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Three Texas Organizations Recognized for EPA’s 2011 ENERGY Star National Building Competition

Release Date: 11/02/2011
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Joe Hubbard at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(DALLAS – Nov. 2, 2011) – A school, a business and a hospital in Texas were among 245 organizations recently recognized nationally by EPA for their achievements in reducing greenhouse gases. The organizations employed innovative solutions to manage their energy demands, saving money and reducing air emissions.

Hartman Elementary School in Wylie, Texas, and Office Depot in Plano, Texas, both were among the top ten overall finishers for EPA’s 2011 ENERGY Star Building Competition. In addition, St. Marks Medical Center in La Grange, Texas, finished first in the hospital category for the competition.

“The innovation and commitment these organizations have shown for a cleaner, healthier environment and economy will serve many future generations,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz. “These winners understand that the buildings where we work, play and learn have a high impact on our environment.”

The winners all used different tactics to save energy in their buildings. Together competitors saved $5.2 million on utility bills and more than 240 million kBtus of energy annually. Collectively, the competitors also prevented nearly 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equal to the emissions from 3,600 homes a year.

The 2011 ENERGY Star National Building Competition measured energy performance from September 1, 2010, -- August 31, 2011. Competitors tracked their building's monthly energy consumption using EPA's ENERGY Star online tracking tool. The building with the largest reduction in energy use, adjusted for weather and the size of the building, was the winner. The energy use intensity and square footage for each top overall finisher was verified by an independently licensed professional engineer or registered architect at the conclusion of the competition.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s ENERGY Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere each year.

From changes in behavior to investments in innovative technologies, the results from this year’s competition show that the actions we take to save energy add up to a huge win for the environment and the bottom line.

Learn more about this year’s competitors and how you can start saving energy today at www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings.

More about activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html

EPA audio file is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/nov2011.html