Leadership
GM, Samsung, Best Buy Receive 2014 EPA Energy Star Partner of the Year Awards

General Motors, Samsung and Best Buy are among the 127 organizations to receive 2014 Energy Star Partner of the Year Awards, which the Environmental Protection Agency awards to organizations that have demonstrated innovative strategies to help customers, partners and stakeholders to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy-efficiency projects.

Other recipients include Meritage Homes Corporation, PepsiCo, Sears, 3M and LG Electronics.

The winners were selected from 16,000 Energy Star partners, including manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies and home builders, for their dedication to protecting the environment through greater energy efficiency.

In addition to the 45 organizations receiving the Partner of the Year award — for strategically and comprehensively managing their energy use, promoting Energy Star products and practices in their own operations, and providing efficient products and services to consumers and within their community:

• 72 companies are being named Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence winners, for continue to exhibit exceptional leadership year after year in the Energy Star program
• 10 Partner of the Year — Climate Communications winners have raised their customers’ awareness of the impacts of climate change and the effectiveness of energy-efficient behaviors
• Nine Excellence winners are receiving awards in part for their superior efforts in the Home Performance with Energy Star program. The remaining organizations are receiving Excellence Awards for specific activities to promote energy-efficient products, homes, or buildings

“Each year, Energy Star partners create jobs, protect the environment and raise the bar for the home-improvement industry through their dedication to energy efficiency,” said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson. “This national program helps homeowners by providing access to innovative home-improvement solutions and enabling American families to save money by saving energy.”

Products, homes and buildings that earn the Energy Star label prevent GHG emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency requirements set by the US EPA. From the first Energy Star-qualified computer in 1992, the Energy Star label can now be found on products in more than 70 different categories, with more than 4.5 billion sold. Over 1.5 million new homes and 23,000 office buildings, schools and hospitals have earned the Energy Star label. Since the Energy Star program began, American families and businesses have saved $297 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions with help from Energy Star.

See the complete list of winners here.

In related news, Honda recently unveiled its net zero energy "Smart Home" on the University of California Davis campus. The building, which is meant to demonstrate Honda's vision for zero-carbon living and personal mobility, includes a charging facility for a Honda Fit EV, and will on average generate more electricity from on-site renewable energy than it receives from the local utility.

And across the pond, Unilever, Philips, 3M and several other members of the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) recently signed a letter sent to the European Commission calling for a new set of competitiveness objectives to exploit all possible cost-effective energy-efficiency opportunities by 2030.