A City Committed to Environmental Progress

The City of Denver has supported innovative sustainable development strategies for many years, and Greenprint Denver is built on a strong foundation of past accomplishments. The initiative has also garnered recent accolades. Below are some of the ways the city’s efforts have been recognized:

• In June 2009, Mayor John Hickenlooper received the first place Mayors’ Climate Protection Award, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wal-Mart Stores, for the FasTracks initiative. The award recognizes Mayors for innovative practices designed to increase energy-efficiency and curb global warming.

• In May 2009, the City of Denver in partnership with the Neighborhood Energy Action Partnership (NEAP) received the top award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and Siemens Corp. for its comprehensive neighborhood outreach program. The 2nd annual Siemens Sustainable Community Award was given to Denver in the large community category.

• On March 2, 2007, Mayor John Hickenlooper and the Greenprint Denver team were awarded the 2006 President’s Award from the Board of Directors of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education.
• Denver was recognized in 2005 and 2006 by the national group SustainLane as one of the Top 10 Cities in the Nation for sustainable practices. The city received high marks for its land use planning, environmental systems at Denver International Airport, water quality, and other efforts.
• Denver received a Certificate of Achievement on April 12, 2006 from the Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado and Health Sciences Center for efforts to advance and integrate sustainability into city programs and policies.
• On September 21, 2005, Denver was honored with a Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR). Denver was recognized for reducing the amount of hazardous waste generated from its operations by 83 percent over the past seven years – nearly a 12 percent reduction each year.
• Denver received a Champion Award from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at the Annual Environmental Awards held on October 4, 2005 for pollution prevention (P2) activities.
• Denver ranked second for sustainable competitiveness in a study completed by The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.
• Denver has instituted the Environmental Champions award for employees who promote environmental protection and conservation strategies.
• In their July 2005 issue, Reader’s Digest ranked Denver 6th in their list of
  The 50 Cleanest (and Dirtiest) Cities in America. The magazine scored each of the 50 largest cities in the nation (and their surrounding counties and suburbs) on air quality, water quality, industrial pollution, Superfund sites and sanitation.
• Denver was honored as one of the Top Green Cities in the United States in 2006 by The Green Guide. The magazine scored cities on 11 criteria, including air quality, electricity use and production, environmental perspective, environmental policy, green design, green space, public health, recycling, socioeconomic factors, transportation, and water quality.