IP/11/459
Brussels, 12th April 2011
GreenLight, GreenBuilding and Motor Challenge EU awards: 25 energy efficient winners in 14 countries
There are 25 winners from 14 countries across the three categories featured in this year's edition of the energy efficiency awards managed by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's in-house science arm. These award schemes are part of three JRC programmes aiming to encourage organisations in both public and private sectors to cut energy consumption by using innovative and energy efficient technologies. Under the GreenLight programme, the winners include the Delhaize supermarket chain (Belgium), which reduced its annual energy consumption for lighting across more than 130 supermarkets by a total of over 20 000 Megawatt hours (MWh), a 60% reduction. Typically, a household consumes 4 MWh per year. Under GreenBuilding, one of the best refurbishment projects, Alfred Arnold Verladesysteme (Germany), has achieved over 78% energy savings in its office and workshop building, while the new Vasakronan AB Riga 2 office building (Sweden), has pared back consumption to only 40% of that allowed by law. In the third category, Motor Challenge, SATA Fiat group (Italy), obtained energy savings of nearly 15 000 MWh in its production plants (car painting). The three programmes between them save more than 837 000 MWh of electricity each year – roughly equivalent to the total consumption of all households in Luxembourg
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: "I congratulate the award winners. By applying innovative technologies to boost energy efficiency, they are benefitting both themselves and society in general. Energy efficiency is key to tackling climate change but it is also a prerequisite for unlocking sustainable growth and jobs, reducing dependency on oil and gas imports and moving towards renewables. That is why energy efficiency is one of our top priorities under both current and future EU research and innovation programmes. I am proud of the work the JRC is doing on energy efficiency, not just with this award scheme but also with its wide range of initiatives providing industry and consumers with guidance on the best available technologies in this field and its assessment of energy efficiency policies, an invaluable input to EU policy making."
More than 1 000 participants throughout Europe have voluntarily taken part in these three programmes. Award criteria are based on both innovation and energy efficiency (i.e. energy saving technologies used and the sector they belong to: public buildings, retail, offices…)
GreenLight encourages partners to install energy-efficient lighting technologies and systems, whilst GreenBuilding promotes improved energy efficiency through several measures such as thermal insulation, efficient heating and cooling, intelligent control systems, photovoltaic (solar) panels etc.
The Motor Challenge programme aims at saving energy by making electric motor systems (such as pumps, compressors, fans and variable speed drives) operate more efficiently. These systems are currently responsible for about 60% of industrial electricity consumption.
The award ceremony will take place today in Brussels at the exhibition area of the "EU Sustainable Energy Week” (JRC stand) in the Charlemagne building located in Rue de la Loi 170, starting at 15:45h.
The jury was composed of Barbara Cuniberti, an architect specialised on energy efficiency in buildings; Marion Elle, an energy efficiency expert and the JRC programme manager Paolo Bertoldi.
Winners GreenLight Award 2011
Country | Effective energy savings (per year) in lighting | Reduction of consumption | |
City of Tilburg | The Netherlands | 303 MWh | 44% |
City of Zaprešić | Croatia | 1 712 MWh | 57 % |
Delhaize Belgium (supermarket) | Belgium | 20 694 MWh | More than 59 % |
Gemeinde St. Georgen (municipality) | Germany | 38 MWh | More than 67% |
ING Luxembourg (bank) | Luxembourg | 79 MWh | 85 % |
M.B.Z. NV (Port Authority Brugges- Zeebruge) | Belgium | 19 MWh | 76 % |
Nestlé France | France | 520 MWh | 86 % |
Prokind Scholengroep (school) | The Netherlands | 26.5 MWh | 80 % |
Unibail-Rodamco (shopping centres) | Spain | 5 228 MWh | N/A |
Winners GreenBuilding Award 2011
Category new building
Organisation | Country | Type of building | Reduction in energy consumption | Energy savings per year (as compared to building codes) |
Bayer Real Estate GmbH Kindertagesstätte „Die Sprösslinge“ | Germany | Nursery school | 66.7 % | 96 MWh |
C&SO Medical Properties LTD, American Heart Institute | Cyprus | Hospital complex | 55 % | 350 MWh |
Dr.-Ing. W. Götzelmann & Partner GmbH | Germany | Office building | More than 90% | 22.6 MWh |
Komunaprojekt | Slovenia | Shopping centre with offices | 64 % | N/A |
MSF-TUR.IM SGPS S.A. | Portugal | Office Building | 54,5% | 579 MWh |
Vasakronan AB Riga 2 | Sweden | Office building | 60 % | 1 786 MWh |
Category refurbishment
Organisation | Country | Type of building | Reduction in energy consumption | Energy savings per year as compared to before the renovation |
Alfred Arnold Verladesysteme, Büro- und Werkstattgebäude | Germany | Office and workshop building | 78 % | 429 MWh |
Ferrocarrils de Catalunya | Spain | Vall de Nuria historic building complex (Sant Josep) | 75.3 % | 323 MWh |
KF Fastigheter, Rösunda 5:2 | Sweden | Conference centre | 70 % | 1 400 MWh |
Königstein im Taunus | Germany | Community centre | 82.5 % | 1 759 MWh |
Landratsamt Main-Spessart, Secondary School | Germany | Secondary school building | 87 % | 181 MWh |
Marktgemeinde Langenzersdorf, Hauptschule Langenzersdorf | Austria | Secondary school building | 77,5 % | 422 MWh |
Siemens Transmission et Distribution | France | Office building | 70,5% | 1 047 MWh |
Winners Motor Challenge Program Award 2011
Organisation | Country | Type of company | Savings in energy consumption per year | Method |
Águas do Noroeste, S.A. | Portugal | Drinking water treatment | 1 019 MWh | Implementation of more efficient pumps and variable speed drives |
SATA (FIAT group) | Italy | Automotive company | 14 817 MWh | Implementation of variable speed drives in its production plants (car painting) |
Tenaris Silcotub | Romania | Steel and metal industry | 7 600 MWh | Implementation of efficiency measures in the area of pumps, fans and compressed air |
Further information
GreenLight, GreenBuilding and Motor Challenge Programs website:
http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency.
The European GreenLight Programme - Efficient Lighting Project Implementation - Catalogue 2005-2009 (published in 2011):
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/111111111/16039
The European GreenBuilding Projects Catalogue - January 2006-June 2010 (2011):
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/111111111/16122
2010 winners of the GreenLight and GreenBuilding programmes: IP/11/424
