Key points
- The European Commission announced the three winners of the 2026 European Sustainable Energy Awards in Brussels.
- Vienna’s “100 Projects Phasing Out Gas” initiative won the coveted Local Energy Action category.
- Codema Chief Executive Donna Gartland secured the top prize in the competitive Women in Energy division.
- Belgium’s RE-LEAF project won the newly introduced SMEs Driving Energy Efficiency category.
- The annual summit highlights grassroots clean tech blueprints supporting the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.
Main Story
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) have officially unveiled the winners of the 2026 European Sustainable Energy Awards.
Announced on Tuesday at the 20th edition of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) in Brussels, the awards celebrate individuals and structural projects driving the continent’s transition toward a decarbonized energy mix. Chosen through a highly competitive online public vote, this year’s laureates were selected across three critical thematic categories: Local Energy Action, Women in Energy, and SMEs Driving Energy Efficiency.
In the Local Energy Action track, the City of Vienna’s “100 Projects Phasing Out Gas” initiative emerged victorious. Orchestrated by Urban Innovation Vienna (UIV) alongside the city’s Energy Planning Department, the urban intervention has successfully replaced over a thousand legacy gas boilers with highly efficient renewable heating frameworks within the last two years.
The metropolitan blueprint provides a scalable roadmap for converting complex, multi-story residential blocks as the Austrian capital aggressively chases its 100 percent renewable energy target by 2040.
The Women in Energy award was presented to Donna Gartland, Chief Executive Officer of Codema, Dublin’s premier energy agency. Gartland was recognized for spearheading Ireland’s first large-scale district heating infrastructure, which recycles commercial waste heat from nearby data centers to heat municipal and residential buildings. Under her executive watch, Codema has also pioneered progressive labor policies, implementing a full-pay, four-day workweek and gender-neutral family leave that successfully elevated female representation to 58 percent within senior leadership roles.
Finally, the newly minted SMEs Driving Energy Efficiency category went to the RE-LEAF: Affordable Renovation project based in Limburg, Belgium. Funded via the EU’s LIFE program, the project partners social lenders with regional energy experts to bundle home energy efficiency audits directly into initial mortgage planning, helping everyday buyers slash household energy consumption by up to 60 percent.
The Issues
- Scaling technical learning models globally to accelerate the replacement of fossil-fuel boilers in aging, multi-family high-rises.
- Harmonizing commercial data center operations with public municipal grids to maximize waste heat reclamation across Northern Europe.
- Convincing traditional retail banking channels to mainstream blended mortgage-renovation underwriting tools for low-income homebuyers.
What’s Being Said
- Celebrating the systemic workplace reforms that accompanied her technical milestones, the Chief Executive Officer of Codema, Donna Gartland, noted: “We have fostered an inclusive workplace by implementing a four-day working week and gender-neutral family leave, resulting in a workforce where 53% of employees, and 58% of senior leadership, are women.”
- Explaining the underlying economic benefits of integrating climate tech checks into real estate finance, the RE-LEAF project coordinators shared: “Such renovations can reduce energy use by 40% to 60% while increasing property values by up to 15%.”
What’s Next
- Energy experts and public utility delegates will attend technical workshops as the EUSEW policy conference continues through June 11, 2026.
- Codema will draw down its secured LIFE Clean Energy Transition funds to expand the Dublin waste-heat pipeline network.
- The City of Vienna will release its updated legal and procedural training toolkits for multi-story residential retrofitting.
Bottom Line
By rewarding Vienna’s boiler phase-out system, Dublin’s data-center heat recycling framework, and Limburg’s green mortgage-renovation models, the 2026 EUSEW awards have highlighted the precise grass-roots financing and engineering innovations required to make Europe’s Clean Industrial Deal a reality.
