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Three Buildings in the Southeast Selected as Contestant in EPA National Building Competition
Release Date: 04/28/2010
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov
Will Compete to “Work Off the Waste” with Help from ENERGY STAR Program
(ATLANTA – April 28, 2010) Three buildings in the southeast have been selected to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) first national competition among commercial buildings to save energy and fight climate change. In the spirit of popular weight-loss competitions, the buildings will compete against 11 other buildings across the country to “work off the waste” through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The building that sheds the most energy waste on a percentage basis will be recognized as the winner of EPA’s National Building Competition in late October 2010.
The three National Building Competition contestants in the Southeast are:
· Memorial Arts Building at the Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Ga.
· Morrison Residence Hall at UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
· Tucker Residence Hall at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
The 14 finalists, out of nearly 200 applications were received, will be judged on their energy performance from Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010. The energy use of each building is being monitored with EPA’s Energy Star online energy measurement and tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. Television personality Bob Harper will also provide energy fitness tips for the contestants through a series of videos that will be available on the Web site.
The competition Web site will provide profiles of each contestant and chronicle their progress as well as feature advice for contestants from EPA and leading building efficiency specialists. Each building will also participate in mid-point and final contest weigh-ins and the results will be posted online at the competition Web site.
Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with the 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.
Meet the contestants and follow EPA’s National Building Competition: http://www.energystar.gov/buildingcontest
Learn more about EPA’s Energy Star program for commercial buildings: http://www.energystar.gov/buildings
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