BOSTON – May 6, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — More than 5,500 individual buildings across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico competed in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s fifth-annual ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings Competition: Team Challenge. Together, the competitors saved more than $50 million in utility bills, cut their energy use by more than two billion kBtus, and prevented more than 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions—equal to the annual energy use of more than 37,000 homes. Competitors reduced their energy use an average of six percent, equivalent to an average savings of nearly $20,000 per building.
“EPA’s ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings Competition brings together building owners to find important solutions to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change, save energy, and significantly reduce energy costs in the places where we work, play, and learn,” said EPA Region 1 Administrator Curt Spalding. “It’s great to see the collaboration and hard work the competition inspires to accomplish energy efficiency measures that will continue to benefit these communities for years to come.”
In support of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for buildings to cut waste and become at least 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020, the competition targeted wasted energy in buildings and motivated building owners and occupants to improve energy efficiency, reduce harmful carbon pollution, and save money.
This year’s theme, “Team Challenge,” featured teams of five or more buildings who worked together to reduce their collective energy use as much as possible over the course of a year.
New England buildings were included in several of the top teams including Remotti’s Ropers, a team of Sears Holdings Corp. buildings that had a several New England competitors including buildings in New Hampshire and Connecticut, and achieved a 17.3% reduction in energy use.
Other New England competition winners included:
Connecticut: 67 buildings entered the contest. The building that saved the largest percentage of energy use was the TIAA CREF office in Wilton, reducing energy use by 15.3%, saving $1,242.00 per year. The building that saved the most in energy costs in Connecticut is the US Government Services Administration Office in Hartford, which reduced saved $50,711.00 by reducing energy use by 7.7% per year.
Massachusetts: 42 buildings entered the contest. The building with the greatest reduction in energy use was the Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI) building housing Mercury Computer Systems in Chelmsford, reducing energy use by 21.1% and saving $108,692.00 per year. The building that saved the most on energy costs is the TIAA CREF office at 501 Boylston St, Boston, saving $241,858.00 annually by reducing energy use by 19.1%.
Maine: 18 buildings entered the contest. The winner who will be saving the most energy and the most in energy costs was the US Government Services Administration building in Calais, saving 22.9% and over $95,000.00 per year.
New Hampshire: 6 buildings entered the contest. The building saving the most energy and money in energy costs was the Sears Holding Corp. building in Concord, reducing energy use by 24.4% and saving $21,726.00 annually.
Rhode Island: 4 buildings entered the contest. The building reducing energy use the most is the Whole Foods retail store in Providence, reducing energy use by 10.5 % and saving $30,043.00 per year. The building saving the most in energy costs per year is Whole Foods in Cranston, saving $43,093.00 per year by reducing energy use by 9.7%.
Vermont: 17 buildings entered the contest. The building that reduced energy use and is saving the most in energy costs per year is the US Government Services Building in Richford, saving 15.8 % and $83,011.00 annually.
Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s ENERGY STAR program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.
The ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings: Team Competition measured energy performance for the entire 2014 calendar year. Competitors tracked their buildings’ monthly energy consumption using EPA’s online energy tracking tool, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. At the competition’s conclusion, an independently licensed professional engineer or registered architect verified the energy use reductions for each top finisher.
ENERGY STAR is the simple choice for energy efficiency. For more than 20 years, people across America have looked to EPA’s ENERGY STAR program for guidance on how to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Behind each blue label is a product, building, or home that is independently certified to use less energy and cause fewer of the emissions that contribute to climate change. Today, ENERGY STAR is the most widely recognized symbol for energy efficiency in the world, helping families and businesses save $300 billion on utility bills, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by two billion metric tons since 1992. Join the millions who are already making a difference at energystar.gov.
More information on the ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, including top overall finishers and top finishers by building category, an interactive map of competitors, and a wrap-up report:http://www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017
