PHOENIX (July 19, 2022) – The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), the state’s cabinet-level environmental agency that administers environmental laws and programs, today announced that its innovative Air Quality Telework Emissions Calculator Tool received a Top Product of the Year Award in the elite Environment + Energy Leader Awards 2022 program. The win is an indication that ADEQ’s emissions calculator is a top example of the exemplary work being done today in the field of environmental management.

ADEQ developed the Telework Emissions Calculator Tool for Valley Metro as one of several upgrades to ShareTheRide.com, which provides information about local commuting options. The new platform helps participants organize and evaluate options, check traffic, select transit routes, participate in challenges and rewards commuters in the process. The dashboard locates carpool, vanpool, bus, light rail, bike or walk options. Participants can log trips, enter contests and earn badges and prizes.

“The Telework Emissions Calculator Tool, along with these updates, educate the public and demonstrate the benefits of organizational teleworking to improve regional air quality for all Arizonans,” said ADEQ Air Quality Division Director Daniel Czecholinski. “One of the outstanding features of the Telework Emissions Calculator is that it gives employers information on how telework can reduce regionally specific pollutants, by allowing managers to estimate emissions savings for CO₂, VOCs, NOx and PM_2.5 annually.”

The user-friendly calculator is one-of-a-kind with no known competitors in the region and a unique addition to the platform, allowing employers to measure air quality improvements from a variety of telework, in-office and hybrid schedules.

One judge said of ADEQ’s new tool, "The environmental calculator seems to be a useful tool and easy to use and the upgrades to the website were probably helpful in allowing visitors to navigate and access the tool."

Another added, “I love the idea of gamification – and the tie in with real time traffic and any incidents that might interact with a trip. Also given the market – the Spanish feature is a nice touch.”

Explore the free Telework Emissions Reduction Calculator | View >

The Environment + Energy Leader Awards is a program recognizing excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits, and in projects implemented by companies that improved environmental or energy management and increased the bottom line.

“With a very experienced and critical judging panel and a strict set of judging criteria, entrants faced an extremely high bar to qualify for an award in 2022,” says Sarah Roberts, Environment+Energy Leader publisher.

About the Environment + Energy Leader Awards

For the past decade, the Environment + Energy Leader Awards have celebrated excellence in the world of environmental, sustainability and energy management. Award winners are truly buzz-worthy, and companies that sport a Top Project or Top Product of the Year Award badge are known to be the best of the best. When other companies are seeking a sustainability or energy management solution, they know that E+E Product of the Year Award winners offer a significant group of products, vetted by experts, to peruse for help in making their decisions. Project of the Year Award winners are known to illustrate how sustainability and energy management projects can successfully help other companies improve the bottom line.

Contact

ADEQ Public Information Officer
602-540-8072 | Email >