Awards & Scholarships

System of the Year Award

Created in 1992, the System of the Year Award is the highest honor IDEA can confer on a district energy system, recognizing high-level performance, reliability, efficiency and industry engagement furthering the goals of the district energy industry.

Congratulations to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on winning the 2024 System of the Year Award!

View Past Winners & Competition Guidelines

The Joseph M. Brillhart Innovation Award

The Joseph M. Brillhart Innovation Award provides a platform for IDEA members to share projects, programs and/or best practices that achieve higher energy efficiency, greater reliability and/or enhanced value to the stakeholder community while demonstrating the value proposition of district energy to the marketplace.

Congratulations  to Enwave Energy Corporation for winning the 2024 Innovation Award!

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District Energy Space

District Energy Space is a publication that reports the incremental calendar year annual growth of new and renewed customer building space served by district energy.

Awards are given to the organizations that report the Greatest Number of Buildings Added in North America, Most Square Feet Added in North America, Greatest Number of Buildings Added Beyond North America, and Most Square Feet Added Beyond North America. We urge all IDEA Member Systems to participate each year.

Congratulations to all the 2023 DE Space Winners, including CenTrio Eastern Michigan University, Cordia Minneapolis, Vicinity Boston/Cambridge, CenTrio Chicago, Enwave Toronto in North America and Empower, Tabreed, and Emicool for Beyond North America!

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IDEA Carbon Count

IDEACC is an annual elective initiative to assess carbon emissions by member district energy systems and better understand the methods member systems are using to decarbonize. This voluntary program is intended to support IDEA education and advocacy efforts and should become a valuable tool for members to share best practices and demonstrate their success at reducing carbon emissions on behalf of their customers and connected buildings.

Stay connected for updates!

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Norman R. Taylor Award

Awarded each year at IDEA's Annual Conference & Trade Show, the Norman R. Taylor Award is IDEA's tribute to its "Person of the Year." The award is the top honor IDEA can confer on an individual, recognizing that person's lifetime achievements and contributions to the district heating and cooling industry.

Congratulations to Tom Nyquist of Princeton University for winning this year's Norm Taylor Award!

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Unsung Hero Award

The IDEA Unsung Hero Award recognizes an IDEA member who has performed above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of the industry and the association, without requiring or seeking recognition for his or her efforts.

Congratulations to Lalit Agarwal for winning the 2024 Unsung Hero Award.

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Scholarships and Student Video Contest

John Gray Scholarship

Established at IDEA's 100th Annual Conference in 2009, the John Gray Scholarship aims to attract and retain individuals wishing to pursue knowledge about energy in general and district energy specifically. The scholarship is offered annually to IDEA member employees and their children, or to individuals pursuing an enhancement of knowledge of district energy either through the educational opportunities at IDEA meetings or through educational programs at four-year universities in management, engineering, finance, or energy, or at two-year community colleges that offer an Associate’s Degree in power engineering.

Congrats to Conlan Ahern, Luke Boccelli, Jacob Carn, John DePodesta, and Tyler Kleinsasser for winning 2024 John Gray Scholarships!

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Campus Energy Student Video Contest

Launched in 2012, this contest challenges students from IDEA member institutions to create a short video (under 3 minutes) about their campus energy plant. The primary goal of the contest is to enhance general awareness among students of how their institutions district energy systems and their operators provide a reliable, economic, efficient and environmentally sound means of heating, cooling and powering their campuses.

After a two-year hiatus, we were excited to bring this contest back in 2023. Congrats to the University of Cincinnati for winning the 2023 Student Video Award! There were no winners in 2024, please consider submitting for next year's contest.

View Past Winners & Competition Guidelines