More than 100,000 votes in the online voting

More than 250 projects applied for this year's GreenTec Awards, one third of which with an international background. Now, the three nominees have been chosen by the jury's pre-selection as well as a public online voting, with a record-breaking result based on more than 100.000 registered votes. Among the selected TOP 3 candidates are very diverse projects, not only well-known international brands such as BMW or G-Star but also prestigious universities and institutes like Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research or the University Koblenz-Landau. Moreover, companies from the energy industry like RWE or Naturstrom, as well as start-ups like The Ocean Cleanup from the Netherlands are among the candidates for this year's GreenTec Awards.

Berlin, March 4, 2015 – Sustainable coffee consumption, dead seaweed that insulates houses, or solar lights for 1.2 billion people without electricity – 2015's projects are once again proving that green technologies can protect the environment in different ways. It was therefore yet again challenging for the jury to choose the winner out of the three nominees in every one of the thirteen categories. Moreover, the big public online voting, which was open for everyone worldwide, turned out to be a very exciting head-to-head race.

On February 25, the jury meeting took place at Microsoft in Berlin. Closed to the public, the jury elected the winners by vote. Among the 60 jury members are association and corporate representatives like Axel Gedaschko (President GdW – Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen), Marco Vollmar (Member of the Executive Board WWF Germany), or Norbert Fiebig (President DRV Deutscher Reiseverband), entrepreneurs and CEOs, like Dr. Heike Schiffler (Cluster Leader Environment Europe & Central Asia Tetra Pak GmbH & Co KG), Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff (Executive Partner FAUN Umwelttechnik), scientists like Prof. Dr.-Ing Martin Faulstich (Chairman German Advisory Council on the Environment), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johann-Dietrich Wörner (Head of Board, DLR – German Aerospace Center), or Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Reinhard F. Hüttl (President German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech), media representatives like Stefan Vaupel (Vice President Factual ProSieben), and Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel (Chief Editor WirtschaftsWoche), as well as celebrities like topmodel Franziska Knuppe and presenter Nina Eichinger. The final results of this year's laureates will remain secret until the glamorous award ceremony on May 29 at Tempodron in Berlin.

GreenTec Awards' jury spokesperson Dr. Heike Schiffler is very happy with this year's jury meeting: "The jury was very enthusiastic about all applicants. It is striking that the quality of the projects has improved steadily over the years and that the jury has become more critical. However, this year yet again we eventually found a number of projects that absolutely convinced us."

Prof. Dr. Eicke Weber, (Director Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE) is pleased about the internationalization of the contest: "By opening the competition for international projects we see to actually getting the very best ideas. This is remarkably enlarging our wide range."

Marco Voigt, one of the initiators of the GreenTec Awards, adds: "The Microsoft Germany headquarters in the heart of Berlin proved to be the perfect host: central, modern and technically qualified."

The GreenTec Awards offer a positive summary so far: The internationalization of the contest is improving. About one third of all applications, more than twice as many compared to last year's entries, originate form foreign countries. Apart from European countries like Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and Poland, there have been applications from Israel, South Africa, China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Chile, and the United States. Remarkable was also the participation in the online voting from November 6, 2014, until January 11, 2015, which has improved and reached more than 100,000 registered votes.

About the GreenTec Awards:
Europe's largest environmental and business prize will be awarded for the eighth time on May 29, 2015. This year yet again the traditional Green Carpet will be rolled out for 1,000 invited guests at Tempodrom in Berlin. The welcoming speech will be held once again by Peter Altmaier, Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks. Guests on stage will include Christine Neubauer (actress), Désirée Nosbusch (actress, presenter), Aiman Abdallah (presenter, ProSieben), Franziska Knuppe (model), Christopher von Deylen (Schiller), and Clark Datchler (Johnny Hates Jazz). The GreenTec Awards are organized to support environmental and economic involvement as well as fascination for technologies. The initiators and organizers Marco Voigt and Sven Krüger enthusiastically support this cause. More than 100 partners, over 60 ambassadors, and 30 exhibitors support this extraordinary event.