Client Freedom Solar wins Greater Austin Business Award
Our client Freedom Solar Power has received the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Greater Austin Business Award for Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability in the medium-sized business category.
The award recognizes companies that demonstrate environmental responsibility and sustainability, and also give back to the community.
Freedom Solar Power is Texas’ leading turnkey solar design and installation company, providing reliable, cost effective solar solutions for residential and commercial markets.
“We want to thank our outstanding team members, community partners, and all of the other businesses that were recognized by the Chamber. Together, we’re building a better Austin,” says Kyle Frazier, Freedom Solar Power’s director of sales.
Last year, Freedom Solar donated solar installation on four residences in the Blackland affordable housing neighborhood in partnership with GRID Alternatives, and also donated a solar installation project to Sustainable Food Center to reduce the organization’s electricity costs and help it better achieve its mission of strengthening the local food system.
Freedom Solar is currently working on a pro-bono solar project for the Community First Village in East Austin, the master-planned community that will provide affordable, sustainable housing, and a supportive community for chronically homeless people in Central Texas.
Bret Biggart, managing director, says: “As a company that has benefited from Austin’s dynamic business environment, we’re committed to giving back to the community that has made us so successful. We’re proud to partner with a number of nonprofits to make clean energy a reality for underserved parts of Central Texas’ population, and we’re honored to be recognized for that.”
Freedom Solar created a unique financial leasing option for nonprofits that allows them to go solar with no money down, one of the many factors that contributed to their recognition by the Chamber.
The Thinkery, formerly Austin Children’s Museum, utilized Freedom Solar’s nonprofit financing to install a 47-kilowatt solar project that helped them attain Silver LEED certification with no out of pocket costs. Huston-Tillotson University is the most recent organization to take advantage of the innovative nonprofit financing.
“We care about Texas, and we believe in practicing what we preach,” says Frazier. Freedom Solar provides its employees with a substantial discount for installing solar projects on their homes, and has started purchasing renewable energy credits to offset its carbon footprint. Freedom Solar plans to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2017, Frazier says.
Nearly 500 small, medium, and large companies were nominated in nine different categories for the Chamber’s Business Awards. The 26 winners were selected by an independent panel of judges. The awards were given last week at the Hyatt Regency Austin, and more than 1,000 people attended.
For more information, visit http://www.freedomsolarpower.com/.
