ENERGY STAR News:
Business and Industry Edition

Spring 2009

Choose an article

• Celebrate Earth Day Every Day
• Did Your Hometown Make EPA's List of the Top 25 Cities with the Most ENERGY STAR Qualified Buildings?
• New ENERGY STAR Quarterly Communications Webinar Series Begins June 3
• Use ENERGY STAR Tools to Identify Opportunities and Report Results for Stimulus Funding
• First Pharmaceutical Plants Earn the ENERGY STAR
• Manage your Corporate-Wide Greenhouse Gas Emissions with EPA's New CLIMB Tool
• EPA Announces Partnership Changes for Service and Product Providers

Celebrate Earth Day Every Day

EPA has some great new resources to help you celebrate Earth Day this year — and every day, in fact. Check out our new interactive quiz, "Test Your Energy IQ," and create a friendly competition among your colleagues. Earth Day is also a great opportunity to organize a "Green Team" that will help your organization save energy and reduce waste. Get a head start with our new step-by-step Green Team Checklist (21KB). Finally, on Earth Day, turn your dial to the ENERGY STAR Web site and tune in to our latest video podcast, starring best-selling author and green guru Danny Seo! This 4-minute video will take viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of an ENERGY STAR qualified building and teach them what makes it energy efficient — from a cubicle to the boiler room, and everything in between! Tune in on Earth Day to watch the video.

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Did Your Hometown Make EPA's List of the Top 25 Cities with the Most ENERGY STAR Qualified Buildings?

In March, EPA released a ranking of the top U.S. cities according to the number of buildings and plants that earned the ENERGY STAR in 2008. Topping the list with 262 buildings was Los Angeles, followed by San Francisco, Houston, and Washington, D.C. More than 3,300 buildings earned the ENERGY STAR in 2008 — a 130 percent increase over 2007! Together, these buildings and plants saved more than $1 billion in utility bills and avoided more than 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Other top finishers were Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta, and Seattle. See the entire top 25 list and read profiles of 2008 qualified buildings at www.energystar.gov/buildinglist.

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New ENERGY STAR Quarterly Communications Webinar Series Begins June 3

It's okay to brag a little. And if you're telling the world about your great energy savings, we've got the tools and resources to help you brag a LOT. Join us for our new Communications Webinar Series and learn about:

• The five key things you need to know about ENERGY STAR.
• The five most popular ways to highlight a partnership with ENERGY STAR.
• Interactive and fun ways to learn about energy: videos, quizzes, checklists, Webinars, fact sheets, and more.
• Free publications to help you spread the word.
• EPA awards and how your organization can apply...and win.
• Great ideas for getting management, employees, and your community to follow your lead and start saving energy!

This free Webinar will be hosted quarterly and is open to communications, marketing, and public affairs staff, as well as anyone else at your organization who wants to learn the best strategies for promoting your good work! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, June 3, at 1:00 p.m. EST and stay tuned for registration information.

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Use ENERGY STAR Tools to Identify Opportunities and Report Results for Stimulus Funding

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 makes funds available to the public sector that can be used to upgrade and improve the energy performance of existing public buildings. It also leaves open the possibility of additional funding for the private sector through state grants and other programs. Energy efficiency, a critical component of the funding, creates jobs, saves energy and money, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. EPA provides a 3-step process for identifying shovel-ready projects and meeting the reporting requirements of ARRA with its online Portfolio Manager tool. Portfolio Manager enables organizations to 1) identify energy efficiency projects based on baseline energy use, 2) track monthly progress and measure the impact of energy efficiency projects, and 3) document energy savings and emissions reductions clearly and concisely with a Statement of Energy Performance.

Several states and local governments have already taken steps to save energy and money using Portfolio Manager and now will have the opportunity to build on these efforts with the passage of ARRA in 2009. Montgomery County, MD, is planning to use the resources made available through ARRA to jumpstart comprehensive upgrades to its facilities and reinvest savings to fund additional projects — creating long-term energy opportunities. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is reaching out to small businesses by using ENERGY STAR resources in the design and administration of its Small Business Energy Efficiency Grant Program. The program makes funds available to for-profit small businesses that are completing eligible energy efficiency improvements, including lighting, heating and cooling systems, process machinery, and building insulation projects.

Visit the ENERGY STAR Web site to view the Webcast featuring these organizations and others, "Make the Most of Your Energy Efficiency Stimulus Funding-Plan, Monitor, and Report Results with ENERGY STAR Tools," or visit www.energystar.gov/benchmark to get started using Portfolio Manager today.

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First Pharmaceutical Plants Earn the ENERGY STAR

Four pharmaceutical manufacturing plants have become the first in the nation to earn the ENERGY STAR for superior energy performance. These facilities include:

• Allergan's Waco, TX, plant;
• AstraZeneca's Newark, DE, plant;
• AstraZeneca's Westborough, MA, plant; and
• Schering-Plough Healthcare Product's Cleveland, TN, plant.

These manufacturing sites qualified for the ENERGY STAR by rating in the top 25 percent of energy performance using EPA's ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. This ENERGY STAR EPI provides companies with a tool to compare the energy performance of their pharmaceutical plants with other plants in their industry nationwide, which is critical for establishing informed goals and pursuing opportunities.

The pharmaceutical sector spends more than $800 million on energy annually. By becoming more energy efficient, pharmaceutical plants can reduce production costs, while maintaining high product quality and fighting global warming. To learn more about ENERGY STAR and energy efficiency in pharmaceutical manufacturing, visit the Pharmaceutical Focus Web page.

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Manage your Corporate-Wide Greenhouse Gas Emissions with EPA's New CLIMB Tool

This summer, EPA's Climate Leaders program will launch CLIMB (Climate Leaders Inventory Management for Business), a new software tool that will help companies streamline the process of collecting and reporting their greenhouse gas emissions data. The tool will replace the program's spreadsheet calculator, and similar to the calculator, companies will be able to download it from the Climate Leaders Web site free of charge.

Special features of the tool will enable companies to:

• Import building electricity usage data from EPA's Portfolio Manager.
• Enter and evaluate different goal reduction scenarios.
• Create different personalized greenhouse gas emission reports.
• Create a Climate Leaders inventory management plan (IMP).
• Enter green power and offset data.

Climate Leaders is an ENERGY STAR sister program that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Climate Leaders' inventory management and goal setting tools have been road-tested by more than 250 companies across a broad range of industry sectors including cement, forest products, pharmaceuticals, utilities, information technology, small manufacturing, and retail.

Climate Leaders offers Webinars that introduce new partners to the program and present tools and climate change-related information that may affect your organization. Register online at the Climate Leaders Web site.

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EPA Announces Partnership Changes for Service and Product Providers

Thousands of organizations have joined ENERGY STAR and have committed to adopting a comprehensive energy management strategy to improve the efficiency of their facilities. These organizations often turn to experts for help with assessing the energy performance of their buildings, implementing upgrades, measuring results, and recognizing and communicating accomplishments. To make it easier for building owners and managers to find experts with a proven track record of success, EPA is making important changes to its Service and Product Provider (SPP) directories.

As of June 1, 2009, the SPP directories will list only those companies that are the "most active" in delivering results to their clients. These enhanced listings will help meet the needs of building owners and managers in finding companies that have demonstrated experience and success with the ENERGY STAR program.

• Most Active Service and Product Providers — Recognizes SPPs experienced in using EPA's Portfolio Manager and earning the ENERGY STAR for existing commercial buildings.
• Energy-Efficient Design Projects — Highlights architecture and engineering firms creating designs that have achieved Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.
• Industrial Service and Product Providers — Features industrial SPPs whose value has been identified through their work with an ENERGY STAR Industrial partner.

Beginning June 1, 2009, any SPP interested in joining ENERGY STAR as a partner will be required to demonstrate active use of the ENERGY STAR program's approach to helping clients achieve their energy management goals. EPA will post updated partnership requirements, new partnership forms, and revised application procedures on the SPP Web site on June 1, 2009.

To remain connected to the ENERGY STAR network of energy users, SPPs that are currently ENERGY STAR partners must meet these new requirements by January 1, 2010. Current partners who are not able to meet the requirements will no longer be considered ENERGY STAR partners, and will be invited to submit a new application for partnership when the requirements have been met.

To learn more, visit www.energystar.gov for SPP guidance and training opportunities or contact spp@energystar.gov for additional information.

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