“Danfoss is proud to be a leader in developing solutions that will help us meet our climate goals. We simply won’t reach the Paris Agreement goals if we don’t prioritize energy efficiency because the greenest, cheapest, and most secure energy is the energy we don’t use,” said Sporrer. “Everything we do at Danfoss drives productivity in machines and systems, reduces emissions, lowers energy consumption and enables electrification, with the goal to be the preferred partner for customers who want to decarbonize. I accept this award on behalf of our 40,000 employees worldwide who are working hard every day to make Danfoss an industry leader in decarbonization and sustainable engineering solutions.”

As part of Danfoss’ ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) ambition, Danfoss has pledged to be carbon-neutral in global operations by 2030, setting ambitious science-based targets to increase energy efficiency while reducing carbon emissions. Danfoss announced in March 2022 that it had reached its 2030 target of doubling the energy productivity in its factories globally — nine years ahead of time.

Since 2007, when the initiative begun, the company has reduced energy intensity by 51% and CO₂ intensity by 42%. In 2021, energy productivity went up from 80% in 2020 to 104% improvement from the baseline year 2007. Also in 2021, 25% of its global electricity consumption was carbon-neutral and 45% of its direct energy consumption was from renewable sources.

Central to Danfoss’ goals is helping customers reduce their own emissions and energy consumption. The company is developing energy-efficient heating and cooling technologies such as oil-free and variable-speed compressors, which allow for efficient operation and reduced emissions; hybrid fuel systems that allow electric heat sources to work with an existing boiler system to generate heat with lower emissions; and heat recovery technologies.

These technologies are scalable across the built environment and provide a path to a more efficient and sustainable future. With buildings responsible for 40% of U.S. energy consumption and with only 2% of the U.S. commercial building stock turning over each year, increasing energy efficiency and lowering carbon emissions means retrofitting existing buildings with proven solutions that can be implemented financially and logistically.

Other category winners were:

• CPS Energy
• Kelly Stone, George L. Catrambone School, N.J.
• Congressman Bobby Rush
• Ndustrial
• Knoxville Utilities Board
• Gene Rodrigues