Ameresco and Sainsbury’s win prestigious UK energy award

Ameresco and Sainsbury’s have been named as winners at the Verdantix Energy Innovation Awards 2016

FRAMINGHAM, MA and LONDON, UK – February 16, 2016 – Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE: AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced today that their UK operation has won a prestigious award, after working with Sainsbury’s to significantly reduce gas usage at a large store in south London by 90%.

Through its successful project for Sainsbury’s, Ameresco, which has UK offices in London and Castleford, received a Verdantix Energy Innovation Award at the Verdantix Summit 2016 in London.

The Verdantix Energy Innovation Awards highlight successful corporate and public sector energy innovation projects, programmes and initiatives of the preceding 12-18 months. The awards recognize the people and organizations who are instrumental in launching successful, innovative strategies that deliver superior results.

Ameresco’s joint entry with client Sainsbury’s highlighted the development of a pioneering CO₂ Heat Reclaim project at one of the supermarket giant’s London stores.

The project involved the development, implementation and continuous measurement of an innovative waste heat reclaim system design, and integrating several processes and technologies to viably recover significant amounts of waste energy for use in the store heating system. Using a Sainsbury’s store in south London as a pilot, the project has seen the re-tasking of existing HVAC equipment within the food refrigeration and store heating systems.

CO2 Heat Reclaim has had a significant impact on the Bromley store within the first year, reducing annual gas consumption by 92% and saving 174 Metric Tonnes of CO₂.

The innovative system has been designed such that it can be simply replicated in other stores across the retailer’s UK portfolio, with no disruption to the trading operation.

Dipak Shah, Ameresco director, said: “We are honored to be named as winner of a Verdantix Energy Innovation Award, which demonstrates the ground-breaking solutions Ameresco delivers to provide tangible benefits for businesses.

“Working in partnership with Sainsbury’s on the CO2 Heat Reclaim project demonstrates that retailers can realize significant energy and cost savings; and through its 20×20 sustainability plan, Sainsbury’s is making huge strides to reduce its carbon emissions.

“However, the retail sector is not alone in providing opportunities for energy efficiency. Organizations in both the public sector and private sector can benefit from energy and cost savings measures if they take a thorough look at their entire operation.

“Ameresco is proud to be recognized by our industry peers and would welcome the opportunity to speak with other organizations who feel they could benefit from our expertise.”

Ameresco was named Green Champion at The Energy Live Consultancy Awards 2015 and a finalist at the Edie.net Sustainability Leaders Awards 2015 in the Energy Management category.

The company has successfully completed energy saving projects for clients across a wide range of sectors – from housing and local government to supermarket and pharmaceutical giants.

Verdantix is an industry-leading independent research and consultancy firm with global expertise in environment, health, safety, energy and sustainability.
ENDS

About Ameresco
Founded in 2000, Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading independent provider of comprehensive services, energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations throughout North America and Europe. Ameresco’s sustainability services include upgrades to a facility’s energy infrastructure and the development, construction and operation of renewable energy plants. Ameresco has successfully completed energy saving, environmentally responsible projects with Federal, state and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers. With its corporate headquarters in Framingham, MA, Ameresco has more than 1,000 employees providing local expertise in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.