Each year the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency (SAEE) Awards Programme recognises outstanding accomplishments of individuals and companies in the energy industry.

The Awards are a token of recognition for the commitment to the profession, desire to further the association’s mission, and participation in civic and community affairs.

These prestigious Awards are presented at the annual SAEE banquet and awards ceremony, which is being held this year at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg on November 11.

This event marks the official opening of the SAEE’s annual flagship event, the Southern African Energy Efficiency Convention (SAEEC).

Each award is allocated specific judging criteria and many awards share similar criteria. In the interests of clarity, these criteria are defined in detail here. These are the guidelines the SAEE technical committee will refer to when they make their decisions.

Leadership and integrity

• Demonstrated ability to persuade others to “buy into” a change or a new initiative
• Ability to work with diverse teams and sets of skills; seen by competitors as a leader and role model

Innovation, creativity and initiative

• The entry must represent a clear “break” with previously established methods or processes and demonstrate an ability to implement change – not just simply an adaptation of existing techniques.
• New and innovative products and services that reduce the demand of energy resources should be demonstrated
• The individual or organisation must encourage new ideas and risk-taking in their organisation; they should propel their business through inventiveness

Performance and achievements

• Must have participated in contributing positively to the growth of the energy efficiency industry
• Contribution to the growth of the energy efficiency shown by a reduced impact on the environment will bode favourably

Challenges and outcomes

In assessing challenges, the following will be looked at:

• Technical complexity
• Technical innovation (overcoming “it can’t be done”)
• Environmental, social or political difficulties in the path of completing a project
• Complexity of access to finance (where appropriate)
• Substantiated declarations of the achievements are required

 

The SAEE awards categories are as follows:

Energy newcomer of the year

• awarded to a newcomer, in recognition of the individual or organisation’s outstanding achievements demonstrated within the energy industry in the Southern African region
• Must have participated in contributing positively to the growth of the energy efficiency industry
• New and innovative product or services that reduce the demand of energy resources should be demonstrated
• A reduced impact on the environment will bode favourably
• Substantiated declarations of the achievements are required
• A newcomer is considered such when an organisation entered the energy industry within the last 4 years of the entry date, or when an individual has entered the energy industry within any organisation within the last 4 years of the entry date

Energy project of the year

• Awarded to recognise energy efficiency projects that have delivered outstanding energy saving results in the energy industry within the southern African region
• Brownfield or greenfield projects in the residential, commercial or industrial sectors will be considered
• A project that has employed innovative and effective ways of reducing the use of energy resources through implementing energy management, renewable energy installations, energy efficiency, installing energy saving devices, optimising processes, implementing standards, expanded access to power, innovative means of conservation, and the like
• A project that has demonstrated an exceptional return on investment to demonstrate that energy efficiency makes business sense
• Favourable consideration will be given to projects that consider the global environmental crisis, takes cognizance of sustainability and has significantly reduced its reliance on the national electrical grid
• The project’s achievements and results must be substantiated
• Projects must have been completed in, and started operation, during the last year of date of entry so that results are available

Energy company of the year

• Awarded to a company, that has demonstrated outstanding overall performance achievements in the energy industry in the Southern African region
• A positive contribution to the growth of the energy efficiency industry through the delivery of its services, products, technologies, solutions or consultation provided to end-users of energy resources etc. within the company’s area of expertise
• The company’s achievements must demonstrate the effective and continuous efficient use of any of the energy resources through one or a combination of initiatives like the implementation of energy efficiency, energy management, process optimization, energy innovation, utilizing efficient equipment, awareness creation and education, or has advanced and expanded access to power and energy in a sustainable manner, etc. within its end-user client-base
• A significant achievement, or a combination of achievements that demonstrates the company’s overall performance, will be considered
• A positive impact on the environment through the company’s activities delivered to the end-user will be beneficial
• Substantiated declarations of the achievements are required
• The achievement result must fall within the last year of the entry date

Energy patron of the year

• Awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution in the field of energy consumption by reducing the use of energy resources in the Southern African region
• The individual may have applied strategies, policies, created awareness, revised staff structures, ensured staff training, used incentives, implemented energy management, installed technologies, reduced their environmental impact and reliance on the grid, or any other innovative means of investing in the energy efficiency of a company’s operation
• A person nominated for this award would most likely have been in the energy industry for a considerable period of time – however, this award will give recognition for a contribution made, or projects completed, during the last year of the entry date

Excellence Award in Energy

• Candidates for this category will be nominated and elected by the Board of the SAEE, recommendations for nomination are welcomed
• Awarded to recognise an organisation or individual whose role has made a significant difference and contribution towards the growth of the energy efficiency and related industries in southern Africa
• Demonstrated outstanding achievements in a company, as an individual, by delivering exceptional service, excellent sustainable energy solutions, through innovative ideas and applications that are viewed as excellent in the industry
• The achievements in the last year from date of award entries will be recognised

SAEE Service Award

• Awarded to an individual for special efforts within SAEE towards the functioning of the Association displaying loyalty, initiative and commitment
• This award can be given to SAEE board members, individual members, staff members or other stakeholders playing a significant role to keep the association going

Rules and requirements

Nominations are open to all persons and organisations. People who are excluded from entering include current members of the SAEE Board and Committee.

The SAEE reserve the right to move an entry to a different category from the category entered if the entry is better suited to that category.

In the event that there are too few qualified nominations in a particular category, the SAEE technical evaluation committee reserves the right to not select a winner in that category. The SAEE technical evaluation committee reserves this right in the case of awards to individuals regardless of the number of entries.

The finalists for all awards categories are required to register a representative to attend the SAEE energy awards ceremony and banquet dinner to accept their award in person if they are selected the winner.

All nominations must be submitted using the manual entry form that can be obtained by downloading it from the website, www.saee.org.za, or by contacting the SAEE administration office.

Manual forms must be submitted via fax or email. Nominations and supporting materials must be received no later than September 30, 2015. No extensions to this date will be granted and incomplete entries or entries exceeding the stated number of words in the nomination summary will not be considered.

Nominations may be submitted either directly from a company, from an involved individual, or from a third party. In the event that a third party nominates a company or individual, SAEE will contact the nominated company or individual and ask the nominee to review the nomination for accuracy and, if necessary, provide any missing documentation.

If the company or individual fails to provide the required response by the specified date, the nomination will be excluded from competition.

Each nomination must be accompanied by a motivation or nomination, not exceeding 150 words, that explains the rationale behind the entry and a summary statement not exceeding 150 words, providing the main accomplishments or qualifications and background of the individual or organisation.

SAEE strongly encourage entrants to tailor each summary to the individual category for which the nomination is being made. All amounts and financial statistics must be in Rands. The nominating summary should be submitted electronically through the online nominating process or manually via fax or email.

Each nomination should include the nominated company’s logo. The logo file can be emailed to info@saee.org.za

SAEE regrets that no materials can be returned.

Winners will not be notified prior to the SAEE energy awards ceremony and banquet dinner, however all nominations must be accompanied by the name of the person who will be accepting the award if the nominee is chosen as the winner.

All information submitted through the online nominating process and all supporting materials will be considered confidential and will only be used by SAEE and its technical evaluation committee for the purposes of selecting finalists and winners for the 2015 SAEE Awards Ceremony.

Award Nomination Deadline for 2015:

All award nominations must be received by the SAEE administration office by close of business on 30 September 2015.

For more details, contact the SAEE Administration Office:

Tel: +27 (0)18 293 1499

Fax: +27 (0)86 726 7135

Email: info@saee.org.za

www.saee.org.za