July 2, 2007—The Austin-based affiliate of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) announced its endorsement of a program to reduce greenhouse emissions released by its members’ 35 million square feet of commercial office space.
The goal is to quantify local commercial building energy consumption through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Program and to implement measures to reduce greenhouse emissions, says the organization.
BOMA Austin will leverage the BOMA Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP), a collaborative effort with the EPA’s Energy Star Program, to reduce energy usage through no- and low-cost strategies. Members will be able to track their progress in collaboration with local utilities. BEEP’s best-practices strive to create a 30 percent in reduction energy usage in commercial buildings. BOMA Austin’s goal is to achieve this reduction in 90 percent of its member buildings over the next three years.
BOMA Austin’s move endorses and supports the BOMA International Environmental Task Force recommendation to create an energy conservation business plan that focuses on a strategy to transform the industry to reduce real estate’s greenhouse emissions and dependence on non-renewable sources of energy through voluntary measures.
BOMA Austin, the Austin-based affiliate of the Building Owners and Managers Association International, is a nonprofit, member-driven organization. For more information, see the Web site.
