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Portland represents clean energy, like a world in flowers[/caption]-- More and more buildings are being favored for their going green, most especially in the West Coast of the United States, an area paving the way for others to follow an environmentally-friendly path.
And these states are competing to see which ones might be the first and best for reducing their buildings' energy use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has initiated the 2013 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. Teams involving more than 3,000 buildings nationwide competing to see who can win the recognition for doing the most to reduce their buildings’ energy use.
“Battle of the Buildings is a great opportunity for businesses to save money while reducing carbon pollution that contributes to climate change,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “These are the kinds of smart, innovative solutions that are going to help solve the environmental challenges we face today.”
Those competing in Battle of the Buildings in the Pacific Northwest include the Pioneer US Courthouse in Portland built in 1875 and buildings built in every ten years from that time forward. The top three competitors in the Pacific Northwest by numbers of buildings are Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle with 63 buildings competing in Washington, General Services Administration with 49 buildings in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and Union Bank with 31 buildings competing in Oregon and Washington.
Energy Star’s Battle of the Buildings has been organized to encourage businesses to improve energy efficiency and save energy costs. Competitors evaluate their use of energy and try to correspondingly cut energy waste through making improvements in the efficiency of using energy, reducing monthly energy consumption using Portfolio Manager, EPA's Energy Star online energy measurement and tracking tool. Competitors cut energy waste through efficiency improvements that include everything from equipment replacement to changes in building occupant actions.
Commercial buildings use approximately 20 percent of U.S. energy and are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion annually. Battle of the Buildings hopes to reduce these costs and consequently fight climate change.
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Billy Jenkins is a student of the environment and has worked for environmental causes with different organizations. He is a freelance writer with the ambition of making known the environmental concerns, especially of major cities.
