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Six New England Groups Honored for Energy Efficiency Efforts

Release Date: 03/31/2009
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – March 31, 2009) - Schools, hospitals, real estate companies, industry and home construction are among the 89 Energy Star award-winning organizations nationwide leading the way through energy efficient approaches and practices to help fight climate change.

In New England, six organizations based in Massachusetts, and most of which have energy efficiency programs throughout the region, received recognition from EPA. The New England groups are:

- National Grid (Waltham, Mass.) (Award for Sustained Excellence)
- Northeast ENERGY STAR Products Initiative (Lexington, Mass.) (Award for Sustained Excellence)
- OSRAM SYLVANIA (Danvers, Mass.) (Award for Sustained Excellence)
- Raytheon Company (Waltham, Mass.) (Award for Sustained Excellence)
- The Joint Management Committee representing Massachusetts New Homes with ENERGY STAR (Mass.) (Partner of the Year)
- Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, Inc. (Dorchester, Mass.) (Award for Excellence)

"The six regional awardees have a solid history of promoting energy efficiency," said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator for EPA’s New England office. "We applaud each of these organizations for their leadership, and hope that this outstanding group inspires other businesses and nonprofits across New England to cut energy consumption and reduce emissions.”

Across the country there are more than 15,000 partners in the Energy Star program. Organizations are recognized in one of three major award categories: Sustained Excellence, Partner of the Year, and Excellence. The 37 Sustained Excellence winners, which exhibit outstanding leadership continually, are being recognized for their long-term commitment to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. The 35 organizations that receive Partner of the Year awards have successfully promoted Energy Star products and practices within their own organizations and managed energy use by providing products, services, and education to consumers and their communities. Organizations recognized with an Excellence award are strong promoters of energy-efficient homes, products, practices to employees, consumers, and the community at large while continuing to raise the awareness of energy efficiency.

In 2008, Americans, with the help of Energy Star, saved $19 billion on their energy bills and avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 29 million vehicles. To date, 940,000 new homes and more than 6,000 office buildings, schools, hospitals, and public buildings have earned the Energy Star. Since 2000, more than 2.5 billion Energy Star qualified products have been sold.

Energy Star was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Now in partnership with U.S. Dept. of Energy, EPA works with more than 15,000 organizations to improve the energy efficiency of products, homes and businesses

More information:

- Energy issues in New England (epa.gov/region1/eco/energy/index.html)

- Complete list of 2009 Energy Star winners: (energystar.gov/awards)

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