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Award Winners

Overview

Award Winners

Each year, dozens of local agencies are honored with Beacon awards. Learn more about award winners.

The Beacon Program features three types of awards:

Beacon Vanguard Award: recognizing a city or county’s holistic approach to addressing climate change. Participating agencies are required to complete each of the requirements for the five Spotlight Awards and adopt a Climate Action Plan to receive a Beacon Vanguard Award.

Spotlight Award: recognizing individual accomplishments of cities and counties participating in the Beacon Program from greenhouse gas reductions to energy savings and more.

Leadership & Innovation Award: recognizing a city, county, special district and Beacon Program champions for implementing collaborative, inclusive, and equitable climate resilience and adaptation programming in their communities.

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Leadership & Innovation Award Winners
Leadership & Innovation Award Winners

Cities, counties, special districts, and Beacon Program champions can compete for these competitive awards that celebrate the efforts of local governments to implement collaborative, inclusive, and equitable climate resilience and adaptation programming in their communities. 

1. Leadership in Climate Resilience 

2. Cross-Agency Collaboration in Climate Adaptation

3. Equity and Engagement in Sustainability and Climate

4. Innovation in Clean Transportation

5. Innovation in Clean Energy

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Beacon Vanguard Award

Beacon Vanguard Award
Vanguard Award Winners

Participating agencies are required to complete each of following five elements and adopt a Climate Action Plan to win a Beacon Vanguard Award: 

1. Agency Greenhouse Gas Reductions

2. Community Greenhouse Gas Reductions

3.  Agency Energy Savings

4. Agency Natural Gas Savings

5. Activities in each of the ten Sustainability Best Practice Area

Post Updated September 2021

Agency Greenhouse Gas Reductions
Spotlight Award Winners

Greenhouse gas reductions are demonstrated by comparing a baseline greenhouse gas inventory to an updated inventory.

Post Updated September 2021

Community Greenhouse Gas Reductions
Spotlight Award Winners

Greenhouse gas reductions are demonstrated by comparing a baseline greenhouse gas inventory to an updated inventory.

Post Updated September 2021

Agency Energy Savings
Spotlight Award Winners

Energy savings are the result of energy efficiency retrofits undertaken at agency facilities.

Post Updated September 2021

Natural Gas Savings
Spotlight Award Winners

Natural gas savings are the result of retrofits undertaken at agency facilities.

Post Updated September 2021

Sustainability Best Practice Activities
Spotlight Award Winners

Participating agencies are surveyed and asked to provide a description of completed or ongoing activities undertaken in the ten areas of the Institute’s Sustainability Best Practice Framework.

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