May 5, 2008—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed two new agreements recently with manufacturers and information technology companies to promote energy efficiency.
The EPA is partnering with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to help improve the energy efficiency of manufacturers. Under the agreement, NAM will challenge its 14,000 member companies to reduce their energy use by 10% or more—a significant amount since the industrial sector uses a third of the energy in the US and is responsible for nearly a third of US CO2 emissions. EPA estimates that a 10 percent reduction would save manufacturers nearly $10.4 billion.
NAM notes that the partnership leverages the unique strength of US manufacturers as “the world’s leaders in energy efficiency and innovative green technology.” EPA will help NAM members develop and refine company-wide energy management programs, share best energy management practices, provide training, and recognize the energy efficiency achievements of NAM members. EPA believes corporate-wide energy management programs are the basis for securing and sustaining long-term energy savings.
EPA also signed an agreement with The Green Grid, a global consortium of companies dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing systems. The partners will optimize the energy efficiency of an existing EPA data center, and will then find ways to standardize the processes and performance measures developed there so that others can benefit from their experience.
For information on how EPA has already begun reducing energy consumption in its main computer center, see also “EPA reduces energy consumption in National Computer Center by 20% on FMLink.
