by Shane Henson — February 27, 2013—As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to create clean energy jobs, lower energy bills, and cut energy waste in half for U.S. businesses over the next two decades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Johnson Controls, Macy’s, and Sprint are joining the Better Buildings Challenge.
Launched by President Obama in 2011, the Better Buildings Challenge supports commercial and industrial building owners by providing technical assistance and proven solutions to energy efficiency. It also brings together corporations, universities, municipalities, and other national leaders to make significant commitments to energy efficiency, reduce waste, and save on energy costs.
Johnson Controls, Macy’s, and Sprint have already embarked on company-wide energy-saving initiatives, and are now committing to even more significant energy reductions. As Better Buildings Challenge partners, the businesses will upgrade more than 200 million square feet of building space to cut their energy use by at least 20 percent by 2020.
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Johnson Controls has reduced the energy intensity of its U.S. manufacturing plants by 25 percent from 2002 to 2008. The company is committing to reduce its energy intensity reduction by an additional 25 percent in its 71 U.S. manufacturing plants covering 16 million square feet through 2019.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Macy’s has engaged in aggressive energy reduction measures through the development and use of its Energy Information System to monitor, analyze, and target key energy opportunities, and will continue to do so. Macy’s is also a leader in using light-emitting diode (LED) technology for accent lighting—replacing more than one million lamps over the last three years and reducing the energy used for this lighting by more than 70 percent. Macy’s has pledged to reduce energy use in 179 million square feet of its commercial real estate, leading to an energy savings of 20 percent by 2020.
Based in Overland Park, Kansas, Sprint is the first telecommunications company to join the program. Sprint’s 200-acre Overland Park campus is reportedly one of the most environmentally responsible campuses in the country. Sprint’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy relies primarily on reducing energy consumption but also on increasing use of renewable energy. Sprint is committing to increasing its absolute electrical energy reduction goal from 15 percent to 20 percent by 2017.
