WINDPOWER 2012 Conference & Exhibition in Atlanta, June 3-6

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, May 9, 2012 -- The American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER 2012 Conference & Exhibition in Atlanta, June 3-6, will be the first North American event ever to earn WindMade's designation as 100 percent powered by wind energy.

"Wind power already provides approximately 20 percent of electricity in places like Iowa and South Dakota—and now, thanks to WindMade, WINDPOWER 2012 will be 100 percent wind powered," said Denise Bode, AWEA's CEO. "The WindMade label is an important development for our industry, and highlighting it at WINDPOWER is one way to show how the clean, affordable energy source that our industry produces is generating both electricity and jobs today for America."

For an event to garner the WindMade label, it needs to procure 100 percent of its electricity footprint from wind power. The electricity associated with WINDPOWER 2012 and powered by wind includes the event preparations at the AWEA offices, the power usage at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, and electricity used at the social events, including conference receptions and dinners.

"We are delighted to see AWEA use the WindMade label for their flagship event," said Henrik Kuffner, WindMade's CEO. "Procuring wind power for a convention as large as WINDPOWER 2012 will make a real difference to its overall environmental impact, and WindMade is proud to provide a tool to communicate this commitment in a meaningful way to the visitors."

In order to cover 100 percent of the electricity used for WINDPOWER 2012, AWEA has committed to procuring an equivalent amount of Green-E labelled Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). This commitment is compliant with the requirements set out in WindMade's ‘Events Standard.'

The Events Standard was developed following strong demand from conference organisers wishing to differentiate their events by showing their commitment to wind power. Under the WindMade Technical Standard, any kind of event could be labelled – from a theatre production to a trade fair, from a big sports event to a small conference.

For more information on the WindMade initiative or the Events Label, see www.windmade.org or contact info@windmade.org. Members of the press can register for WINDPOWER 2012 Conference and Exhibition by contacting mediapass@awea.org

AWEA is the national trade association of America's wind industry, with more than 2,500 member companies, including global leaders in wind power and energy development, wind turbine manufacturing, component and service suppliers, and the world's largest wind power trade show, the WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition, which takes place next in Atlanta, June 2-6, 2012. AWEA is the voice of wind energy in the U.S., promoting renewable energy to power a cleaner, stronger America. Look up information on wind energy at the AWEA website. Find insight on industry issues at AWEA's blog Into the Wind. Join AWEA on Facebook. Follow AWEA on Twitter.