U-Haul International, Inc. Receives 2010 Galaxy Star of Energy Efficiency Award

PHOENIX, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 14, 2010, Phoenix-based U-Haul International, Inc., received the Galaxy Star of Energy Efficiency Award in Washington D.C. The award recognizes organizations/companies with more than $150 million in annual revenue for their efforts to promote energy efficiency. Seventeen companies were in the running for the award U-Haul won.

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The company is in the vehicle-sharing business and was founded on the fundamental philosophy that "the division of use and specialization of ownership" is good for U-Haul customers and the environment. A 2008 study shows that every U-Haul truck placed in a local community helps keep 19 personally owned, large-capacity vehicles off the road.

U-Haul, North America's largest do-it-yourself moving and storage operator, received the award for its leadership in energy and climate stewardship. The company has funded 215 energy-efficiency projects, resulting in an estimated average monthly energy savings of 5,723kWh per site in U-Haul centers throughout North America.

On Sept. 14, 2010, Edward "Joe" Shoen, chairman of the board and CEO of U-Haul International, accepted the award and spoke to attendees on the importance of corporate America's responsibility in taking action to become more sustainable and improve the quality of lives for future generations.

"At U-Haul, we are committed to sustainable development through environmental protection, social responsibility and economic efficiency," Shoen stated. "We believe that our long-term success depends on our ability to integrate corporate sustainability and citizenship into our core business."

"The Alliance to Save Energy is proud to honor energy efficiency leaders like U-Haul," said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. "Through its distinctive approach to energy efficiency in vehicle sharing and storage, U-Haul is saving its consumers money, while significantly reducing its energy use and emissions."

The following programs were instrumental in helping U-Haul win this coveted award.

The U-Haul Take a Box, Leave a Box Program encourages customers to pick up free used boxes and/or leave no-longer-needed used boxes for other customers to use free of charge. U-Haul has encouraged the reuse of more than 2.5 million boxes since the program's inception in 2007, which significantly reduces the energy and resource consumption required to manufacture new boxes.

The company's Sustainable Modular Storage Program, exclusive to U-Haul, reuses van bodies detached from retired U-Haul trucks to build sustainably engineered self-storage units. Every 1,000 square feet of reused storage-unit space eliminates 17.3 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To date, the U-Haul Sustainable Modular Storage Program has kept more than 10,554 tons of GHG emissions out of our atmosphere.

In 2007, U-Haul partnered with Ford to create and implement an innovative 3-Wet Paint technology designed to manage GHG emissions and decrease energy usage. Allowing three layers of wet paint to be applied in immediate succession, 3-Wet Paint eliminates the need for using high-temperature ovens between each coat of paint. The 3-Wet technology reduces GHG emissions by an estimated 15 percent per paint job, and decreases overall energy consumption in maintaining the company's fleet of more than 178,500 trucks and trailers.

Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/sustainability and youtube.com/watch?v=j304SJsKBB8.

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the best choice for the do-it-yourself mover, with a network of more than 15,800 locations in all 50 United States and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 101,000 trucks, 76,000 trailers and 34,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers more than 395,000 rooms and approximately 35 million square feet of storage space at nearly 1,090 owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the consumer's number one choice as the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry.

U-Haul supplies alternative-fuel for vehicles and backyard barbecues as one of the nation's largest retailers of propane.

U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up in the Great Depression. Tires and gas were still rationed or in short supply during the late 1940s when U-Haul began serving U.S. customers. Today, that background is central to the U-Haul Sustainability Program: "Serving the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."  Our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle includes fuel efficient moving vans, neighborhood proximity, moving box reuse, moving pads made from discarded material and packing peanuts that are 100 percent biodegradable.  Learn more about these facts and others at uhaul.com/sustainability and youtube.com/watch?v=j304SJsKBB8.

SOURCE U-Haul International, Inc.