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Boston Area Ranked 12th Metropolitan Area for ENERGY STAR Labeled Buildings

Release Date: 03/15/2011
Contact Information: Dave Deegan (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. - March 15, 2011) – EPA’s New England regional office is pleased to announce that the Boston metropolitan area continued in 2010 to be ranked in the top 25 metropolitan areas in the country for ENERGY STAR Labeled buildings. Boston was ranked number 12, up from number 13 in 2009. In 2010, 145 buildings in the Boston area, with more than 38.2 million square feet of floor space, earned the ENERGY STAR designation. EPA estimates that these buildings saved $48.7 million dollars in energy costs, and avoided emissions equivalent to the electricity usage in 17,400 homes.

Across the rest of New England, there were another 132 top performing buildings that earned the prestigious ENERGY STAR label for superior energy performance in 2010. These award-winning buildings represent over 23 million square feet, saved an estimated $30 million annually in reduced energy bills, and prevented over 122,000 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equal to the annual emissions of approximately 23,000 passenger vehicles.

Buildings earning labels included a wide variety of building types including banks, hospitals, hotels, office buildings, college dormitories, retail stores, warehouses, as well as one courthouse and one house of worship. Notable in 2010 were 62 K-12 schools spread across the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Companies receiving 8 or more ENERGY STAR labels in 2010 included Cambridge Savings Bank (8 labels), JC Penny (9 labels), Kohl’s Department Store (10 labels), and Staples, Inc. (27 labels). Also notable were the labels received in 2010 by Office Buildings under management in New England by Jones Lang LaSalle (11 labels), Boston Properties (12 labels), and CB Richard Ellis (18 labels).

A joint program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR is a voluntary partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. In 2010, Americans, through the ENERGY STAR program, saved over 1 billion dollars on energy bills and reduced almost 6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the equivalent of taking over 1 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

Commercial buildings account for almost 20 percent of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. Building owners can earn the ENERGY STAR label when they score in the top 25 percent on EPA’s energy performance rating system which calculates scores based on actual energy use. With interest in energy efficiency growing, ENERGY STAR offers easy-to-use tools and guidelines that can help building owners and managers in the United States realize significant energy and dollar savings. Buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR are the top performers for energy efficiency nationwide. In fact, buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use nearly 35 percent less energy than average buildings.

“Energy efficiency remains one of the most effective methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower the impact of climate change. We applaud the sound energy management and innovation shown by these companies in New England in their efforts to reduce their operating costs and in turn reduce energy demand in New England,” said Curt Spalding, EPA New England Regional Administrator.

More information:

- Top cities in 2010 with Energy Star certified buildings: www.energystar.gov/TopCities

- Earning an Energy Star for commercial buildings http://www.energystar.gov/labeledbuildings

For maps of all the buildings in each New England state earning the ENERGY STAR label in 2009 and/or 2010, please see the following:

CT: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=CT&YEAR=2009,2010

ME: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=ME&YEAR=2009,2010

MA: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=MA&YEAR=2009,2010

NH: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=NH&YEAR=2009,2010

RI: www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=RI&YEAR=2009,2010

VT: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=labeled_buildings.showMap&S_CODE=VT&YEAR=2009,2010
 

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