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Denver ranks 11th on list of cities with the most Energy Star buildings in the United States

Release Date: 04/11/2012
Contact Information: Molly Hooven [email protected] 202-564-2313 202-564-4344

Denver ranks 11^th on list of cities with the most Energy Star buildings in the United States

Cities cut energy costs while increasing efficiency, protecting health, reducing pollution
DENVER (April 11, 2012) – Denver ranked 11^th on the annual list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings for 2011 released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The list of 25 cities is headed by Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Houston, Dallas, Riverside, Calif. and Boston. In 2011, the nearly 16,500 Energy Star certified buildings across America have helped save nearly $2.3 billion in annual utility bills and have prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to emissions from the annual energy use of more than 1.5 million homes.

"More and more organizations are discovering the value of Energy Star as they work to cut costs and reduce their energy use," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This year marked the twentieth anniversary of the Energy Star program, and today Energy Star certified buildings in cities across America are helping to strengthen local economies and protect the planet for decades to come."

Denver has made the Top Cities list for the past four years. A few programs made Denver stand out among cities nationwide: the Denver Building Owners and Managers Association – (BOMA) has been instrumental throughout the years in promoting Energy Star to its members through its educational programs; Denver Mayor's Executive Order 123 which created “Greenprint Denver”. This program requires that all construction and major renovations of city buildings be “Designed to Earn the Energy Star" and requires benchmarking in Portfolio Manager for existing and future city-owned and operated buildings. Portfolio Manager is an interactive energy management tool for tracking and assessing energy and water consumption.

Another program called “Watts to Water” is a collaborative energy and water efficiency campaign. This is a partnership between Downtown Denver Partnership, the City of Denver, EPA, BOMA Denver, Xcel Energy, Denver Water, Metro Denver Development Cooperation, and the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office. The inaugural year involvement in Watts to Water exceeded its participation goal by almost 30 percent with 130 buildings registered representing 28 million square feet of office and hotel space.

Finally, the local electric and gas utility, Xcel Energy, launched a commercial real estate program in March 2010 that includes a requirement to benchmark with Portfolio Manager.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s Energy Star must perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide and must be independently verified by a licensed professional engineer or a registered architect. Energy Star certified buildings use an average of 35 percent less energy and are responsible for 35 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings. Fifteen types of commercial buildings can earn the Energy Star, including office buildings, K-12 schools, and retail stores.

Launched in 1992 by EPA, Energy Star is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. This year marks Energy Star's 20^th anniversary. Over the past 20 years, with help from Energy Star, American families and businesses have saved about $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products and more than 1.3 million new homes.

More on the 2011 top cities: http://www.energystar.gov/TopCities
More on BOMA Denver: http://www.bomadenver.org

More on Denver’s Greenprint program: www.greenprintdenver.org

More on Denver’s Watts to Water program see http://wattstowater.org//
More on Denver’s Denver Energy Challenge – www.denverenergy.org

More on Energy Star certified buildings: http://energystar.gov/buildinglist
More about earning the Energy Star for commercial buildings: http://energystar.gov/labeledbuildings