Recently in Energy Star for Manufacturers Category

Ten major industries participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focuses to pool ideas and work toward energy efficiency improvements.

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

Energy use in commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounts for nearly half of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50 percent of energy consumption nationwide.

For more than a decade, EPA has worked with businesses and organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through strategic energy management practices. Today, there are Energy Star qualified facilities in every state across the country.

Energy Star Rated Buildings

To qualify for the Energy Star, a building or manufacturing plant must score in the top 25 percent using EPA's National Energy Performance Rating System.

Nearly 4,100 buildings and manufacturing plants have earned the EPA's Energy Star through the end of 2007, with the addition of more than 1,400 in 2007 alone. They include about 1,500 office buildings, 1,300 supermarkets, 820 K-12 schools and 250 hotels. Also, more than 185 banks, financial centers, hospitals, courthouses, warehouses, dormitories, and - for the first time - big-box retail buildings earned the Energy Star. More than 35 manufacturing plants such as cement, auto assembly, corn refining, and - for the first time - petroleum refining are also being recognized.

These award-winning commercial buildings and manufacturing plants have saved nearly $1.5 billion annually in lower energy bills and prevented carbon dioxide emissions equal to the emissions associated with electricity use of more than 1.5 million American homes for a year, relative to typical buildings.

Commercial buildings that have earned the Energy Star use nearly 40% less energy than average buildings and emit 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, offering a significantly smaller carbon footprint.

About 500 Energy Star buildings use 50% less energy than average buildings.

Many of these buildings excel due to good energy management practices such as routine energy efficiency benchmarking.

Since the ENERGY STAR for commercial buildings was first introduced in 1999, thousands of buildings across the country have earned the ENERGY STAR and are saving billions in energy costs. The first class of manufacturing plants to earn the ENERGY STAR was announced in 2006 and added another valuable tool for sustaining momentum in a corporate energy program.

Scoring Energy Star Performance

The energy performance of commercial and industrial facilities is scored on a 1-100 scale and those facilities that achieve a score of 75 or higher are eligible for the ENERGY STAR, indicating that they are among the top 25% of facilities in the country for energy performance.

Commercial buildings that have earned the ENERGY STAR use on average 35% less energy than typical similar buildings and generate one-third less carbon dioxide. Increasing concern about the financial and environmental risks associated with climate change is driving more organizations to strive for the ENERGY STAR for their buildings, as it is seen as a symbol of an organization that is working to reduce global warming and its impacts.