Scotiabank has crowned three winners of the Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards at a Gala ceremony to honour all finalists. Winners of the Scotiabank EcoLiving Business Leadership Award, Innovation Award and Student Leadership Award were recognized for their innovations in home energy efficiency and shared $75,000 in award incentives. The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards Gala took place at the Art Gallery of Ontario and was attended by more than 175 Scotiabank customers and leaders from the clean energy technology sector.
The winners in the three categories of the 2014 Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards are as follows.
The $10,000 Student Leadership Award was won by Yining (Fiona) Yuan and Christopher Tegho of Montreal’s McGill University for their Energy Management and Power Disaggregation project. The other two finalists were Cheminée Bleue (Blue Chimney) – Jérôme Fournier, École de Téchnologie Supérieure of Montreal; and Smarterstat – Randy Van Straaten of Western University, London.
The $15,000 Innovation Award was claimed by Tim Johnson of Ottawa for Energymobile Studios Inc. The other two finalists in this category were Active House – Andre D’Elia and Meg Graham of superkül inc | architect of Toronto; and Solar Thermal Heating System – Joshua Green of St. John’s.
And finally, the $50,000 Business Leadership Award recognized Jennifer Corson and Keith Robertson of Halifax for Shape, Study, Share – The Solterre Approach. The two other finalists were RND Construction Ltd. – Roy Nandram of Ottawa; and ACE (Alternative & Conservation Energies Inc.) and ASH (Autonomous & Sustainable Housing Inc)– Jorg & Helen Ostrowski of Calgary.
“The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards recognize Canadian businesses, entrepreneurs and students for excellence in the development of home energy-efficiency products, services and solutions,” said Michael Durland, Scotiabank’s Group Head and CEO, Global Banking & Markets, who hosted the Awards Gala on behalf of the Bank. “We honour our finalists and congratulate our winners for their leadership and their success in the field of energy conservation.”
“New research conducted by Scotiabank Economics which will be released tomorrow morning indicates that the average cost of energy consumed by Canadian households has risen by roughly five percent over the past year,” continued Mr. Durland. “This diverts as much as $4 billion from spending on more discretionary items and creates a strong incentive for households to reduce energy consumption.”
The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards are part of the Bank’s customer focused environmental program, Scotiabank EcoLiving. Introduced in 2010, this program is uniquely focused on educating Canadians on the benefits of home energy efficiency and green home improvements.
Nominations for the 2014 Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards came in from all across Canada. Each one showcased innovative, creative solutions by businesses and individuals who are dedicated to enabling residential energy efficiency.
“We are delighted to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of our winners,” said Kaz Flinn, Scotiabank’s Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility. “Each one stands at the forefront of residential energy conservation in Canada and is playing a critical role in pushing both dialogue and action, helping Canadians make greener choices for their homes, reduce their energy bills, and save money.”
Finalists and winners were chosen from a highly competitive field of applications by an independent judging panel including: Valérie Bécaert, Executive Director of the CIRAIG; John Godden, Principal, Clearsphere; Shawn McCarthy, Global Energy Reporter, The Globe and Mail; Mark Salerno, Manager, Ontario Communications and Marketing Centre, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; and Ed Whittingham, Executive Director of the Pembina Institute.
For more information about the Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards, the 2014 finalists, judges and the EcoLiving program overall, please visit http://ecoliving.scotiabank.com.