Good Energy Award 2017: the winners of the 8th edition

The 8^th edition of the Good Energy Award, organized by Bernoni Grant Thornton and aimed at rewarding those businesses that are investing in an innovative market in a responsible way towards the environment, the economy and the territory, has come to an end.

During the prize-giving ceremony, which took place on 21 September in Milan at Auditorium Bosch, the winners of this edition were announced:

• Agricultural and Food category: Ferrari Farm Società Agricola Srl
• Industry Sector category: Greenrail Srl
• Services Sector category: Giunko Srl

A special award for the new Aerospace category introduced this year was given to Argotec Srl, a company operating in the aerospace sector in Turin, which also provided the so-called “bonus food” for Italian astronauts Parmitano, Cristoforetti and Nespoli – who is currently in space.

Other finalists identified by the independent Jury, chaired by Maurizio Fauri, are: Brazzale Spa and The Bridge Srl for the Agricultural and Food category, Marlegno Srl and Salchi Metalcoat Srl for the Industrial sector category, Su Srl – Alisea and Energy Way Srl for the Services sector category.

The 8th edition of the Award was sponsored by Bosch and Coop Lombardia, and organised with the support of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, ANDAF (the Italian association of CFOs), FIPER (Italian federation for the production of energy from renewable sources),the Italian National Research Council, IDM Suedtirol, Milan Board of Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, Trentino Sviluppo, University of Milan and University of Trento.

Winners

Ferrari Farm is a company operating in the agricultural and food industry in Rieti. It realized a new hydroculture plant (i.e. to grow plants without soil), using hermetic, sterile and entirely computerized greenhouses. This technique, besides eliminating carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, prevents the entrance of pollutants and contaminants from the surrounding environment, thus allowing growing plants in any place on the Earth.

Greenrail is a globally recognized company operating in the railway industrial sector in Milan. It represent an example of industrial development according to the principles of the circular economy.
Greenrail is a sustainable railway sleeper which could replace the current standard and see to the lack of innovation in the railway industry. The concrete structure is covered with an external layer made of recycled plastic and blend of rubber collected from ELTs (End of Life Tyres). Each line kilometre covered with Greenrail sleepers contributes to recycling approximately 35 tons of plastic and ELTs.

Giunko is a company operating in Bologna which designs and develops complex structures and distributed systems based on leading-edge technologies aimed at innovating processes and the quality of users’ experience. The Junker project is an innovative solution aimed at guaranteeing a correct waste sorting. It consists in an IT platform capable of managing a high-quality database which can classify convenience goods through their bar code. It can be easily used by citizens (dwellers or tourists) thanks to an App for smartphones and tablets.

Argotec is an Italian aerospace engineering company operating in Turin providing a wide range of professional and engineering services. As concerns engineering activities, in 2011, Argotec started carrying out research activities on two-phase heat transfer technologies. These are heat pipes capable of transporting a great quantity of heat with a very small temperature difference between the hot and the cold interface. The characteristics that make these devices particularly interesting are lightness, geometrical flexibility, thermal efficiency, low environmental impact.

"Again this year, the Good Energy Award, at its eighth edition, had a great success, which saw a great number of innovative businesses in the field energy saving and low environmental impact", stated Stefano Salvadeo, co-managing partner at Bernoni Grant Thornton. "The belief that energy efficiency is an unavoidable value for businesses to be competitive on the market is becoming embedded in many entities. With the Good Energy Award, we want to give visibility to some Italian excellences, to increasingly spread the idea of a sustainability which does not exclude economic results, but indeed contributes to their consolidation".

"Bosch was happy to support the initiative promoted by Bernoni Grant Thornton to highlight the effort of Italian companies towards energy efficiency. We were pleased to host Good Energy Award candidates, which concretely demonstrated their commitment in the development of sustainable solutions. We at Bosch believe that business strategies must include not only economic, but also social and environmental factors.

The respect for the environment has always been part of our mission, as we aim at providing technological answers to environmental problems through investment in research and development to offer products and technologies that can help protecting the environment and safeguarding resources" – stated Gerhard Dambach, CEO at Robert Bosch S.p.A.