The Energy Efficiency Forum rewarded commercial building owners for energy efficiency.
The annual Energy Efficiency Forum Awards were presented at a meeting of the Energy Efficiency Forum, which takes the form of an awards ceremony and a marketplace. The marketplace enables credible suppliers of energy efficiency goods and services to showcase their products and services to commercial building managers.
‘The City of Cape Town and our valued partners are proud to host the Energy Efficiency Awards and Marketplace as part of our commitment to creating an opportunity city. The awards serve to recognise the leadership evident among Energy Efficiency Forum members and encourage businesses to continue reducing their energy consumption. We would like to thank businesses for their enthusiastic participation and look forward to congratulating the winners of the awards and continuing to work with the commercial sector to reduce their electricity consumption,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
In view of rising electricity tariffs and the medium-term shortage of South Africa’s electricity supply, energy efficiency has become increasingly important to property owners. Commercial buildings use about 40% of the electricity supply in the Cape Town area and they are an important sector to target in terms of energy saving.
Cape Town’s Energy Efficiency Forum (EE Forum) has been helping businesses lower costs and increase their competitive potential since it was launched in 2009 by the City of Cape Town in partnership with Eskom and the South African Property Owner’s Association. During this time, many companies have gone to great lengths to improve the energy efficiency of their commercial buildings and operations, which has helped reduce Cape Town’s overall electricity demand. This relieves strain on the electricity grid, protects the city from unscheduled power outages, and contributes to reducing our carbon footprint.
This is the second year of the Energy Efficiency Forum Awards, established to honour and acknowledge leadership by city businesses in improving their energy efficiency. The adjudication was by the University of Cape Town’s Energy Research Centre.
The winners were as follows:
· Single buildings category: Cavendish represented by Aslam Champion: Senior Facilities Manager
· New buildings category: Hotel Verde represented by Andre Harms: Sustainability consultant and technical client representative
· Head offices and franchises category: Woolworths represented by Les Hall from their Engineering Services
PHOTO CREDIT: Bruce Sutherland – City of Cape Town
via Cape Town Green Map – proudly ‘Green by Design’
