Partnerships between EPA and organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industrial trade association in the U.S., have signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) to work together to improve the energy efficiency of their sectors of the U.S. economy. NAM helps educate U.S. manufacturers that they CAN and SHOULD strategically manage energy in their operations. The savings make this a win-win message and contributes significantly to the total reduction of energy use in the U.S.
If you would like to partner with EPA to improve your energy efficiency, visit: www.energystar.gov/joinbuildings
Additional top achieving cities include:
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Chicago
- Denver
- Minneapolis-St Paul
- Atlanta
- Seattle
- Boston
- New York
- Austin
- Detroit
- milwaukee
- San Antonio
- Philadelphia
- Charlotte
- Portland
- Grand Rapids
- Sacramento
- Phoenix
- Miami
- Riverside, CA
- Madison
These top cities are those whose schools, hospitals, office buildings, courthouses, grocery stores, retail centers and auto assembly plants have earned the EPA's ENERGY STAR.
To label your building, go to www.energystar.gov/eslabel.
To label your industrial plant, go to www.energystar.gov/plants.
More than 6,200 top performing buildings earned the ENERGY STAR rating through 2008 for being energy all-stars. Total labeled floor space topped over 1 billion square feet for the first time, an increase of more than 55% over 2007.
Industrial Sector: 45 plants have also qualified for the ENERGY STAR since that recognition became available in 2006. They include
- 15 auto assembly plants,
- 19 cement plants,
- 3 wet corn milling plants, and
- 8 oil refineries.
Industrial Focuses provide an opportunity for companies within each single manufacturing industry to network with peers and share industry-specific energy management tools and resources.
The goal of each industrial focus is to:
- Improve energy efficiency of the industry
- Create momentum for continued improvement
- Provide energy guides to uncover energy efficiency opportunities
- Encourage sharing of ideas
- Develop an energy performance indicator to evaluate the energy efficiency of their plants relative to the typical efficiency levels of their industry and to recognize the high performers with the ENERGY STAR label.
Industries that participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focus programs include:
- Cement Manufacturing
- Corn Refining
- Food Processing
- Glass Manufacturing
- Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
- Petrochemical Manufacturing
- Petroleum Industry
- Pharmaceuticals
- Pulp & Paper
- Steel
to assess energy performance and to measure ongoing progress.
EPA's online tool Portfolio Manager enables building owners and managers to rate their individual commercial buildings on a scale of 1 to 100 against similar buildings, track energy performance over time, and target investments in energy efficiency.
States and local government agencies, professional associations, and vendors offer training, expertise, and networking opportunities to make benchmarking buildings easier for their constituents, and they are tapping into ENERGY STAR to accomplish this task.
This partnership has resulted in continued growth across the country, reflecting a 50% increase in rated floor space from over 7.5 billion square feet in 2007 to more than 11.5 billion square feet in 2008.
Regular Assessment Becoming SOP
About 60% of this space is being repeatedly rated for its energy use, which indicates that regular assessment is becoming a standard practice for many.
Benchmarking By Building Type
EPA's energy performance rating system is now available for 11 specific building space types that account for around 60% of the carbon emissions resulting from commercial buildings.
- Offices
- K-12 Schools
- Retail Stores
- Hospitals
- Hotels / Motels
- Supermarkets / Grocery Stores
- Banks / Financial Institutions
- Warehouses
- Medical Offices
- Courthouses
- Residence Halls / Dormitories
By building type, offices and schools experienced the largest increases in benchmarking in 2008. Offices close to doubled the number and floor space rated; rated schools increased by almost 80% with floor space almost doubling.
Use of EPA's energy performance rating system maintained solid growth.
And at the same time new organizations partnering with EPA as ENERGY STAR partners nearly tripled.
Recognition of organizations for improvement and top performance grew significantly and the number of facilities qualifying for the ENERGY STAR label surpassed 6,200.
For an update on this progress, please view the latest version of the "ENERGY STAR Snapshot: Measuring Progress in the C&I Sectors". The report also includes state-by-state activity and ratings data on the top Designated Market Areas in the U.S.
It provides a look at:
- Trends in the energy performance rating of commercial and institutional buildings
- State-by-state activity along with activity for the top 25 Designated Market Areas
- Industrial sector participation in ENERGY STAR
- Trends in ENERGY STAR certification for commercial and industrial facilities
Efficiency First is a nonprofit trade association that unites
- Home Performance contractors,
- residential energy consultants,
- building product manufacturers
- and other key members of America's growing green-collar workforce
Together they intend to escalate the fight against global warming. Efficiency First was founded in 2009 to represent its members in public policy discussions at the state and national levels, to promote the benefits of Home Performance retrofitting, and to help our industry grow to meet unprecedented demand for quality home retrofitting services.
Our mission is to collaborate with legislators, government agencies and professional organizations in the advancement of a performance-based market for energy efficiency that will enable rapid growth in our industry while maintaining profitability and quality of service.
"Our goal is to see a steady run rate of
10 million home retrofits per year by 2020."
According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, residential
buildings alone generate over 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions
from fossil fuel consumption in the United States.
Because the vast
majority of America's 128 million homes do not operate anywhere near
peak efficiency, large-scale retrofitting of existing residential
buildings will play a key role in achieving significant greenhouse gas
reductions, while lowering residential energy bills, improving indoor
air quality and thermal comfort, reducing our dependence on foreign
oil, and creating millions of new jobs for American workers.
The home retrofitting industry can achieve a 25% or greater decrease in non-renewable energy
consumption by America's housing sector, leading to a 5%
decrease in the country's overall carbon emissions - equivalent to
taking half of all current passenger cars off the road.
The industry will employ at least 1.25 million American workers directly, and with the inclusion of manufacturing and other supporting industries, will generate up 6 million new green-collar jobs.
Office equipment labeled ENERGY STAR often must be more efficient than nonlabeled equipment when in active operation as well as during periods of inactivity. In some cases, there are additional requirements.
| Equipment | ENERGY STAR specifications | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computers | Require improved efficiency over all operation modes due to use of highly efficient power supplies. Automatically enter a low-power sleep mode within 30 minutes of inactivity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copiers | Require improved efficiency when the product is in use. Also power down when not in use to a low energy consumption level. Depending on the speed, may be required to print double-sided pages, reducing both copying and paper costs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fax machines | Require improved efficiency when the product is in use. Automatically power down after 5 minutes of inactivity. Combination printer/fax machines consume half as much energy when idle as two stand-alone products. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laptops | Require improved efficiency over all operation modes due to use of highly efficient internal and external power supplies. If left inactive, enter a low-power mode and may use 15 watts or less. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monitors | Require improved efficiency when they are in active mode. Use 2 watts or less in sleep mode and 1 watt or less in off mode. Use up to 85 percent less electricity than standard models. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multifunction devices | Offer copying as well as printing, faxing, scanning, and/or other capabilities. Automatically power down after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity, depending on equipment speed. May require automated duplexing, depending on the speed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Printers | Require improved efficiency when the product is in use. Automatically power down after 5 to 60 minutes of inactivity, depending on equipment speed. May require automated duplexing, depending on the speed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scanners | Require improved efficiency when the product is in use. Automatically power down after 15 minutes when not in use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: EPA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commercial Signage: Commercial signage often operates 12 to 24 hours per day, consuming about 2% of the total electricity in the United States. Fluorescent signs currently account for about 48% of this market, with neon signs holding about 41%, and the remainder of the market dominated by incandescent products.
Institutional, Industrial and Commercial Lighting: LED products can have a significant impact on energy use in airport, ports and roadway lighting, where conventional fluorescent- and incandescent-lit signage is heavily used.
Retail Lighting: LEDs offer unprecedented flexibility in colors and configurations to lighting designers in creating displays and "moods" in retail settings.
Key resources pertaining to LED technology:- LED Lighting Systems, 2003 (47 pgs.), by John Bullough
- Information from ENERGY STAR about high efficiency exit signs and traffic signals
- Information from the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on LEDs in transportation applications and exit signs
- Specifications on LED traffic signals developed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
If all decorative light strings sold in America this year were ENERGY STAR qualified, we would save over 2 billion kWh per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 300,000 cars!
ENERGY STAR qualified decorative light strings -- many which feature LED technology -- consume 75% less energy than conventional incandescent lights strands.

ENERGY STAR Qualified Decorative Light Strings:
- Can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent strands.
- Are cool to the touch, reducing the risk of fire.
- Do not have moving parts, filaments or glass, so they are much more durable and shock-resistant than other light strings.
- Are available in a variety of colors, shapes and lengths.
- Come with a three-year warranty, meaning fewer light string replacements.
- Are independently tested to meet strict lifetime and electrical requirements.
- Products labeled for outdoor use are subjected to weathering tests.
- Some models deliver features such as dimming or color shifting.
