The 2014 World Green Design Contribution Award Winners rewarded at the Freiburg Summit

The 2014 World Green Design Contribution Awards were held in the Konzerhaus Freiburg on the 20th of October 2014 in Freiburg, Germany, in conjunction with the 2014 World Green Design Forum. The awards aim to recognize and encourage outstanding individuals and institutions that have made contributions to ecological and sustainable design. The award aims to instruct people to pay more attention to green consumption and sustainable development, and to change the conventional consumption habits.

This year’s winners were selected from a wide range of strong candidates by the international and impartial award jury, which consisted of experts in the fields of design and environment authorities. The award winners have all illustrated innovation and commitment in their production, design, or research initiatives. All the winners are pioneers in leading the transformation towards greener and more sustainable industry and life-style.

Ms Yu Jiayi is the CEO of Beijing Jiabowen Biotechnology whose contributions in the field of green design technology made her an individual award winner. She has lead the research and start-up team to establish the first industrial chain model in China that consist of organic waste biological transformation. The technology has provided a brilliant solution to the urban kitchen and restaurant waste treatment problem, and also realized an efficient and environmentally friendly industrial clean production mechanism. The innovation has great enhancing effect in eco-agriculture, and it was selected as an MBA teaching example by the Harvard Business School.

Among the outstanding institutional winners is the Swiss Solar Impulse, which as an inspirational example of renewable energy use in aviation. The company’s Across America –mission enabled the first-ever manned air plane to fly from the West coast to the East coast with no use of fossil fuels, powered solely by solar energy. Solar Impulse has also designed the Round-the-World Solar Airplane, which is taking up the challenge to fly around the world with no fuel. The company is setting an inspirational example by facing the kind of technical and human challenges that push the limits of ecological and more sustainable transport solutions.

The nomination panel also decided to award the Volvo Car Corporation for its efforts to adopt environmentally responsible strategies as its core corporate value. Volvo is one of the car industry’s leading brands, and between 2004 and 2008 it reduced 40% of its energy consumption compared to 2003. It established a zero-CO2 emission truck production plant in 2007, which was the first of its kind in the world. The company has the intentions to gradually turn all of its factories into zero-CO2 emission plants, and therefore sets an example of profitable business model with environmentally friendly production principles.

The complete lists of award winners can be found below. Congratulations to all 2014 World Green Design Contribution Award Winners!

The individual winners include: (First letter ordering)

Ab Stevels

Brian McClendon

Carlo Petrini

Dr Mark Z Jacobson

Elon Musk

Fang Qing

Frans van Houten

Gina McCarthy

Gustav R. Grob

Jean Pierre Haug

John W.Spears

Jussi Pesonen

Karsten Engel

Liu Hanyuan

Liu Jing

Lee Boon Woei

Paul Polman

Tan Xuguang

Yu Jiayi

Zhu Renmin

The institutional winners include: (First letter ordering)

AB InBev

China Smart Construction Group Co.Ltd

Coca Cola

Danfoss Group

Dongguan Fuyun Furniture Company

DyeCoo Textile Systems BV

GOAL ZERO

Greif, Inc

MADA s.p.a.m.

Opower.Co.Ltd

Solar Impulse

Shell Oil Company

The Siemon Company

SOLAR-JET

Studio 505 Architecture Company

Tetra Pak

Viessmann Group

Volvo Group

Xian Kaimi Co.,Ltd

ZNA Zeybekoglu And Associates, Beijing, Ltd