Blog

June first is the application deadline for the 2010 Small Business Energy Star Award! Don’t wait. If you are a small business that has worked to improve energy performance at your company over the past two years, you are eligible to apply. Preference is shown to businesses that have used ENERGY STAR tools and resources to achieve success, but it is not mandatory.

Once you provide some general business information, you get to tell your story. How have you demonstrated success in achieving energy efficiency? And how did you utilize Energy Star Tools? You can achieve 100 points in total: 75 for your story; and 25 for your Annual Savings in energy and dollars.

You can achieve 25 points toward the award simply by having utilized the Energy Star Tools. It’s really easy. There is no reason to recreate the wheel here when DOE and EPA have already done the research to develop a great suite of tools. Benchmarking commercial buildings with Energy Star Portfolio Manager is mandated by law in order to buy, lease, or sell. Some local utilities only provide rebates for buildings which have been Energy Star benchmarked. It really makes sense – and is a great way to start an energy efficiency program.

Have you seen the Energy Star logo before? 75% of Americans have been shown to recognize this Energy Star brand. Many people already purchase Energy Star rated equipment for their homes and businesses. If our Commercial Buildings are also Energy Star rated, we can use this information to save resources and make our businesses more energy efficient. We can also use this information in lease negotiations. Estimated energy costs over the term of a lease can become a negotiating point.

So Apply Today if you have already been working on energy efficiency in your business. Or if you’re just getting started, you can use the Energy Star tools and can share your successes next year.

Related articles by Zemanta

• EPA and DoE Tightening Up on Energy Star Testing (treehugger.com)