‘Energy leadership’ awards honor innovation, emissions savings at annual Best Practices Exchange
KILLINGTON, VT
Efficiency Vermont’s BPX event marks its 14th year with more than 190 attendees and a keynote address from electric aviation pioneer BETA Technologies
KILLINGTON, VT—More than 190 people gathered at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel this week for the Best Practices Exchange (BPX), Efficiency Vermont’s annual gathering of the state’s largest commercial and industrial operators and businesses. The event also honored six “Energy Leadership” award winners in areas ranging from decarbonization to innovation to “partner of the year.”
Held from Wednesday, Sept. 17, through Thursday, Sept. 18, the event brought together business leaders from aerospace, healthcare, utilities, education, food and beverage manufacturing and distribution, and economic development. Attendees included executives, facilities managers, and mechanical contractors, all sharing expertise and knowledge on energy-saving strategies and innovations. The BPX audience also engaged two dozen sponsors and vendors of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, industrial systems, and related technologies.
“We at Efficiency Vermont hear you—it’s a challenging time to prioritize energy-saving projects,” said Peter Walke, Efficiency Vermont’s managing director, in his opening remarks. “Facing rising costs and unpredictable policies, we’re committed to helping businesses with projects that keep operating costs low and reduce energy use.” Walke stressed Efficiency Vermont’s support as an “energy co-champion” on such projects through technical expertise and financial incentives—like up to an additional $25,000 in extra incentives for businesses that complete custom projects by November 2026.
Investments made in 2024 by commercial and industrial customers with Efficiency Vermont’s support will, over their lifetime, save more than 521 million kWh—enough electricity to power more than 3,800 Vermont homes for 20 years. Those investments will also save the energy equivalent of more than four million gallons of propane and oil.
Alex Gagnon, the lead of Facilities and Construction with electric aircraft pioneer BETA Technologies, delivered this year’s BPX keynote. Born and raised in Brattleboro with a civil engineering degree from the University of Vermont, Gagnon helped bring BETA’s South Burlington production facility to life as a first-of-its-kind building to manufacture electric aircraft. Gagnon told the BPX attendees about building a low-emissions facility aligned with the company’s values around sustainability.
Six organizations were honored with “Energy Leadership” awards for industry-leading projects supporting energy efficiency.
The winners of the 2025 BPX Energy Leadership Awards are:
- Changemaker Award: Elderly Services, Inc., facility in Middlebury. Updating a 20-year-old building to reflect values of energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, Elderly Services implemented extensive weatherization and installed a new ground-source heat pump system, reducing its HVAC energy use by 70%. Nearly 200 solar panels generate the facility’s electricity. Combined with participation in Green Mountain Power’s Flexible Load Management program, Elderly Services was able to cut its electric bill in half and reduce propane use by 90%.
- Impact Award: UVM Medical Center’s Holly Court warehouse in Williston. UVM Medical Center’s 160,000-square-foot storage facility in Williston warehouses all supplies, materials, and equipment for hospital operations. Replacing old fluorescent lighting—which ran 24 hours a day—with LED lights and lighting controls, the warehouse reduced total building energy consumption by around 30% and is now saving $30,000 in energy costs annually. The project also improved worker safety through improved quality of light in the warehouse.
- Innovation Award: Farrell Distributing’s warehouse and shipping center in Rutland. Farrell overhauled its warehouse facility, replacing an old split refrigeration system that cools 35,000 square feet of warehouse space. Working with Efficiency Vermont and Turner Piping and Refrigeration, Farrell invested in a new natural refrigeration system that avoids “conventional” synthetic refrigerants—which can potentially leak and release potent greenhouse gases—and installed a system that uses carbon dioxide as a natural refrigerant. The CO2 system cools the warehouse space, reducing the refrigerant carbon impact by 90,000 lbs (equivalent to over 4,500 gallons of gasoline consumed) and saves the facility more than $90,000 per year in energy costs.
- Decarbonization Award: BETA Technologies’ manufacturing facility in South Burlington. BETA opened its 188,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in 2023, a remarkable 12 months after the first concrete was poured. The electric aircraft manufacturing facility was designed and built to be sustainable and energy efficient, reflecting the company’s mission to decarbonize aviation. The fully electrified facility uses over 250 geothermal wells as part of a closed-loop ground-source heat pump system that provides the energy needed to heat and cool the entire facility. Overall, the building uses 50% less energy than a typical building of the same size, avoiding more than 432 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.
- "Energy Champion” Award: Si-Yol Yi, Safety, Health, and Environmental Front Line Manager for Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury. Si-Yol Yi is leading the modernization of ice cream manufacturing through a comprehensive energy management approach. He developed a pipeline of energy projects to achieve Ben & Jerry’s net-zero energy goals, with projects like an industrial heat pump at the Waterbury facility. When completed, the facility will be able to operate without using its old and inefficient oil boilers, avoiding more than 1 million pounds of CO2e emissions. Si-Yol’s leadership around controls treasure hunts, industrial facility treasure hunts, Flexible Load Management, sub-metering, refrigeration optimization, equipment audits, and more resulted in more than $816,000 in cost savings annually.
- “Partner of the Year” Award: Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC) in Montpelier. CVEDC has been an important strategic partner for Efficiency Vermont for many years, and this award recognizes its help for businesses recovering from the devastating summer floods in 2023 and 2024. Supporting retailers, restaurants, and other operations in the region, CVEDC’s outreach helped more than 60 businesses rebuild using more than $300,000 in incentives from Efficiency Vermont’s flood recovery rebates.
About Best Practices Exchange
Efficiency Vermont’s Best Practices Exchange (BPX) is an annual conference for Vermont’s commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. Held each year at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel, the event brings together C&I facility managers, decision makers, mechanical contractors, and product manufacturers to share ideas, discuss challenges, and promote solutions. Efficiency Vermont’s program managers, account managers, and engineering consultants are also on hand to share industry best practices and engage in dynamic discussions. Join the conversation shaping best practices for the commercial and industrial marketplace in Vermont. Learn more at www.efficiencyvermont.com/bpx.
About Efficiency Vermont
As the nation's first Energy Efficiency Utility, Efficiency Vermont has helped Vermont save $3.7 billion in lifetime savings and avoid more than 14.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since 2000. Operated by clean energy nonprofit VEIC, Efficiency Vermont has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR® program Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence award over eight consecutive years. Efficiency Vermont works with partners to help our state transition to more affordable, low-carbon energy use through education, rebates and incentives, and support for our clean energy workforce. Learn more at www.efficiencyvermont.com.
Efficiency Vermont Press Contact
Matthew Smith
Phone: (802) 540-7662
[email protected]