Executive Russell M. Pry Accepts ENERGY STAR challenge, Encourages Local Building Owners to Participate

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is estimated that nearly one-third of the energy used to operate a government building goes to waste.

To guard against squandered energy, Summit County Executive Russell M. Pry enrolled the County of Summit in the National Association of Counties (NACo) ENERGY STAR Courthouse Campaign, a voluntary and cost-free program open to counties wishing to evaluate their energy usage and implement energy-saving projects.

As part of the NACo program, Executive Pry accepted the ENERGY STAR challenge. The primary focus of the challenge is to enhance the energy efficiency of all buildings by 10% within the next seven years.

“The County of Summit is focused on accomplishing this goal,” said Summit County Executive Russell M. Pry. “Not only will reducing our energy usage of all County of Summit buildings by 10 percent benefit our local environment, but it will lead to significant tax dollar savings.”

The EPA estimates that if each building owner across the country met this challenge, by 2015, Americans would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 15 million vehicles, while saving nearly $10 billion.

To assist the County of Summit in achieving this goal, NACo will: assess the current energy performance of all office buildings, create an energy usage baseline for all structures, implement an ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager System, set goals, track savings and reward improvements.

The overall objective of the program is to earn an ENERGY STAR label (the symbol for superior energy performance) to post on county courthouses/office buildings.

To date, only three counties have earned an ENERGY STAR label for one or more of their county courthouses and/or office buildings through the NACo ENERGY STAR Courthouse Campaign.

“I would like to encourage all local businesses, government entities, organizations and building owners to participate in the ENERGY STAR challenge,” added Pry. “Together we can make a significant impact on our local environment.”

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that helps citizens save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

For more information on this program, go to the ENERGY STAR website at www.energystar.gov .