Today, the Commerce Department’s Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Programs announced the 2020 Class of Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental (SEE) Ambassadors. The SEE Ambassadors program recognizes individual Departmental employees for their outstanding performance in implementing exceptional cost-saving projects and/or programs that help the Department achieve its mission to improve energy efficiency, water conservation, environmental performance and awareness. Below is the Class of 2020 outstanding Ambassadors.   

NIST

• Jessica Caraway – For consistently seeking out projects to improve sustainability and energy efficiency at the NIST Boulder campus including her current work to improve energy performance at the Central Utility Plant while meeting stringent research requirements.
• Carrie Kelly – For minimizing the NIST Gaithersburg campus heating load to ensure the facility operated its Central Utility Plant under the State of Maryland-directed operating parameters during the COVID-19 pandemic and for her work to restart the building’s large central HVAC equipment when the campus reopened.
• Warren Livengood – For verifying that energy-efficient designs and requirements are built into NIST laboratory construction plans and drawing documents for contractors to bid on and for ensuring that aging systems are upgraded to improve efficiency. 

NOAA

• Scott P. Burnham – For developing and implementing “cold-aisle containment cubes” to improve data center energy performance and for fostering a culture of sustainability by supporting efforts to save energy including lending his expertise to other offices as needed.
• Jerome Sheehan – For designing, fabricating, and installing the first oil-separating settling tank in NOAA’s research fleet and for his input on the design of a large-scale oil spill drill to ensure the drill scenario was realistic.

USPTO

• Roxanne Fuhrman – For implementing an in-house demand response program at USPTO Headquarters, redesigning and managing the “Green USPTO” website to share information and promote achievements, and championing sustainability at USPTO. 

Honorable Mention 

Census

• Donald E. Harris, Sr. – For inventing watering wells for plants in his personal time to help protect surrounding environments from harmful herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer runoff.

Click here for more information on the mission of the Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Programs.