TORONTO, ON - April 22, 2015 /CNW/ - As we all celebrate Earth Day, Scotiabank is proud to announce the nine finalists for the 2015 Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards, who are each doing their part to create a more ecofriendly future.

The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards recognizes Canadian businesses, entrepreneurs and students for excellence in the development of home energy efficiency products, services and solutions.

"This Earth Day, we are excited to announce the nine finalists for the 2015 Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards," said Terri Williams, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Scotiabank. "Scotiabank is proud to recognize and support talented Canadian entrepreneurs who are helping lead our country towards a more environmentally sustainable future. We want to wish the best of luck to all of this year's finalists."

The winners will be announced at a gala reception hosted by Arlene Dickinson on June 3, 2015, at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

The finalists were selected by this year's judges: Valérie Bécaert, Executive Director of the CIRAIG (Centre of expertise in life cycle issues based at Polytechnique Montréal), John Godden, Principal of Clearsphere, Ed Johnston, Canadian Tire Vice-President of Enterprise Sustainability, Shawn McCarthy, Global Energy reporter at The Globe and Mail and John Roberts, Scotiabank Vice President of Small Business.

The finalists are:

Category: Scotiabank EcoLiving Business Leadership Award ($50,000)

• Krumpers Solar Solutions Inc. - Diana Livshits, Ottawa, ON: Krumpers Solar Blinds, which are made in Canada for the Canadian climate, are climate control blinds which regulate the temperature of homes year round to save on heating and cooling.
• Nanoleaf - Gimmy Chu, Toronto, ON: The Nanoleaf Bloom is an innovative LED bulb that is dimmable without a dimmer switch. It is the world's most energy efficient bulb lasting over 27 years.
• Passive House E-Design - Natalie Leonard, Halifax, NS: Passive House E-Design has developed innovative solutions and services to apply the Passive House principles in simple, reliable, cost effective and durable designs and construction methods. They offer design, energy modelling and consulting and construction management services.

Category: Scotiabank EcoLiving Innovation Award ($15,000)

• Firefly Power Inc. - Janet and Peter Janiuk, Toronto, ON: FireflyPower offers homeowners efficient, lightweight and affordable carbon fiber wind turbines, which reduce their electricity costs. The homeowner can become a clean electricity producer with projected savings of more than 15% of their annual home electricity costs.
• Rainforest Automation - Chris Tumpach, Vancouver, BC: Rainforest Automation is a leading manufacturer of energy feedback display devices that connect directly to the Smart Meter for customer insight and savings.
• Sedum Master Inc. - Lori Davey, Princeton, ON: Sedum Master Inc., a pioneer in the green roof industry, has been growing green roof vegetation for the last nine years. The product filters air pollutants and pollutants out of rain water, reduces flow of storm water run-off and cuts the costs of heating and cooling.

Category: Scotiabank EcoLiving Student Leadership Award ($10,000)

• Das Haus - Hamid Khademi Anaraki, Steven Biersteker, Melissa Furukawa, Matthew Gelowitz, Victor Huynh, Tim Melnichuk, Anna Pavia, Kevin Pu, Ching Chi Suen and Mark Turcato, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON: Designed as a flexible building, adaptable to different urban sites, the Corner House proposes a new building typology for underutilized corner lots within the city.
• ElecTrikle - Aftab Ahmad, Nic Durish, Ryan Haque and Jimmy Luong, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON: ElecTrickle is the link between consumers and energy providers, helping minimize electricity usage through motivation and feedback. The system synchronizes with homes via a Wi-Fi enabled smart meter. It helps divide monthly billing periods into smaller sections and allows users to set their own budgets.
• Flywheel Energy Storage System - Wesley Romak, Melissa Love, Thomas Marshall and Cody Carey, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON: Flywheel energy storage (FES) system is an energy storage system for residential homeowners that can be directly integrated with the grid. The system stores energy during low peak hours and converts it back to electricity during high peak hours.

Scotiabank is proud to feature information about each finalist on its newly redesigned Scotiabank EcoLiving website.

The website has been refreshed with new educational content featuring advice, tips and tools for Canadians interested in making their homes more ecofriendly.

From helpful how-to articles to the Scotiabank EcoLiving Savings Calculator, which helps Canadians find out how much they could save by upgrading their home with ecofriendly technology, the website is a great source of information for those who want to become more environmentally aware.

To learn more, visit www.ecoliving.scotiabank.com. 

About Scotiabank:
Through our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has contributed on average $50 million annually over the last five years to community causes around the world. The Scotiabank EcoLiving Awards, website and Savings Calculator are examples of how Scotiabank supports environmental sustainability and advancing the environmental health of communities across Canada. 

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and parts of Asia. We are dedicated to helping our 21 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking. With a team of more than 86,000 employees and assets of $852 billion (as at January 31, 2015) Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS).Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankNews.