SEM receives highest honor at Raleigh’s Environmental Awards ceremony.
RALEIGH, NC – Southern Energy Management (SEM), a Morrisville-based energy efficiency and solar power company, has received the City of Raleigh 2011 Environmental Stewardship Award. This is the highest honor the city gives out during its annual Environmental Awards program; it recognizes “an individual or organization that has and shown leadership in sustainable development and in doing so recognizes the relationship and continuity of the environment, economics, and equity or social justice aspects of human society.”
Winners were chosen by a ten-person jury of Raleigh community leaders and environmental experts, and the awards ceremony took place the night of Thursday, April 21, at Marbles Kids Museum.
“We’re humbled and honored by this recognition from the City of Raleigh, and thrilled to be part of a much greater community of people and businesses who are as committed to environmental stewardship as we are,” SEM co-founder and president Maria Kingery said. “When we started SEM from our living room in Raleigh ten years ago, we just wanted to do our part to help families and businesses make smart energy choices. We’re grateful for what this company has blossomed into and for the energy savings and long-term benefits we’ve been able help our customers achieve in the Triangle and beyond.”
Southern Energy Management works with homeowners, builders, businesses and government/military clients throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. In 2010 alone, SEM installed more than seven megawatts of solar power, and partnered with more than 150 builders to certify 2,000 homes with green building standards and the Energy Star label. The company also launched a Home Performance Analysis and Improvement program for homeowners and began working with commercial clients to help existing buildings earn commercial Energy Star labels. All that work last year combined allowed SEM customers to avoid emitting more than 225,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the life of the systems.
This is not the first time SEM has been singled out by the city of Raleigh; in 2009, the company was given the Environmental Market Transformation Award. SEM is currently a five-time National Energy Star Partner of the Year and was also part of the inaugural class of nine US companies that received a national Green Jobs Award from SJF Institute and Green For All .
Media contact: Chris Cowperthwaite, chris@southern-energy.com or 919-836-0330 ext. 129
About Southern Energy Management
Southern Energy Management is a North Carolina-based sustainable energy company offering energy efficiency, green building and turn-key solar services for homeowners, builders, companies, government and military clients across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. A certified B Corp, SEM’s mission is to have a measurable impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and to build a sustainable triple-bottom-line company. SEM was founded in a living room in Raleigh in 2001, and now employs a team of more than 90 sustainable energy professionals. SEM is consistently recognized as an industry leader both locally and nationally, and is among a small handful of companies in the U.S. to earn the National Energy Star Partner of the Year award five times (in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011). SEM also received the 2011 Environmental Stewardship Award from the City of Raleigh and the 2010 Green Jobs Award from SJF Institute & Green For All. For more information, visitwww.southern-energy.com.
