BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Recipients Announced for 2023 Governor's Awards ​​​​ ​​​for Environmental Excellence X-WR-TIMEZONE:Indiana (East) BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261012T062738Z UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_44331550097732 DTSTART:20230920T163000Z DTEND:20230920T173000Z DESCRIPTION:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nSept. 20\, 2023\n\nRecipients Announced for 2023 Governor's Awards\nfor Environmental Excellence \n\nINDIANAPOLIS – On Wednesday\, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDE M) awarded the 2023 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence to si x recipients during the annual Partners for Pollution Prevention Conferenc e and Tradeshow in Indianapolis.\n\n"For nearly 30 years\, the Governor’ s Awards for Environmental Excellence has recognized Indiana citizens\, go vernment agencies\, businesses\, organizations\, and educational instituti ons for their efforts to positively impact Indiana’s environment. The wi nners here today represent the most innovative\, transferrable\, and effec tive projects with measurable environmental\, economic\, and social benefi ts\," said Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb.\n\nThe Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence are Indiana’s most prestigious environmental re cognition awards. They are reserved for the most innovative\, sustainable\ , and exemplary programs or projects that positively impact Indiana’s en vironment and demonstrate measurable environmental\, economic\, and social benefits. The selection process is highly competitive\, and only one awar d per category is presented each year.\n\nJohn Roeder\, Senior Operations Director for Governor Holcomb's Office\, presented the awards.\n\n2023 Cat egories and Winners \n\nEnergy Efficiency and Renewable Resources\nGM For t Wayne Assembly\nEnergy Performance Project and Steam Elimination Project \nFort Wayne Assembly has invested into a facility-wide energy savings imp rovement project. This monumental project was focused on the goal of elimi nating steam from the facility to dramatically improve the efficiency of t he central utility plant\, heating and cooling a 5 million sq. ft. facilit y. The central focus of the project revolves around a new waste heat recov ery system that captures otherwise wasted heat from four 1.6 megawatt onsi te generators. This reduces the consumption of natural gas that would othe rwise be required to heat the plant.\n\nThe waste heat is transformed into usable heat by eight large heat recovery units (exhaust and water). It is utilized by the main central utility building to provide heating and cool ing to the main assembly buildings through its Hot/Chilled Water Seasonal Loop.\n\n\n\nPictured above (left-to-right): Governor’s Office Senior Op erations Director John Roeder\, GM Fort Wayne Assembly Project Manager Nat han Worman\, Senior Environmental Manager Matt Arbuckle\, Facility Area Ma nager Shaun Pontsler\, and IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess at the Indi ana Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. GM Fort Wayne Assembly received the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellen ce for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Resources on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\ n\nEnvironmental Education and Outreach\nRed-tail Land Conservancy\nGrowin g Home™ Habitat Certification program\nGrowing Home™ is a community-dr iven conservation program that brings birds\, bees\, and butterflies to ea st central Indiana. This program educates\, encourages\, and empowers comm unity members to transform their yard or garden into a habitat that attrac ts and supports wildlife. Requirements for a Growing Home Certification in clude having two sources of food\, one source of water\, one source of cov er\, three species of native plants\, two conservation practices\, none of Indiana’s banned plants\, and at least 50 square feet of garden area. S ince Growing Home’s inception\, 76 habitats have been certified in 12 ci ties across seven counties. Through the certification of homegrown habitat s\, Growing Home™ is creating a network of pocket nature preserves that beautify urban spaces and provide vibrant places for people and wildlife t o thrive.\n\n\n\nPictured above (left-to-right): Governor’s Office Senio r Operations Director John Roeder\, Red-tail Land Conservancy Board of Dir ectors member Sheryl Myers\, Communications and Outreach Manager Kelley Ph illips\, and IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess at the Indiana Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. Red-tail Land Conserv ancy received the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Envi ronmental Education/Outreach on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\n\nGreening the Gove rnment\nVeterans Administration (VA) Northern Indiana Health Care System N utrition and Food Service\nGreen Environmental Management System Greening the VA Initiative\nVA Northern Indiana Health Care System launched the Nut rition and Food Service Green Environmental Management System Greening the VA Initiative to proactively approach and provide mitigation to several s ignificant aspects facing the population today. VA Northern Indiana was ab le to create a state-of-the-art food sustainability program with far-reach ing results. The efforts involved mitigation of food waste\, diversion of universal waste aerosols\, utilization of Indiana natural resources throug h harvesting maple syrup and replacing procurement costs\, reduction in co mmunity hunger\, complete elimination of polystyrene\, procurement of comp ostable containers\, garden-to-table sustainable produce production\, impl ementing new tools such as bio-digestion and composting\, and the offset o f harmful greenhouse gasses. \n\n\n\nPictured above (left-to-right): Gover nor’s Office Senior Operations Director John Roeder\, VA Northern Indian a Health Care System Gardner Nicholas Jones\, Chief of Nutrition and Food Service Lindsay Bartrom and IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess at the Ind iana Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. VA Nor thern Indiana Health Care System Nutrition and Food Service received the G overnor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Greening the Government on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\n\nLand Use/Conservation\nMichigan City Sanitary District and Delta Institute\nCheney Run Wetland Preserve at Karwick Natu re Park\nMichigan City Sanitary District partnered with Delta Institute\, the Alliance for the Great Lakes and V3 Companies to make stormwater\, eco logical restoration\, and recreation improvements at Michigan City’s Che ney Run which is a 40-acre site surrounded by wetlands. Cheney Run was a p rimary source of stormwater-related pollution that ended up in the Trail C reek\, a major tributary that feeds into Lake Michigan. The partnership im plemented improvements that reduced the amount of pollution transferred fr om Cheney Run to Trail Creek\, restored the wetlands\, and created trails on site for residents. The restoration and sustainable use of Indiana’s natural wetlands not only improves water and habitat quality in the area b ut also allows for more recreational activities like fishing\, boating\, b irdwatching\, swimming\, and hiking. The new trails will connect nearby ne ighborhoods with existing trails\, as well as a new fishing access point a nd kayak launch. Additionally\, the project protects salmon and trout runs which support the city’s tourism industry.\n\n\n\nPictured above (left- to-right): Governor’s Office Senior Operations Director John Roeder\, Mi chigan City Sanitary District Operations Manager Steven Stanford and IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess at the Indiana Pollution Prevention Confere nce and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. Michigan City Sanitary District and Del ta Institute received the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Land Use/Conservation on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\n\nPollution Prevention \nDePuy Orthopaedics\, Inc.\nUsing Activated Carbon to Enhance Air Emissio n Controls\nDePuy Orthopaedics\, Inc. voluntarily modified existing equipm ent with an integral carbon adsorption unit (CAU) to enhance air emission controls. Stack testing results prove the CAU is 95.21% effective in remov ing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the air stream\, thus reducing the annual VOC emissions to approximately a half ton.\n\nThe CAU is interl ocked with all spray booths so that the power is contingent upon the CAUs operation within the designated temperature\, pressure and flow parameters . The CAU's filter bed uses granular activated carbon to remove VOCs via a dsorption. The spent carbon is returned to the carbon supplier for thermal reactivation that restores the carbon's adsorptive capacity so that it ca n be reused and the VOCs are destroyed. \n\n\n\nPictured above (left-to-ri ght): Governor’s Office Senior Operations Director John Roeder\, DePuy O rthopaedics Process Engineering and Maintenance Manager Ryan Leeth\, Senio r Environmental Health\, Safety and Sustainability Specialist Kim Brown an d IDEM Commissioner Brian Rockensuess at the Indiana Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. DePuy Orthopaedics\, Inc. receiv ed the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Pollution Preve ntion on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\n\nRecycling/Reuse\nCarroll Elementary Scho ol – Flora\nPlastic Film Recycling Project\nStudents at Carroll Elementa ry School collected 1\,574 pounds of polyethylene plastic film for recycli ng to win the 2021-2022 Trex® Plastic Film Recycling Challenge. Students collected a variety of plastic bag types including: grocery\, bread\, sof tener salt\, ice\, dry cleaning\, newspaper sleeve\, produce\, sandwich\, cereal\, wood pellet and bubble wrap\, plastic shipping envelopes and bott le and skid wraps.\n\n\n\nPictured above (left-to-right): Carroll County S oil & Water Conservation District Administrator Rhonda Hicks\, Carroll Ele mentary School Second-grade Teacher Diana Brown and IDEM Commissioner Bria n Rockensuess at the Indiana Pollution Prevention Conference and Tradeshow in Indianapolis. Carroll Elementary School in Flora\, Ind. received the G overnor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Recycling and Reuse on Wednesday\, Sept. 20.\n\nAbout IDEM\nIDEM (idem.IN.gov) implements federal and state regulations regarding the environment. Through compliance assis tance\, incentive programs and educational outreach\, the agency encourage s and aids businesses and citizens in protecting Hoosiers and our environm ent. \n\n-30- \n\nMedia contact:\nBarry Sneed\nPublic Information Officer \n317-232-8596\nMedia@idem.IN.gov\n\n STAY CONNECTED:\n\n \n\nSUBSCRIBE R SERVICES:\nManage Preferences | Delete Profile | Subscriber Help LOCATION: SUMMARY:Recipients Announced for 2023 Governor's Awards ​​​​​​ ​for Environmental Excellence URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.in.gov/event/recipients_announced_for_2023_gov ernors_awards_for_environmentalexcellence_7453 CATEGORIES:Press Releases END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR