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EPA ANNOUNCES NEW ENERGY STAR RATING TOOL FOR HOTELS
Release Date: 06/12/2002
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Environmental News
FOR RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2002
EPA ANNOUNCES NEW ENERGY STAR RATING TOOL FOR HOTELS
Dave Ryan, 202-564-7827 / [email protected]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman today officially launched the newest ENERGY STAR™ performance rating tool for hotels. For the first time, hotels can benchmark their energy performance against others on a nationwide scale of one-to-100. Whitman made the announcement during a speech at the Energy Efficiency Forum at the National Press Club where she highlighted the success of EPA’s ENERGY STAR™ program in saving Americans money and energy while protecting the environment.
"Hotel companies can now compare the energy performance of their hotels to others nationwide and are eligible to earn and display the prestigious ENERGY STAR™ label for their top performers," said Whitman. "Last year alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR™, saved $5 billion on their energy bills and reduced pollution equivalent to that of 10 million cars. Over 800 office buildings and schools across the country have already earned the ENERGY STAR™ label, and thousands have used EPA’s tool to compare their buildings. I look forward to working in partnership with the hospitality industry to improve upon our success and have an enormous impact on our environment," Whitman said.
In launching the availability of the hotel benchmarking tool, the Administrator recognized the first two hotels in the country to receive the ENERGY STAR™ label for superior energy performance. The two hotels are the Courtyard Indianapolis Capital, owned by White Lodging Services Corp., and the Sheraton Boston Hotel, owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.
Among those within the hospitality sector that helped EPA test the new energy performance rating tool are Tharaldson Lodging, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, White Lodging, Meristar Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt Corp., and Servidyne Systems.
The hotel industry spends almost $5 billion a year on energy bills. If hotels improved their energy efficiency by an average of 30 percent, the annual electricity bill savings would be nearly $1.5 billion and almost six million fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted.
At today’s meeting, Whitman also announced that EPA has developed and is testing the first performance indicator in the industrial sector – this one for automotive assembly plants. ENERGY STAR™, working with its automotive partners, has developed a tool that will permit manufacturers to understand how their plants individually rank with respect to other automotive assembly plants. Other performance indicators in the industrial sector are planned.
As part of his National Energy Plan, President Bush called for increased public awareness of the ENERGY STAR™ program and its benefits to consumers and businesses. The President also called for the expansion of the program to provide the label for additional building types, including grocery stores, hospitals and hotels.
Using EPA's ENERGY STAR™ website, http://www.energystar.gov, hotels will be able to analyze the energy performance of their buildings, set goals for improvement, and track their progress online using EPA's portfolio manager. Top performers will be able to display the ENERGY STAR™ label.
ENERGY STAR™, the national symbol for energy efficiency, was established in 1992 by EPA. With help from the U.S. Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR™ is empowering consumers and businesses to protect the environment through energy efficiency. For more information about ENERGY STAR™, go to: http://www.energystar.gov or call 1-888-STAR-YES.
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