Recently in Energy Star Partner Programs 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.