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Sustainability Champions
In This Section
EPA congratulates the winners of the Sustainability Champion awards for their leadership in reducing EPA's environmental footprint in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Awards to the following individuals and teams were presented at EPA's Energy and Facilities Workshop in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 19, 2009. These sustainability champions include facility managers, building operations and maintenance personnel, “Green Team” members, and other EPA staff who have demonstrated exceptional effort and achievement in energy and water efficiency and other sustainability areas.
- Betty Kinney of the Science and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD) Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, received a BTU Buster Award for helping to achieve energy savings of 7.8 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007, mostly by instituting nighttime setbacks that reduced energy use during unoccupied times in non-laboratory spaces.
- The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) staff, led by Amy Caldwell, Robert Caldwell, Robert Cresmen, Steven Dorer, Dan McBryde, Maria Peralta, Kevin Roller, and David VanAmburg in Ann Arbor, Michigan, received a BTU Buster Award for achieving energy savings of 5.5 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007. By monitoring and controlling test cell energy use, the staff helped to ensure that 99 percent of the time air handlers were not in use, they were turned off, significantly reducing energy use and allowing the facility to meet its annual energy reduction goals.
- Rick Dreisch of the Environmental Science Center in Fort Meade, Maryland, received an Energy Partner of the Year Award for successfully implementing a three-phased ventilation upgrade project that helped contribute to a decrease in energy intensity of more than 3 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007.
- Frank Price of the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center in Ada, Oklahoma, received an H2Overachiever award for achieving water savings of 27.7 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007 by reducing the amount of water used in the laboratory’s irrigation practices and installing water-efficient aerators on the facility faucets.
- Steven Dorer and Amy Caldwell of NVFEL in Ann Arbor, Michigan, received the H2Overachiever award for retrofitting and upgrading the water infrastructure at NVFEL to achieve water savings of 22.7 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007. Their efforts included installing high-efficiency toilets and urinals, upgrading equipment with a closed-loop temperature conditioner, and preheating all humidification water for rooftop air handlers with a heat exchanger using the building hot water loop, allowing the water to be better absorbed into the air stream, which requires much less water.
- The Water Team for EPA’s Main facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, including team members Dan Amon, Greg Eades, Bill Gaines, Marshall Gray, Bucky Green, Dexter Johnson, Alex Montilla, Billy Morris, Sam Pagan, Carol Purvis, Bill Ridge, Pete Schubert, and Robert Wippich received the H2Overachiever award for achieving water savings of 15 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007 due to several water conservation activities, including eliminating single-pass cooling from two laboratories on the RTP Main campus and retrofitting lavatory faucets and steam sterilizers with more efficient models or kits.
- Vicki Blackmon of the Gulf Ecology Division Laboratory in Gulf Breeze, Florida, received a Reporter of the Year award for consistently submitting timely, accurate invoice packages and reporting forms for the Gulf Breeze facility.
- Andy Franke of EPA’s Cincinnati, Ohio, campus received a Reporter of the Year award for consistently submitting timely, accurate invoice packages for the entire Cincinnati campus.
- The Rain Garden Team at the Environmental Science Center (ESC) in Fort Meade, Maryland, received the Green Thumb award for designing and installing a rain garden to prevent excess runoff from the building roof and to prevent soil from eroding around the front entrance of the building. Team members include Robin Costas, John Curry, Jennifer Gundersen, Peggy Zawodny, Stevie Wilding, Joe Dorsey, Dave Russell, Mary Price, Skip Weisberg, Narda Terry, Lynda Podhorniak, Rebecca Pines, Chuck Stafford, and Al Robertson.
- David Shoffner and Jason Mangum of EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory in RTP, North Carolina, received the Leading Edge award for installing a solar powered air compressor that provides free air for tire inflation to RTP employees. They gave away miniature tire inflator gauges at the annual Environmental Management System (EMS) training to ensure proper tire inflation and save gasoline through improved vehicle efficiency.
- Ruth Schenk and Dorothy Richards of NVFEL in Ann Arbor, Michigan, received the Pollution Prevention Partner of the Year award for their efforts to increase recycling at NVFEL, which in FY 2008 resulted in approximately half of the facility’s waste being diverted from landfills. This rate includes the electronics recycling through the Recycling Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) contract.
- The Electronics Stewardship Team in the EPA Region 8 Office in Denver, Colorado, which consisted of Chris Ayala, Kim Bartels, Carl Truszynski, Kendra Wilborn, and Greg Zurla, received the Pollution Prevention Partner of the Year award for developing an award-winning electronics management program that emphasizes a cradle-to-grave approach to electronics stewardship.
- Cate Berard of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, received a Pollution Prevention Partner of the Year award for playing an integral role in advancing electronics stewardship within EPA and across the broader federal community.
- Bob Beane of the New England Regional Laboratory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, received a Lifetime Achievement award for nearly four decades contributing to sustainable design and facility conservation at EPA. Under his management, in 2001 the New England Regional Laboratory became the first LEED®-certified laboratory to be built by the Agency. Bob helped reduce the laboratory’s water consumption by 50 percent and energy consumption by 30 percent between FY 2004 and FY 2007.
- Harvey Holm of the National Exposure Research Laboratory (ORD) in Athens, Georgia, received a Lifetime Achievement award for years of dedicated service, including designing a low-cost air handling unit (AHU) condensate recovery system using existing infrastructure and installing water-efficient sanitary fixtures that helped Athens-ORD reduce water consumption by more than 26 percent in FY 2008 compared to FY 2007.
- The Cincinnati Infrastructure Replacement Project (IRP) Team—Bucky Green, Stephanie James, Abbas Keshavarz, Rick Koch, Bill Ridge, Scott Tharp, Evelyn Toro, and Bill Wise—received the Sustainable Partner of the Year award for their efforts to complete Phase I of the IRP, a multi-year, multi-phase project that will replace all of the air handlers, vertical and horizontal supply ductwork, control systems, exhaust systems, and associated equipment at the Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center (AWBERC). The IRP is expected to help the facility cut its energy use by more than 30 percent, once all four phases of the project are completed.
- Joe Gillian of EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, received a Sustainable Partner of Year award for assisting with the design and award of a contract to install a green roof at the Atlantic Ecology Division Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The roof will mitigate stormwater runoff and drain excess water to rain barrels or cisterns, allowing the facility to reuse it.
- Scott Tharp and Bill Wise of AWBERC in Cincinnati, Ohio, received Appreciation awards for their reliable and exceptional service in supporting the EPA Facility Management and Services Division’s contracting efforts.