EPA Recognizes Citi Among Nation's Leading Green
Power Purchasers
New York - 2/26/08 (News Release)
As part of its commitment to sustainable business practices, today Citi
announced that it has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for its leading green power purchase and participation in the
Agency's Fortune 500 Green Power Challenge.
Citi is purchasing more than 56 million kilowatt-hours of green power, a 55%
percent increase over its purchases in 2007. Citi is buying renewable energy
certificates from Constellation NewEnergy, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG), and a leading national supplier of green
power products. Purchase of certified green wind power will provide 100% of
the energy load for the next five years at Citi's newest skyscraper, Two
Court Square in Long Island City, New York. The building has been awarded
the prestigious Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"This is part of our approach to embed sustainable business practices
throughout our operations, globally – from energy consumption to procurement
to IT," said Kevin Kessinger, Chief Operations & Technology Officer. "For
Citi, green business is good business. It is an important part of being a
responsible corporate citizen and operating the business efficiently."
According to the EPA, Citi's green power purchase is equivalent to avoiding
the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 8,000 passenger vehicles per year,
or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 6,000
average American homes annually.
Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable
renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and
low-impact hydro. These resources generate electricity with a net zero
increase in carbon dioxide emissions, while offering a superior
environmental profile compared to traditional power generation sources.
Green power purchases also support the development of new renewable energy
generation sources nationwide.
"EPA applauds our Fortune 500 partners for protecting our environment by
purchasing green power," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By
voluntarily shifting to renewable energy, Citi is proving you don't need to
wait for a signal in order to go green."
As part of its commitment to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 10% by 2011,
Citi has committed to achieving environmental certification globally for the
construction of all new office buildings and operations centers and
evaluation of existing larger facilities. In addition to using green power,
the Two Court Square building features include:
- Avoidance of 768 tons of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of
high-performance window glazing; energy-efficient lighting and
air-conditioning systems; lighting controls; and office occupancy sensors.
- Workstations, carpeting and furniture made from recycled materials and/or
through eco friendly manufacturing processes.
- Views to the outside for 90% of cubicles, offices and conference rooms.
Approximately 90% (4,590 tons) of structural steel contains post-consumer
recycled content.
- Conserving approximately two million gallons of water per year through
efficient plumbing fixtures and a storm-water recycling system that captures
rain water in a retention tank for use in cooling towers and for all site
irrigation.
- An indoor bicycle rack for employees.
- During construction, more than 90% of the waste was recycled and diverted
from landfills.
Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million
customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing
consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of
financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit,
corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth
management. Citi's major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial,
Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Nikko. Additional information may be
found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.
EPA's Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages
organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental
impacts associated with purchased electricity use. The Partnership currently
has hundreds of Partner organizations voluntarily purchasing billions of
kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of
leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized
businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and
universities. For additional information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com, a FORTUNE 125 company
with 2007 revenues of $21 billion, is the nation's largest competitive
supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the
nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation Energy also manages
fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and
utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 78 generating units located
throughout the United States, totaling approximately 8,700 megawatts of
generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas
through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility
in Central Maryland. |