MNN - Mother Nature Network

Last night I was watching Ecopolis, a show on the Science Channel, and one segment focused on energy efficient power options for commercial buildings.  The show reported that two-thirds of the world's energy use comes from buildings.  Much of this power is fossil fuel reliant.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency has a program to help recognize companies that use eco-friendly energy in commercial buildings, the 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. " Source: EPA

The EPA recognizes companies that lead the way in purchasing green power and even has a category for companies that purchase enough green power to meet 100 percent of their annual electricity use.  Companies that meet this 100 percent goal use the following types of green power:  Renewable Energy Certificates, on-site power generation and/or green power products from the utility company.

 

The ranking is updated quarterly and the most recent results were published earlier this month.  PepsiCo tops the list with 1,144,773,154 kWh of 100 percent green power purchased.  Dell Inc. comes in a distant second with 553,708,000 kWh purchased. 

 

Other interesting organizations on the list include the city of Santa Monica, Calif., the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Eagles and Burt's Bees. To see the entire list, visit the EPA website.

 

Builders need to focus on utilizing green power options in commercial buildings as this provides them with an opportunity to make a significant impact on the world's overall energy use.