Energy
Max Fordham scoops Ashden Gold Award
On Thursday 11 June organisations leading the way in sustainable energy gathered for the 2015 Ashden Awards, with building firm Max Fordham scooping the prestigious Ashden Gold Award.
The Ashden Awards aim to champion and support leaders in sustainable energy in order accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world. Since their creation in 2001, winners of the Ashden Awards have transformed the lives of more than 45 million people living in the UK and developing countries.
This year the 11 green energy enterprises and programmes that won awards span four continents, highlighting that sustainable development is taking place across the globe. At the awards ceremony trophies were handed out along with more than £200,000 in prize money.
Max Fordham is an environmental and building services engineering practice that works on projects from early in the design process to minimise energy demand, reduce energy waste and increase energy buildings. They describe their method as “delivering buildings that work”.
The firm won the Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings, supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, and the Ashden Gold Award.
The Ashden judging panel said, “Max Fordham is pushing the boundaries in the design of sustainable buildings. It doesn’t just work closely with architects to create beautiful buildings that have the highest standards of energy efficiency and are pleasant to work or live in; its focus on working with occupants to get the best out of their buildings is exemplary. The company should be applauded for it trailblazing role in driving up energy standards across the entire sector.”
Other UK winners include Demand Logic, a cloud-based system that helps buildings make savings on their energy bills, which won the Impax Ashden Award for Energy Innovation, and London Borough of Islington: SHINE scooped the award for fuel poverty. The Ashden Award for Community Energy was won by TGV Hydro.
SteamaCo, an organisation based in Kenya that works to bring clean energy to remote rural areas took the international Ashden Award for Energy Innovation, along with the international Ashden Gold Award.
EcoCasa, Mexico, which is unlocking the potential for rolling out low-carbon housing at a large scale, BURN Manufacturing, Kenya, a clean cook stoves company, Enertiva, Costa Rica, which cuts emissions and boosts profits for dairy farmers through solar heaters, and Sarhad Rural Support Programme, Pakistan, a micro-hydro power firm, also took home awards on Thursday.
Within the travel category, Tapazz, a Belgium peer-to-peer car sharing network, and Les Boîtes à Vélo, a collective of businesses in Nantes, France, that have ditched the delivery banks in favour of the bicycle, were recognised for their efforts.
Photo: Max Fordham via Twitter
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Further reading:
Ashden Awards finalists: Low Carbon Hub
Ashden Awards finalists: TGV Hydro
Ashden Awards finalists: Max Fordham