Green Project Marketing - Sustainable Lumber

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

Source: USGBC, April 2015

Home Green Building ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STARENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

Results are already adding up. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2010 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 33 million cars — all while saving nearly $18 billion on their utility bills.

ENERGY STAR for commercial and industrial facilities (as of year-end 2014)

  • Created in: 1992
  • Administered by: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • ENERGY STAR partner organizations: More than 7,400
  • Percent of the FORTUNE 100®: 57 percent
  • ENERGY STAR certified buildings and plants: More than 25,000
  • Commercial buildings actively measuring and tracking their energy use: More than 400,000
  • In square footage: More than 35 billion
  • Percentage of the commercial buildings market: More than 40 percent
  • Commercial buildings that have certified as ENERGY STAR: More than 25,000
  • Certified commercial square footage: More than 3.7 billion
  • Cumulative cost savings: $3.4 billion
  • Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions prevented: More than 17 million MtCO2e
  • That’s equal to: The electric use of more than 2.3 million homes annually
  • Commercial building design projects that are “Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR”: More than 700
  • Projected cost savings: More than $75 million
  • Projected greenhouse gas emissions savings: Nearly 600,000 MtCO2e
  • That’s equal to: The electric use of more than 82,000 homes annually
  • Industrial plants that have been certified as ENERGY STAR: More than 130
  • Cumulative cost savings: More than $3.5 billion
  • Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions prevented: Nearly 35 million MtCO2e
  • That’s equal to: The electric use of nearly 5 million homes annually

Energy use in commercial and industrial facilities

  • Combined number of commercial buildings and industrial facilities in the United States: nearly 6 million
  • Number of U.S. commercial buildings: 5.6 million
  • Number of U.S. industrial facilities: 346,000
  • Combined annual energy costs for U.S. commercial buildings and industrial facilities: $400 billion
  • Portion of energy in buildings used inefficiently or unnecessarily: 30 percent
  • Combined % of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by commercial buildings and industrial facilities: 45 %
  • U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by commercial buildings: 16 percent
  • U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by industrial facilities: 27 percent
  • If the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings improved by 10 percent, the collected savings would be: Amount of money: $40 billion
  • Amount of greenhouse gas emissions prevented: equal to the emissions from about 49 million vehicles – or about     19 % of all registered highway vehicles in the United States

For Business

Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings — for the bottom line and the environment — as typical approaches, EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating system which businesses have already used for more than 200,000 buildings across the country. EPA also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR.

For the Home

Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR helps you make the energy efficient choice.

  • If looking for new household products, look for ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR. They meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.
  • If looking for a new home, look for one that has earned the ENERGY STAR.
  • If looking to make larger improvements to your home, EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your energy bills and improve home comfort.

Energy is the First Step to Green

Most people would agree that a green building must be an energy efficient building. But not everyone agrees on how to define and measure efficiency. The links below can help you ensure your buildings deliver results.

For many types of existing buildings, you can rate energy performance on a scale of 1-100 relative to similar buildings nationwide using EPA’s Portfolio Manager. Buildings rating 75 or greater may qualify for the ENERGY STAR.

EPA’s Target Finder lets users establish an energy performance target for design projects and major building renovations. By entering a project’s estimated energy consumption, users can generate an energy performance rating based on the same rating system applied to existing buildings. Outstanding projects are eligible for EPA recognition.  For more information, please visit www.energystar.gov.

Contact Green Project Marketing

To discuss how your company and project can benefit from our services as well if there are representation opportunities, please contact Michel (Michael) Stevens, President, at (800) 260-6008 ext. 301 PST or mstevens[at]greenprojectmarketing[dot]com. Skype ID: GreenProjMktg.