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Seattle Recognized as a National Leader in Energy Efficient Buildings

Release Date: 03/23/2010
Contact Information: Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-0454, [email protected]

(Seattle—March 23, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a list of the metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy efficient buildings to garner the EPA Energy Star label. Seattle clocked in at number 14 in the nation.

“Seattle is leading the way in demonstrating how we can fight climate change in our urban landscapes,” said Dennis McLerran, the EPA Region 10 Administrator for the Pacific Northwest Region. “Every building that earns the Energy Star seal is making a direct impact in reducing our nation’s carbon footprint.”

Seattle is home to 69 buildings including hotels, office buildings and retail stores with the Energy Star label. Last year, they saved $15.4 million in costs and prevented emissions equivalent to 13,500 homes’ electricity use.

Continuing the impressive growth of the past several years, in 2009 nearly 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of over $100 billion per year. EPA awards the Energy Star to commercial buildings that perform in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Thirteen types of buildings can earn the Energy Star, including schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores and supermarkets.

Since EPA awarded the first Energy Star to a building in 1999, nearly 9,000 buildings across America have earned the Energy Star as of the end of 2009, representing more than a 40 percent increase over last year’s total. Overall annual utility savings have climbed to nearly $1.6 billion and greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions of more than 1 million homes a year have been prevented.

View a list of the Top 25 Cities in 2009 with Energy Star labeled buildings: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/downloads/2009_Top_25_cities_chart.pdf

Access EPA’s real-time registry of all Energy Star labeled buildings 1999-present:
http://energystar.gov/buildinglist

Learn more about earning the Energy Star for commercial buildings:
http://energystar.gov/labeledbuildings