Bar Harbor, Maine — The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce presented its 2011 annual Environmental Leader Award to The Jackson Laboratory to recognize the institution’s ongoing efforts to promote a healthy environment and conserve energy.
After accepting the award at the Chamber’s annual meeting on Oct. 14, Jackson Laboratory Senior Director for Facilities Services John Fitzpatrick noted that the Laboratory’s concern for the environment makes good sense from a business perspective “as well as for being a good citizen of Bar Harbor and Maine. It’s especially gratifying being recognized for our efforts at the local level.”
He noted that the Laboratory’s recently installed energy plant—the nation’s largest wood-pellet burning steam facility—will not only reduce dependence on foreign oil, use a renewable, Maine-produced fuel source and cut emissions, but will also save the institution money. “That’s money we’d rather be using to perform biomedical research than paying oil bills,” Fitzpatrick said. The plant is expected to reduce the Laboratory’s use of number-two fuel oil by 1.2 million gallons a year.
The Environmental Leader Award goes to the Bar Harbor Chamber member that demonstrates a commitment to the environment through appropriate business practices or infrastructure.
The Jackson Laboratory integrates energy conservation and environmental protection throughout its operations, policies and construction projects. The Laboratory’s plans over the coming decade include additional construction and retrofit projects specifically associated with energy conservation, alternative energy, recycling, waste reduction and alternative transportation.
The Jackson Laboratory, founded as a cancer research center in 1929, is a nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.