot water system. These efforts were initiated after energy reviews—the collection and analysis of energy data—identified these heating systems as significant energy users.
• Dubai Municipality: Dubai Municipality has jurisdiction over city services and the upkeep of facilities in the emirate of Dubai. The municipality has several office buildings that are intermittently occupied, presenting an opportunity to decrease energy use. Energy reduction approaches focused on controlling the HVAC, a dominant energy consumer, and converting lighting systems to LEDs. Since the energy management system’s launch in 2012, the projects have saved over 20,000 gigajoules of energy and USD 688,903 in energy costs.

CEM 2021 Award Recipients

By company, with participating site locations listed for each.

Award of Excellence in Energy Management

Abastible S.A.
Chile: Hualpén

Dubai Municipality
United Arab Emirates (2 sites): Dubai (2)

JW Marriott, Washington, DC
United States of America: Washington, D.C.

Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

Energy Management Insight Award

3M
Canada (6 sites): Brockville, ON; London Oxford; ON; Montreal, QC; Morden, MB; Perth, ON; Tartan, ON
Mexico: Edumex-Juarez, CI
United States of America (21 sites): Aberdeen, SD; Alexandria, MN; Brownwood, TX; Columbia, MO; Cordova, IL; Corona, CA; Cottage Grove, MN; Cynthiana, KY; Decatur, AL; Guin, AL; Hartford City, IN; Hutchinson, MN; Little Rock, AR; Menomonie, WI; New Ulm, MN; Prairie du Chien, WI; Pittsboro, NC; Rockland, MA; Springfield, MO; Tonawanda, NY; Wausau, WI

Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemicals Industries Company
Egypt: Alexandria

Aceros AZA S.A.
Chile (2 sites): Santiago Metropolitan Region (2)

AstraZeneca
United States of America: Gaithersburg, MD

Compañía MEGA S.A.
Argentina (3 sites): Buenos Aires (2); Neuquén

Centro de Reabilitação Lucy Montoro (CRLM)
Brazil: São Paulo

Des Moines Water Works
United States of America: Des Moines, IA

Empresas CMPC
Brazil: Guaíba
Chile (15 sites): Cabrero; Chillán; Collipulli; Coronel; Laja; Los Ángeles; Mininco; Mulchén; Nacimiento (2); Puente Alto (2); Talagante; Valdivia; Yerbas Buenas
Peru: Lima

Hospital Estadual de Diadema Governador Orestes Quercia (HED)
Brazil: São Paulo

Hospital Geral Pirajussara (HGP)
Brazil: Taboão da Serra

Hospital de Transplantes Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini (HTEJZ)
Brazil: São Paulo

Iron Mountain Data Centers
Netherlands: Haarlem
Singapore: Singapore
United Kingdom: Slough
United States of America (10 sites): Boyers, PA; Denver, CO; Edison, NJ; Kansas City, MO; Manassas, VA; Miamisburg, OH; Northborough, MA; Phoenix, AZ (2); Scottsdale, AZ

Kruger Products LP
Canada: Gatineau

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
United States of America: Berkeley, CA

Lubricantes Avellaneda S.A.U.
Argentina: Avellaneda​

Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
Philippines (10 sites): Manila City; Muntinlupa City (2); Parañaque City; Pasay City (2); Quezon City (4)​

NTPC Ramagundam
India: Telangana

PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works
Russia: Magnitogorsk City

Porsche Holding Gesellschaft m.b.H.
Austria: Salzburg

PT. KMK Global Sports
Indonesia: Banten

Public Services and Procurement Canada
Canada: Ottawa

Puerto Ventanas S.A
Chile: Puchuncavi

Saudi Aramco, Haradh Gas Plant Department
Saudi Arabia: Haradh

Trane Technologies Manufacturing
Mexico: Apodaca

Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana
Chile (3 sites): Santiago (3)

Wyeth Nutrition Ireland
Ireland: Askeaton

Y-GEN Eléctrica II S.A.U. Complejo Generación Tucumán
Argentina: El Bracho

YPF Energía Eléctrica S.A. (YPF LUZ)
Argentina: Añelo