CHAMPAIGN — Cabot Corp. in Tuscola and the University of Illinois Retrocommissioning Group in Champaign have been named winners of the 2011 Governor's Sustainability Award.

They were among 19 first-time winners of the award presented by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at a luncheon last week.

Six other organizations received the Continuous Improvement Award, given to past winners that have continued environmental efforts.

The awards recognize organizations in Illinois that have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through outstanding and innovative practices.

Cabot, which makes fumed metal oxides at its Tuscola facility, was recognized for several projects, including:

— Recycling 76 tons of paper bags, plastic film, cardboard and office waste. Cabot figures it saved $28,000 by not having to dispose of the material.

— Upgrading two plant scrubbing systems into one recirculating system that saves an average of 18.5 gallons of water a minute. That amounts to savings of more than 9.7 million gallons a year.

— Packaging efficiency that eliminated the need for 51,280 cardboard pallets and 78,820 pounds of shrink wrap. That amounted to more than $762,000 in savings.

— Replacing inefficient lighting and installing energy-saving motion sensors in key areas of the plant, reducing electric usage by 840,000 kilowatt-hours annually.

The Retrocommissioning Group at the UI has worked to reduce energy consumption on campus by repairing and optimizing air and hydronic systems and restoring buildings to required operating standards.

The team has visited 27 buildings on campus and gotten average energy savings per building of 26 percent.

That led to cumulative savings of more than $9.7 million in total utility costs at the university.

Team projects included creating occupancy schedules for buildings, replacing or repairing equipment and installing new sensors and controls.