Surrey, BC – On Tuesday, September 17th, the Surrey Board of Trade presented four winners with the Surrey Environment and Business Award at the 13th annual event.
Tuesday’s event featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as keynote speaker, with a captivating discussion on environmental policy. His presentation highlighted the need for innovation to advance the clean tech sector to encourage a thriving ecosystem for future generations.
The awards were presented to Surrey Board of Trade members or Surrey-based businesses that have demonstrated exceptional dedication to environmental leadership and/or issues. The award recipients are guided by a sense of respect for the environment and demonstrate this initiative consistently.
“The amazing industry leadership and innovation in Surrey is to be celebrated,” said Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade.
This year’s winners are:
Small Business Award – Tailwind Energy Group
Tailwind Energy Group provides safe, reliable and cost-efficient electrical services and innovative energy solutions. Their commitment is to undertake business in an environmentally sustainable manner which adheres to all applicable standards for the safety of the environment. They also strive to align their business with the expectations of their employees and of the communities they serve, while abiding by all applicable environmental regulations. Their One for One Lighting Program allows them to donate an LED lightbulb.
Tailwind typically donates 10 LED type A light bulbs to a family which in turn will save the family about $120 per year on their energy bill. Working together with government representatives, power company liaisons and community organizations, Tailwind aims to provide energy efficient lighting to those who cannot afford upgrades while lowering the collective footprint on the environment.
Medium Business Award – A Rocha Canada
A Rocha Canada is a registered charity whose mission is to transform people and places into healthy communities through three core programs: conservation science (research and restoration of watersheds), sustainable community agriculture, and environmental education for all ages.
A Rocha’s BC hub is now an environmental centre, heritage site and sustainable farm. It is a living classroom for ecological stewardship, sustainable living, and community hospitality, located in the Little Campbell Watershed, an area that is extremely rich in biodiversity. A Rocha Canada has been in Surrey for over 10 years, and their other projects are located in Houston, BC, Manitoba and Ontario.
Large Business Award – School District # 36 (Surrey)
Environmental sustainability isn’t just one project for Surrey Schools. The district strives to incorporate environmental sustainability into day-to-day operations and integrate environmental sustainability into the curriculum taught to students. The district has established many sustainability projects.
Sustainable Building Design incorporates efficient and low carbon technologies including an air-source heat pump, LED lighting and low flow water fixtures. Rethink Waste is a district-wide program for recycling paper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastics, and composting of organics. Energy and Emission Management is headed by a Senior Manager who develops and oversees a program that would measure, monitor and reduce the district’s energy footprint. Energy Efficiency Retrofits continually improves the energy efficiency of Surrey Schools existing building stock with retrofit projects that reduce energy demand in all facilities while improving the comfort of staff and students.
Energy Efficient Building Operations uses building automation systems to save energy when facilities are not occupied, while still ensuring comfortable conditions; Active Travel and Green Fleet is a multi-year School Travel Planning Program designed to encourage students to walk, cycle safely or take other forms of active transportation to school.
This program is funded by the City of Surrey and supported by partnerships with TravelSmart, RCMP, ICBC and Hub Cycling. Surrey Schools is in a unique position to extend their environmental endeavours far beyond the boundaries of the organization’s operations by providing education on environmental sustainability and ecology to their students.
A Circular Economy Award was also presented. The winner has demonstrated that they re-invent, re-think and re-define how they use materials. They keep resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them while in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.
Circular Economy Award – Renewi Canada
In 2018, Renewi Canada opened North America’s first fully integrated closed-loop organic waste management facility featuring dry anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting in Surrey.
The Surrey Biofuel Facility is the first of its kind with the capacity to process 100% of the City’s curb-side organic waste and convert it into renewable natural gas to fuel the city’s fleet of natural gas vehicles; helping Metro Vancouver achieve its regional waste diversion goal of 80% by 2020. Renewi was responsible for the design, construction and private project financing, and will continue to operate and maintain the Surrey Biofuel Facility for a 25-year period.
The facility receives source separated organics and leaf and yard waste from the City of Surrey as well as the Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Pitt Meadows, as well as industrial and commercial waste.
Award Sponsors: Copytek Print Centres, Exp Services Inc., and Fortis BC
Community Sponsors: PW Trenchless Construction Inc., Safe Software, and Vancity
Media Sponsor: BC Business and Surrey NOW-Leader