Winners of the Second Annual Montana BetterBricks Awards Announced

Contact Information:
Kyle Stuart / Coates Kokes
503.241.1124
kyle@coateskokes.com
 

Award honors champions of green building in Montana

Bozeman, Mont. — The 2011 BetterBricks Awards event honored Montana’s leading green building professionals who design, build, operate and advocate for high performance commercial buildings at the Best Western GranTree Inn last night.  The Awards were held in conjunction with the 2011 Montana Energy Conference for Businesses. Judith Heerwagen, Project Specialist at the Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), was the keynote speaker.  She spoke to over 75 attendees about how the interaction between building design and operations influences human behavior and performance and, in turn, affects building performance.

The BetterBricks Awards celebrate the champions of energy efficiency whose forward-thinking business practices raise the bar and industry standards. The Awards recognize architects, engineers, building operators, facility managers and other building professionals for their leadership in reducing the use of energy and other resources in commercial buildings.

“Northwest green building professionals lead the country in their commitment to energy efficiency,” said Claire Fulenwider, Executive Director of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). “Our high caliber winners this year are making impressive strides in both private and the public sector buildings and demonstrate that through innovation and collaboration, we can accomplish significant energy savings.”

Winners were selected in the following categories:

• Advocate: Thomas E. McNab
  Director, Community Design Center, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Montana State University School of Architecture, Bozeman

• Architect: Eric Simonsen
  Principal, A&E Architects, Billings

• Design Engineer: Ken Phillips, P.E.
  Senior Energy Engineer, Montana State Building Energy Program, Helena
   
• Facility Manager / Operator: Co-Winners
  Richard Whitney, Executive Director of Facilities Services, Billings Public School District #2, Billings;
  Don Clark , Water/Wastewater Treatment Superintendent, City of Helena

Winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of industry professionals, utility representatives and green building experts.

To achieve high performance buildings, award winners championed a variety of best practices such as utilizing local climate in site designs, employing early design energy modeling, supporting building commissioning, educating tenants and staff about sustainability and implementing better building operations. Their projects have achieved substantial energy savings, reduced building operation and maintenance costs and enhanced productivity of building occupants among other benefits.

BetterBricks is the commercial building initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), which is supported by Northwest electric utilities including NorthWestern Energy.  Through BetterBricks, NEEA advances ideas to accelerate energy savings in new and existing commercial buildings.  BetterBricks education and training, online resources and recognition of industry leaders guide and inspire building professionals to embrace best practices, improve energy performance and achieve their sustainability goals.  Visit www.BetterBricks.com to connect to these powerful energy ideas and more. 

About NorthWestern Energy
NorthWestern Energy is one of the largest providers of electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving 665,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.  Our utility operations consist of regulated electric and natural gas distribution, transmission, energy supply and non-regulated electric operations.  In addition, we are pursuing electric transmission and generation opportunities. Visit www.northwesternenergy.com