Recognition overdue: EUN award recognizes energy managers everywhere.(Opinions And Commentary From The Editor)

Now that Mark Barich, SUMMA Health Systems has been named Energy, User News Energy Manager of the Year, what will he say? Almost certainly, he will credit others for their role in the energy management projects that helped him gain the industry's highest award for energy management. Just as certainly he will admit that he is being recognized merely for doing his job, just as previous recipients have.

Sports fans and moviegoers alike are familiar with the trite phrases that winners utter when being presented with their industry's highest awards. "This is really recognition for the team," says the star shortstop on earning a Most Valuable Player award. "I'd like to thank my mom, my hairdresser, my agent, and J.R.R. Tolkien," says this year's ingenue to the Academy. "I couldn't be prouder of my guys," says the National Football League's Coach of the Year. The routine contract holdouts in sports and the outrageous contract demands made by Hollywood divas belie the false modesty of the stars on awards nights.

So what is different about the Energy Manager of the Year award--and indeed all awards for success in energy management? Well, for one thing: the need for team is paramount and not a route to merely personal achievement. For another, cover age of award-winning projects provides a way to duplicate successful techniques.

For all his accomplishments in baseball and his awards, no one will ever hit like Barry Bonds, but energy managers can duplicate the feats of Mark Barich and his team at SUMMA. Last, society benefits from examples like Mark Barich. The imaginative and bold use of energy-savings raises the bar for energy management projects next year and benefits everyone--not just SUMMA ...