EPA Energy Star Leaders Saved $48M in 2009 Across Commercial Building Portfolios

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Leaders prevented the emissions of more than 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved more than $48 million across their commercial building portfolios in 2009. The EPA says these savings have quadrupled since 2008 and is the single greatest year of savings since the program’s launch in 2004.

In addition to energy savings, a report released by Ceres and Mercer in December last year shows that increasing a building’s energy efficiency will increase occupancy rates, leasing prices and sales prices.

Over the past five years, Energy Star Leaders have prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions from the electricity use of nearly 39,000 homes annually, says EPA.

The list of 2009 Energy Star Leaders is dominated by 54 school districts. Some of the top businesses include Akridge, Glenborough, Granite Properties and Food Lion. Click here (PDF) for a complete list of Energy Star Leaders.

To become an Energy Star Leader, an organization must cut its energy use by 10 percent across its entire building portfolio, and to become a “top performer,” all the buildings in an organization’s portfolio must on average perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide.

Fifty-eight organizations are recognized for at least one of these milestones in 2009, up 50 percent compared to the previous year. More than 75 percent of Energy Star Leaders in 2009 met the top performer milestone, more than in any other year, says EPA.