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2009 Oregon and Washington ENERGY STAR Award Winners

Release Date: 03/31/2009
Contact Information: Robert Drake, Energy Star Program, (206) 553-4803, drake.robert@epa.gov Tony Brown, Public Affairs, (206) 553-1203, brown.anthony@epa.gov

(Seattle, Wash. March 31, 2009) Today, EPA announced 89 ENERGY STAR award-winning organizations for their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

The following organizations in the Pacific Northwest received awards:

Advantage IQ, Inc, (Spokane, WA), Kennedy Associates Real Estate Investments Advisors (Seattle, WA), Providence Health & Services (Renton, WA), Puget Sound Energy (Bellevue, WA), Seattle Lighting/DestinationLighting.com (Seattle, WA), Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc (Portland, OR), Gresham-Barlow School District (Gresham, OR), and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (Portland, OR).

ENERGY STAR Awards for Sustained Excellence

Advantage IQ, Inc.
Spokane, Washington

Advantage IQ, Inc. provides sustainable solutions for managing utility expenses to multi-site companies nationwide. Using Advantage IQs patented Facility IQSM reporting platform, its customers are able to receive EPA ratings and track, measure, and manage their energy use. Advantage IQ is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for its continued success in benchmarking client buildings. This is the third time Advantage IQ has received ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence recognition. Key accomplishments include:

• Providing energy performance ratings for more than 30,000 buildings on a monthly basis and delivering more than 130,000 individual building ratings for clients in 2008, representing a 12-percent increase over 2007.
• Providing information services to more than 1,000 of the almost 1,500 ENERGY STAR qualified supermarkets, representing two-thirds of the qualified buildings in this sector.
• Helping clients earn the ENERGY STAR on more than 170 buildings in 2008, helping seven clients earn ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition in 2008, and supporting several clients that have become ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year.
• Promoting the importance of energy management through Webinars held in partnership with ENERGY STAR.

Providence Health & Services
Renton, Washington

Providence Health & Services (PH&S) is a non-profit Catholic health care ministry of more than 230 healthcare facilities that treat patients in communities from Alaska to California. More than 10 years ago, PH&S took on the challenge of reducing emissions and saving energy as a way to uphold the organization's holistic approach to healing both the patient and planet. PH&S is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for promoting environmental stewardship as a core value and continuing to improve energy efficiency. This is the third time PH&S has received ENERGY STAR recognition. Key accomplishments include:

• Reducing system-wide energy use by 5.7% in 2008, even as the square footage of its facilities increased by 17.4%.
• Saving over $13 million since a formal energy office was established in 2004.
• Earning the ENERGY STAR for eight facilities in 2008 across four states for a total of 12 - more than any other healthcare system in the U.S.
• Promoting employee awareness of energy efficiency by launching a new energy and sustainability Intranet site. The site hosts facility reports, trends, energy performance ratings for financial and construction managers, sustainability news, energy saving tips, and links to ENERGY STAR campaigns.

Gresham-Barlow School District
Gresham, Oregon

Gresham-Barlow School District is one of the largest school districts in Oregon, serving approximately 12,000 students across 11 elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools while representing approximately 1,685,000 square feet of space. Gresham-Barlow School District is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for successfully growing and expanding its Resource Conservation Management program. The school district has been recognized as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year twice, and is receiving ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence recognition for the first time this year. Key accomplishments include:

• Being the first organization to be recognized by EPA for achieving 30% savings across its entire portfolio of buildings, and increasing these savings to more than 48% during the 2007-2008 school year.
• Earning recognition from EPA as an ENERGY STAR Leader and Top Performer.
• Earning the ENERGY STAR for 18 of its 19 schools and maintaining this high performance throughout 2008.
• Involving maintenance staff, teachers, principals, students, parents, and the community in energy management efforts by partnering with the Gresham Chamber of Commerce to promote its energy management model to the surrounding community, and partnering with JC Penney stores to recognize students' good energy behaviors.

ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year

Kennedy Associates Real Estate Investment Advisors
Seattle, Washington

Kennedy Associates Real Estate Investment Advisors is a full-service real estate investment advisor managing more than $9.5 billion in assets for university endowments, retirement systems, and public and corporate clients nationwide. An ENERGY STAR partner since 2005, Kennedy is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for its commitment to Responsible Property Investing, which considers the social and environmental consequences of real estate decisions beyond traditional fiduciary goals. This is the first time Kennedy has received ENERGY STAR recognition. Key accomplishments include:

• Reducing energy use by 4.5% over the previous year.
• Benchmarking all eligible office and warehouse buildings each month, representing approximately 24 million square feet.
• Earning the ENERGY STAR for 12 buildings in 2008, for a total of 43 ENERGY STAR qualified buildings representing approximately 8.2 million square feet.
• Requiring its third-party property management companies to implement operational best practices for increasing energy efficiency, as well as expanding outreach efforts to encourage tenant energy conservation.
• Creating new software tools, guidance manuals, reports, and training for employees to improve its ability to track, analyze, and report ENERGY STAR benchmarking activities.

Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc.
Portland, Oregon
Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing how Oregonians produce and use energy by investing in energy-efficient technologies and renewable resources that protect the environment while saving energy. Energy Trust is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for its home retrofit program, Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, its ENERGY STAR commercial foodservice program, and other efforts leveraging the ENERGY STAR national brand platform. This non-profit's approach provides a model for other state, utility, and public purpose fund programs throughout the country. Key accomplishments include:

• Improving the efficiency of more than 1,000 homes through home retrofits, nearly double the previous year, for total savings of more than 400,000 kWh and 80,000 therms.
• Increasing sales and elevating awareness of ENERGY STAR qualified equipment: completing nearly 700 qualified equipment installations and securing energy savings of more than 3.7 million kWh and over 550,000 therms.
• Expanding participation in its commercial foodservice program - from four dealers selling ENERGY STAR foodservice equipment in Oregon in 2006 to 12 dealers in 2008.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)
Portland, Oregon
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) is a partnership among energy efficiency leaders in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington that encourages the development of energy-efficient products and services. NEEA is receiving ENERGY STAR recognition for its contribution to promoting energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings. Key achievements in 2008 include:

• Utilizing building energy performance competitions to catalyze benchmarking and investment in energy efficiency.
• Partnering with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and other stakeholders to benchmark 92 buildings representing more than 28 million square feet.
• Helping 40 buildings earn the ENERGY STAR.
• Partnering with regional chapters of BOMA to train 185 Northwest building professionals on EPAs Portfolio Manager, Building Upgrade Value Calculator, and Guidelines for Energy Management.
• Training hospital facility staff on benchmarking through their BetterBricks commercial buildings program and using EPAs Target Finder to set goals for new construction.
• Participating in the national 80 PLUS initiative to influence purchases of high-efficiency electronics, resulting in sales of more than 25,000 ENERGY STAR 4.0-qualified power supply units and more than 20,000 additional 80 PLUS-qualified power supply units.
• Doubling the ENERGY STAR qualified homes market penetration in the NEEA region, and adding 18 new partners committed to promoting the Northwest ENERGY STAR homes program.
• Training more than 500 market actors, including 300 realtors, to effectively promote the Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes program.
• Offering a new course targeting appraisers that highlights the increased value of ENERGY STAR qualified homes compared to code-built homes.

Puget Sound Energy
Bellevue, Washington
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is Washington's largest and oldest energy utility, serving more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers. Through its Residential New Construction ENERGY STAR Lighting Program, the utility works to increase demand for qualified lighting products in new, single-family homes. In 2008, PSE doubled its investment in partner outreach as part of its ongoing regional fixture program. Key accomplishments earning PSE this award include:

• Facilitating total installations of 16,000 ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures and 39,000 ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs in new homes, representing more than 2.7 million kWh in annual energy savings, a 100% increase over 2007 results, and more than 35 million kWh in lifetime energy savings.
• Increasing building showroom and distributor participation to more than 30 partnerships through enhanced training, marketing support, and sales associate incentives.
• Accelerating adoption of the ENERGY STAR Advanced Lighting Package in new homes through hands-on work with partners, additional incentives for installations, and recognition certificates for partners.

ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence

Seattle Lighting and DestinationLighting.com
Seattle, Washington
The Pacific Northwest has turned to Seattle Lighting and DestinationLighting.com for fine residential lighting products since 1917. Seattle Lighting's showrooms in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho continue to demonstrate leadership and excellence in lighting retail through its efforts to promote energy-efficient lighting. This is the third time Seattle Lighting has received ENERGY STAR recognition. Key accomplishments include:

• Doubling stock of ENERGY STAR qualified light fixtures at showroom locations, with more qualified products available through its e-commerce Web site, destinationlighting.com.
• Exceeding ENERGY STAR qualified fixture sales goals for 2008, while setting even more aggressive goals for 2009.
• Supporting regional green building programs, including utility sponsored incentive programs for the ENERGY STAR Advanced Lighting Package.
• Replacing approximately 28,000 showroom incandescent bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs.
• Recycling approximately 12,000 CFLs and linear fluorescent bulbs through an in-store recycling program.
• Featuring ENERGY STAR qualified light fixtures in builder magazines and nine regional newspapers, with an overall reach of 6.7 million readers.

For additional information on ENERGY STAR award winners, visit: http://www.energystar.gov/awards
Also see the national EPA Press Release: EPA Recognizes Energy Star Partners for Leadership