15
November
2021
|
12:30 PM
America/Denver

SRP Honors Valley Businesses for Being ‘Champions of Sustainability’

2021 'Champions of Sustainability' Award Winners:

Chandler Unified School District
City of Tempe
Grand Canyon University 
Mountainside Fitness 
New Village Homes
Sage Community in Scottsdale
State Farm Stadium
 
Target Corporation 

State Farm Stadium Exterior

Today, Salt River Project recognized eight Valley businesses and organizations for being ‘Champions of Sustainability.’
During a virtual awards ceremony, SRP honored outstanding participants in its Business Solutions programs.
The municipalities, companies and organizations are standouts for their commitment to sustainability and innovation, as they serve their customers and the community.

“This is the eighth year we have celebrated the achievements of our commercial customers who, regardless of the size of their business or organization, are saving energy, reducing costs and taking advantage of our many different rebate programs,” said Jim Pratt, SRP’s Associate General Manager of Customer Operations & Chief Customer Executive. “Together we are working toward a stronger, more secure and more sustainable energy future for the Valley and Central Arizona.”

SRP has been honoring business customers for their achievements in energy-efficiency projects since 2014. This year marks the first under SRP’s 2035 Sustainability Goals that relate to Energy Efficiency as well as Demand Response, Transportation Electrification and Electrification Initiatives. During Fiscal Year 2021, by working with its business customers, SRP exceeded its program goals for the eighth consecutive year by generating nearly 137,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of incremental energy savings — which is enough energy to power more than 8,000 homes for one year.

To learn how to make businesses of all sizes more energy efficient and sustainable to conserve precious resources and save money, visit savewithsrpbiz.com

2021 Champions of Sustainability Award Winners:

Outstanding Achievement in Business Demand Response
For the first year, SRP honored businesses from its Business Demand Response Program, which incentivizes customers for curtailing energy use during times of peak energy demand.

State Farm Stadium 
Home of the Arizona Cardinals Football Club and annual Fiesta Bowl, State Farm Stadium is an example of sophisticated engineering, technology, design and sustainability. State Farm Stadium knows how to play the game of making money while being a team player and conserving energy when it is in peak demand.

Through its partnership with SRP, State Farm Stadium has curtailed enough energy to support roughly 375 homes during conservation events, which means SRP pays Business Demand Response participant to temporarily reduce energy use when an emergency threatens the stability of the power grid. State Farm Stadium saved approximately $75,000 in utility costs in one year by participating.
To learn more, visit
srpnet.com/BDR or enelx.com. Customers also can contact their SRP Strategic Energy Managers at bizcenter@srpnet.com.

Sustainable Municipal Partner of the Year
SRP collaborates with municipalities across its service territory to provide energy-efficient solutions for residents and businesses. The partnerships are examples of how sustainability is interdependent, and communities depend on them for reliable energy and water.

City of Tempe  
The City of Tempe is dedicated to growing a sustainable city and strives to be carbon neutral by 2050. One way its working to achieve its goals is by consistently partnering with SRP to make city buildings more efficient and the community more sustainable. According to Mayor Corey Woods, the City of Tempe’s responsibility is twofold: to do the right thing and save people money. The Mayor says “SRP has been a tremendous partner when it comes to working with residents and business owners in identifying ways to be more sustainable” from both an environmental and financial standpoint. In the last year, the City of Tempe has saved more than $70,000 by partnering with SRP.

Homebuilder of the Year
The award honors an outstanding homebuilder for its ongoing commitment to energy and water efficiency, as well as other sustainable technologies, such as Electric Vehicle Ready Homes.

New Village Homes
New Village Homes is committed to creating architecturally unique, sustainable, well-located community developments in Greater Phoenix. By leveraging the SRP ENERGY STAR® rebates for Phoenix homebuilders’ year-after-year, New Village Homes continues to push sustainability into the future. The newly built homes and communities are designed to encourage a healthy, low-maintenance, low-energy, indoor and outdoor lifestyle. To learn more, visit srpnet.com/energystarhomes.

Outstanding Achievements
The award honors businesses that excel in implementing energy-efficient technologies in their facilities to achieve among the highest energy savings compared to similar sized and types of businesses or organizations.

Target Corporation 
The Target Corporation’s mission is to help families discover the joys of everyday life. In addition to that, it is working with SRP to make our community greener. Recently, Target upgraded four of its Valley stores with new light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems and seven locations with new energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. It also installed fresh air economizers for increased efficiency and improved indoor air quality. The improvements resulted in an annual savings of 788,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), which is enough energy to charge almost 68 million smart phones. The Minneapolis-based Target Corporation serves guests at more than 1,900 stores and online and gives five percent of its profit to communities, which equals millions of dollars a week. 

Grand Canyon University 
Grand Canyon University values sustainability and being good community stewards — it’s embedded in the student culture as well. GCU is an active participant in SRP’s energy efficiency and electrification rebates. The university’s facilities management team says the partnership allows them “to keep their energy costs low,” which in turn helps them offer an affordable, private Christian education. GCU utility resource specialists say SRP rebates such as switching to energy-saving, LED light bulbs, implementing energy efficiency into new construction and being a Business Demand Response participant have “made a huge impact on their facilities.” The university had hoped for an ROI of two years, but on one project had a return on investment in two months.

Mountainside Fitness 
While constructing new locations or remodeling existing locations, Mountainside Fitness continuously incorporates energy-efficient products and solutions into its facilities. Through last year’s projects to install the advanced rooftop controller systems at five locations, Mountainside Fitness maxed out its SRP rebate potential for the fiscal year and achieved more than one-million kilowatt-hours of annual energy savings. Overall, Arizona's premier privately-owned health club reduced its demand by 170 kilowatts, which is enough energy to power close to 85 homes for one year. Mountainside Fitness currently operates 19 locations within the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Sage Community 
In 2020, with the help of the SRP’s Business EV Charger Rebate Program, the Sage Community installed 106 level two, electric vehicle chargers – which is one charger for every condo owner in its community. It marks the first achievement of its kind in Arizona. The Sage Community is a 122-unit mixed condo/townhome luxury development located in Scottsdale along the canal between Camelback and Chaparral roads.

Outstanding Achievement for School Districts
The award honors the academic organization that has made strides in achieving excellence through energy efficiency, electric technology and incorporated innovation and sustainability in its schools. 

Chandler Unified School District
 
In 2020, CUSD took advantage of SRP’s Business Solutions Rebates to help the district save and conserve. CUSD upgraded its lighting and HVAC systems in existing schools, and also completed several new construction projects including a new gym, athletic facility and transportation facility with energy-efficient technology. The Chandler Unified School District serves more than 44,000 students in grades K–12. Academic achievement is a high priority as evidenced by test scores that exceed state and national averages.

SRP’s energy efficiency programs are a major component to the success of SRP’s Sustainable Portfolio and 2035 Sustainability Goals, www.srpnet.com/2035, because decreasing energy use also helps reduce emissions and saves money by deferring the need for future additional energy generation.

About SRP

SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP is also the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 750,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.