Innovation and collaboration celebrated at Champions Awards

Flooring that converts footsteps into renewable electricity, a house built almost entirely from waste products and Sky’s Rainforest Rescue campaign with WWF were among the winners at last night's 2degrees Champions Awards.

The annual awards, now in their second year, are the only ones voted for entirely by peers. This year there were 240 entries, a 140% increase from last year, and 7,473 votes were cast.

The University of Brighton’s  “Waste House” won both the Building or Property Project award and the Waste & Resource Management award. It has proven that  it is possible to build a house almost entirely from waste products. By collaborating with local construction companies, factories, the council and schools, the Waste House is also an investment in educating the next generation of designers and builders to think and build sustainably.

Pavegen won the Energy & Carbon Management (Long-Term Payback) award, for its innovative flooring tile that converts the kinetic energy from people's footsteps into renewable electricity. Installed successfully at sites around the world, including the 2013 Paris Marathon and London 2012 Olympics, the Pavegen flooring tiles are designed to encourage communities to engage with a tangible and people-powered solution, and help them recognise the opportunities for an innovative off-grid energy technology.

The External Communications Campaign award was given to Sky for its Rainforest Rescue campaign. It is an integrated partnership with the WWF UK, WWF Brazil and government of the state of Acre in Brazil, delivered over four years. Sky’s research shows that 40 per cent of its customers are now more aware of the issue of deforestation and now understand why it is important.

The Solution of the Year Award was collected by Vegware for its range of compostable food packaging, while Pukka Herbs won the Supply Chain Management award for encouraging its supply chain to adopt the FairWild Standard.

The Sustainability Champion of the Year was named as Eldad Umenjoh, who has successfully changed the attitude of palm oil farmers in Cameroon, and the Social Value award was given to Carbon Solutions Global for its project which teaches local farmers in Hungary the importance of using environmentally sound fertilizer.

HRH The Prince of Wales was voted 2degrees Personality of the Year for his contribution to a whole host of environmental causes and business programmes, including The Prince’s Rainforests Project, beating Matt Damon, Calum Richardson, Russell Brand, the Arctic 30 and Paul Polman.

Martin Chilcott, ceo, 2degrees commented: “This year’s award winners are an incredible collection of individuals and companies who have changed the way we think about sustainable business. Each award represents years of commitment to thinking afresh, tackling inefficiencies and trailblazing ground-breaking solutions which have a positive impact on society. The 2degrees network provides businesses with an opportunity to showcase best practice, build relationships on and offline, and inspire others to start their sustainable journey.”