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Bob Malone (left) head of British Petroleum's U.S. operations and Wirth Sustainability Awards keynote speaker, congratulates Paul Gottlieb and Dan McClendon on the award received by Delta Montrose Electric Association.

Wirth honors Western's Colorado partners

Two Western affiliates were recently honored for their efforts toward a sustainable energy future. Colorado's New Belgium Brewing Co. of Fort Collins, Colo., and Delta-Montrose Electric Association of Montrose, Colo., earned special recognition in the Business Category at the University of Colorado at Denver's Sustainability Awards ceremony Feb. 11.

UCD's Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy annually honors outstanding achievements in media, sustainable community development plans, policies, projects, and business. Citizens, public interest and community groups, media organizations, nonprofit groups, government agencies, or business firms can nominate stories, editorials, projects, plans, individuals, or themselves. Nominations are submitted to the Wirth Chair Advisory Board, which selects the winners.

New Belgium Brewing is the first brewery in the United States to purchase all of its energy requirements from wind turbines, eliminating 1,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. New Belgium has used more than 5 million kWh since 1999, and spends an additional premium of seven cents for each kWh it uses to support its renewable energy source.

New Belgium's Wirth Award nomination highlighted the brewery's dedication to sustainability through its subscription to 100-percent wind power for its electricity consumption; its water treatment facility that uses gravity to move water, requiring electricity only for the processes that take place in the lab, and its use of ambient sunlight, including sun tubes, skylights and large windows outfitted with a heat filter low-e glaze.

New Belgium CEO and cofounder Kim Jordan, who accepted the award, and Sustainability Outreach Coordinator Hillary Kaufman attended the ceremony. Kaufman said, "It's always meaningful for us to be recognized by those who take energy conservation, minimizing resource consumption, and forward-thinking technology seriously. In the case of the Wirth Chair Award, the Colorado connection was also important to us. It means so much when we are recognized by members of our own community, especially when the focus is on effecting change.

"New Belgium has never lost focus of its commitment to environmental stewardship by minimizing resource consumption, maximizing energy efficiency and recycling," she added.

DMEA was recognized for its efforts in developing fuel-cell applications, geoexchange systems, and emerging energy technologies.

DMEA Board of Directors President Paul Gottlieb said, "It's exciting to realize that the efforts of a small cooperative in a relatively remote part of the West could be noted and praised by leaders in the global energy and environmental arenas." DMEA General Manager Dan McClendon and DMEA Board Member John Forster joined Gottlieb in receiving the award on behalf of DMEA members.

The Wirth Chair for Environmental and Community Development Policy honors Tim Wirth, former U.S. Senator from Colorado and Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, and current president of the United Nations Foundation, for his years of commitment to the environment and sustainability. It was created in 1993 by the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado in Denver.

Web Sites New Belgium Brewing Co.: www.newbelgium For more information about the Wirth Chair Awards, call Tom McCoy at 3030-820-5628, or e-mail tmccoy@carbon.cudenver.edu.