All News Releases By Date

Harleysville Insurance Companies Take the Anti-Pollution Pledge Today

Release Date: 4/26/1999
Contact Information: Bonnie J. Smith (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA - - The Harleysville Insurance Companies will prevent pollution equivalent to taking 425 cars off area roads and planting 205 acres of trees per year.

A signing ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, April 26 at the company’s Harleysville location, off Route 113 on 355 South Maple Avenue in the company cafeteria. They will join 3,000 participants nationwide in EPA’s ENERGY STAR Buildings and Green Lights Partnership program.

"These partnership programs make sense. They send out clear, positive, signals so that producers and consumers realize the full benefits of energy efficiency,” said EPA Regional Administrator W. Michael McCabe.

The Harleysville Insurance Companies will prevent air pollution by installing energy-efficient lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment in its 220,000- square-foot-facility. These upgrades will reduce 1100 tons of carbon dioxide, nine tons of sulfur dioxide, and four tons of nitrogen oxides being released into the atmosphere. Using less energy means less harmful air pollutants are released into the air because less fossil fuels are burned. This means, we can all breathe easier.

"We are proud of the efforts we are making as an organization. This program not only makes economic sense, but also protects the environment from additional pollution," said Clark D. Kulp, Vice President Facilities Services for The Harleysville Insurance Companies. He added, "Using energy efficient lighting is an easy way to prevent pollution and save money on your energy bill."

EPA provides technical support to ENERGY STAR Buildings Partners. Tri-State Light & Energy, an ENERGY STAR ally and a distributor of energy-efficient business products, sparked Harleysville’s interest in EPA’s program. Allies help to make a link between EPA and new partners.

Since November 1998, partners nationwide have saved more than $593 million annually and reduced their energy use by 22.4 billion kilowatt hours. Cumulatively, partners’ efforts have prevented the emissions of 35.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide -- equivalent to removing the pollution from 3.5 million cars.

For more information on the ENERGY STAR Partnership Programs, and how to prevent pollution through energy efficiency, call Mindee Denmark at the EPA Region III office in Philadelphia at (215) 814-2074. For additional information about the organization listed above and facts about its progress in ENERGY STAR Buildings, visit the Earth Day energy efficiency "virtual exposition" web site at www.epa.gov/buildings.