Westfield Washington Schools has joined the EPA’s list of ENERGY STAR Leaders, an elite group of organizations that has improved energy efficiency across its entire group of commercial buildings.
“Through this achievement, we have demonstrated our commitment to environmental stewardship while also lowering our energy costs,” Supt. Mark Keen said.
ENERGY STAR Leaders must meet one of two energy efficiency improvement milestones. The first milestone requires a 10-percent improvement in energy performance across their entire building portfolio, and subsequent recognition is given for each 10-percent improvement thereafter. The second milestone, known as “top performer,” requires the buildings in an organization’s portfolio, on average, to perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide. To be eligible for ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition, organizations are required to track and submit energy performance data for all buildings and fuel sources through EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.
To be recognized as an EPA ENERGY STAR Leader, WWS improved the energy efficiency of the buildings in its portfolio. The WWS Energy Reduction Impact was 38,901 MMBTUs which is 5,151 equivalent metric tons of C02. The cumulative greenhouse gas reduction is equivalent to 925 passenger cars not driven for one year and 131,758 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
Last year, President Barack Obama announced a nationwide call to action to make commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program provides a strategic pathway toward superior energy efficiency, including a focus on ongoing performance measurement and whole-building improvement that has helped these leading organizations make meaningful progress toward the president’s goal.