ENERGY STAR Partner Update

EPA Posts Midpoint Standings in 2012 ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings

At the half-way point of the 2012 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings, EPA held a midpoint weigh-in of all 3,200 competitors. The results? In the first six months of the competition, participants are posting big savings. Now entering the final stretch of the competition, building teams are pulling out all the stops to save event more energy and money, and protect the environment.

COOL FACTS: In the first six months of the competition alone, teams representing more than 3,200 buildings around the country have saved more than $37 million on utility bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by more than 16,000 homes annually. Leading the pack with a 47 percent reduction is 80-year-old Demarest Elementary School of Bloomfield Public School District in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Competitors are measuring and tracking their building's monthly energy consumption using EPA's ENERGY STAR online energy tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. The building with the largest percentage reduction in energy use—adjusted for weather and the size of the building—will be recognized as the winner in 2013.

WHO WORKED OFF THE MOST WASTE? The buildings with the greatest reductions as of the midpoint of the competition are:

The teams in the 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition represent more than 30 different types of commercial buildings — such as retail stores, schools, hotels, and museums — and hail from all 50 states, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. The competitors range from a Kmart store on the island of St. Thomas, to a crime lab in Phoenix, to a tiny Federal office building in Nome, Alaska.

This year, for the first time, EPA is offering competitors an option to also compete to reduce their water use. Competitors are tracking their water consumption in Portfolio Manager and are receiving water efficiency tips from EPA’s WaterSense program.

JOIN US: Visit our page devoted to the competition: energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings, which features a list of the competitors and their “weigh-in” results, a live Twitter feed where competitors post updates on their progress, and a user-generated photo stream where competitors upload pictures of their energy-saving efforts.

COOL FACTS: According to EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and energy use at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30% of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. 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 our atmosphere each year.

To see how the competitors in your area are doing and learn more about the competition, visit www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings