The Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Coalition will hold its 7th annual awards ceremony on Thursday, February 23 to honor development projects that demonstrate outstanding environmental stewardship.

Residential, commercial and public projects in Brunswick, Pender and New Hanover counties will be recognized for incorporating the protection, conservation, improvement and awareness of our natural resources into their work.

The event is open to the public; the price of attendance is $20 and registration begins at 8 a.m. The awards ceremony and luncheon will begin at noon.

This year there will be several educational sessions and workshops throughout the day in support of the coalition’s vision to keep the community well-informed on building strategies that are environmentally friendly. The workshops begin at 8:30 a.m. and will cover topics such as low-impact development, lifelong stewardship, the economics of sustainable development. By attending these sessions, engineers and architects will be able to earn continuing education credits.

Some of the workshop speakers include Chuck Perry, the North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance (NCEEA) program manager at Appalachian State University; Hunter Freeman, a project engineer in the water resources department in the Cary office of Withers and Ravenel and Thomas Hughes, a LEED certified architect from Raleigh.

The Cape Fear Green Building Alliance will host a special guest speaker from the Department of Energy, who will be introduced by U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre.

Previous award-winning facilities will be toured by the Congressman so he can view the impact of sustainable planning and development in the Cape Fear Region.

Previous Stewardship Award winners include James E.L. Wade Park for its work on watershed protection; New Hanover Regional Medical Center for its green roof installation on the Betty H. Cameron Women’s and Children’s Hospital; Blue Heron Ranch for its successful land preservation project and Midori on 29th for its numerous conservation strategies implemented in Wilmington’s Beaumont neighborhood.

Contractors, realtors and individuals interested in sustainable development are encouraged to attend the event at the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors located at 1826 Sir Tyler Drive in Wilmington. For more info and to register, visit http://www.stewardshipdev.com.