News for Release: Tuesday, June 26, 2007   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) U.S. Conference of Mayors Endorses EPA's Energy Star Challenge Goal to reduce energy use in public and private buildings by 10 percent Contact: Enesta Jones, (202) 564-4355 / jones.enesta@epa.gov (Washington, D.C. - June 26, 2007) Today, the U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed EPA's Energy Star Challenge as a key strategy in meeting the goals of the conference's Climate Protection Agreement. As part of the resolution, the organization will encourage its members to support and take the Energy Star Challenge, a national campaign to improve energy efficiency by 10 percent or more in commercial and industrial buildings across the United States. "The U.S. Conference of Mayors is leading the way on climate protection for cities across the country with the help of Energy Star," said Bob Meyers, EPA's acting assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. "Energy efficiency is a win-win for cities looking to save energy and protect the environment." The U.S. Conference of Mayors represents America's 1,139 cities with populations of 30,000 or more. These mayors are uniquely positioned to encourage energy efficiency goals and improvements for city-owned buildings and provide a model for local building owners to follow. EPA will help mayors from coast to coast reduce carbon emissions and decrease energy use with tools and resources to measure and track building energy use, make improvements to existing buildings, and design new buildings for superior energy efficiency. EPA estimates that if the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings in the United States improved 10 percent, Americans would save $20 billion each year in utility bills for commercial and industrial buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to those from about 30 million vehicles. More than 100 organizations, including state governments, leading associations, cities and counties have taken the Energy Star Challenge. Businesses, organizations, and governments that are leaders in energy efficiency use about 30 percent less energy than their competitors. For more information about taking the Energy Star Challenge: http://www.energystar.gov/challenge Energy Star was started by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. In 2006 alone, Americans with the help of Energy Star saved $14 billion on their energy bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 25 million vehicles. To date, more than 30,000 commercial and industrial buildings have targeted energy efficiency improvements and more than 3,200 of these buildings have earned the Energy Star. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy designed to save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. Energy Star: http://www.energystar.gov U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov R183