GSA's ENERGY STAR Buildings Save Taxpayer Dollars

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that 15 of its buildings saved an estimated $961,470 taxpayer dollars and met top energy benchmarks in the 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition. GSA is meeting energy performance standards in buildings across our portfolio with a variety of strategies, and our efforts are improving federal buildings and saving taxpayer dollars, while easing the government's impact on the environment.

"These 15 buildings saved nearly a million taxpayer dollars, and across our portfolio of federal buildings we are finding ways to bring down costs and deliver better value to the American people," said Dorothy Robyn, GSA's Public Buildings Service Commissioner. "GSA is proud to have so many of our buildings meet top rankings in such a wide competition. We are using variety of strategies to make our existing buildings more energy efficient, and they are paying off."

Two of GSA's facilities achieved energy reductions of more than 30 percent and made it into the top 10 rankings in a competition that included more than 3,000 schools, businesses, and government buildings nationwide.  The Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey achieved a 36.8 percent energy savings and the San Antonio Federal Building in San Antonio, Texas achieved 34.4 savings. GSA had 13 more buildings that were remarkably strong competitors in this contest and reduced energy consumption by at least 20 percent.

GSA's participation in this contest drove down utility bills and substantially reduced greenhouse gas emissions. GSA used advanced meters and smart buildings technology to monitor improvements. Some other examples of the measures taken in these buildings included insulation projects, sealing structures, manually adjusting window shades, using smaller water heaters, and retrofitting light fixtures.

The 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition measured energy performance for the entire 2012 calendar year. GSA tracked monthly energy consumption using EPA's free online energy tracking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The energy reductions for each of the top competitors were verified by an independently licensed professional engineer or registered architect. The program calculated cost savings using the national average costs for commercial utilities. More information on the 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition, including top overall finishers and top finishers by building category, an interactive map of competitors, and a wrap-up report: http://www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings

In his 2009 Executive Order, President Obama directed federal agencies to lead by example in their environmental, energy, and economic performance. GSA has made our portfolio of federal buildings more energy efficient through an array of strategies including EPA's ENERGY STAR programs, Energy Savings Performance Contracts, GSA's Shave Energy Program, advanced metering, and Green Proving Ground Program.

Below is a complete list of GSA's 2012 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition facilities that reduced energy consumption by at least 20 percent.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Courthouse, Newark, New Jersey -- 36.8 percent
• San Antonio Federal Building, San Antonio, Texas -- 34.4 percent
• IRS Building, Provo, Utah -- 30.8 percent
• Pierre Federal Courthouse, Pierre, South Dakota -- 28.9 percent
• Allen Ellender Federal Building, Houma, Louisiana -- 27.4 percent
• Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse, Cleveland, Ohio -- 26.7 percent
• Thomas Foley Courthouse, Spokane, Washington -- 23.4 percent
• Neal Smith Federal Building, Des Moines, Iowa -- 23.4 percent
• F. Edward Herbert Federal Building, New Orleans, Louisiana -- 22.5 percent
• Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building, Victoria, Texas -- 22.5 percent
• U.S. Border Station, North Troy, Vermont -- 22 percent
• Elijah Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, Washington, D.C. -- 21.9 percent
• Grand Island Federal Building, Grand Island, Nebraska -- 21.5 percent
• Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Youngstown, Ohio -- 20.4 percent
• United States Post Office and Courthouse, Batesville, Arkansas -- 20.1 percent

SOURCE U.S. General Services Administration