Riverside Ranked in EPA’s Top 25 Cities in Nation With Most Energy Star Certified Building 

Riverside – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Riverside is ranked number 22 in their top 25 list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most ENERGY STAR certified buildings.

“This is another exciting green milestone for our great city to reach,” said Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey.  “It helps to validate Riverside’s commitment to providing building owners and managers with the technical guidance, best practices, and training they need to make their buildings more energy efficient and create a more sustainable community.”

The EPA ranks cities on the list according to how many buildings in their area achieved ENERGY STAR certification in 2013. To qualify for the ENERGY STAR certification, a building must earn a 1 to 100 ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higher, indicating that it outperforms 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide.

In Riverside, 75 buildings met that standard, totaling over 8.5 million square feet providing cost savings of $7.2 million dollars while offsetting emissions equal to the annual electric use of 2,500 homes.

“Riverside’s ranking shows how America’s leading cities are embracing efforts to protect the environment and fight climate change,” said Jean Lupinacci, chief of the ENERGY STAR Commercial & Industrial program. “This partnership between cities and business leaders demonstrates the tangible benefits that result from embracing energy efficiency as a simple and effective way to save money, reduce emissions, and protect the environment.”

Launched in 1992 by EPA, ENERGY STAR is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Last year, with help from ENERGY STAR, American families and businesses have saved $30 billion on utility bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual electricity use of more than 38 million homes. Today, the ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 70 different product categories, 1.5 million new homes, and 23,000 commercial buildings and industrial plants.

For more information about the 2014 ENERGY STAR Top Cities list, visit www.energystar.gov/TopCities.  For more information about ENERGY STAR visit www.energystar.gov/buildings.

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