(Source: Business Wire)
Puget Sound Energy announced today that Mark Lenssen, P.E., C.E.M., was named one of the "New Faces of Engineering 2009" by the National Engineers Week Foundation during their launch of Engineers Week, which takes place Feb. 15-21, 2009. Nominated by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), Lenssen beat out 19 other international candidates for an award that is one of the top honors available to engineers 30-years-old and younger.
A Seattle native, Lenssen, 30, joined PSE in August 2005, as an engineer-in-training. After a promotion to energy management engineer, Lenssen now helps commercial and industrial facilities become more environmentally sustainable through energy efficiency.
"I find my work very gratifying because PSE's conservation programs are helping our customers improve their business operations and bottom line," said Lenssen. "Saving energy is good for both PSE's and the customers' businesses, and it's good for the environment and our community. I'm honored to be recognized by ASHRAE, and I know that my work draws from a great team here at PSE."
Lenssen works with PSE commercial and industrial customers--as well as local and national contractors--to analyze energy efficiency projects in order to determine the level of PSE incentives individual business customers are eligible to receive. He also performs energy audits of customer facilities to identify systems and equipment that can be cost-effectively upgraded to be more energy efficient. Through his work at PSE, Lenssen has improved energy efficiency in more than 100 projects, saving more than 7.5 million kilowatt hours per year, or enough to power more than 600 homes in Western Washington for a year.
"Mark Lenssen is one of the engineering profession's next generation of leaders," said Cal Shirley, vice president of Energy Efficiency Services for PSE. "His work with energy conservation, and the work of his peer engineers at Puget Sound Energy and elsewhere, is essential to showing businesses how to adapt to the new ways we will all need to use energy in the future."
Bill Harrison, president of ASHRAE, noted "ASHRAE's intent in nominating engineers is to showcase the exciting new talents that epitomize the dynamic innovations and advancements in engineering.
