General Chemical Industrial Products (GCIP) building at New Jersey has earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) prestigious Energy Star, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. This is the third year in a row that the building has earned this prestigious certification.
Commercial buildings and industrial plants that rate in the top 25 per cent of facilities in the nation for energy efficiency may qualify for the Energy Star. Commercial buildings that earn the Energy Star use an average of 40 per cent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 per cent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Wells Real Estate Funds / Wells Real Estate Services at 120 Eagle Rock Avenue improved GCIP’s energy performance by managing energy strategically and by making cost-effective improvements to the building.
To earn the Energy Star for 2010, Wells Real Estate Funds / Wells Real Estate Services took the following actions, among others.
- Monitor building operations to ensure that all systems are functioning effectively and efficiently.
- Continue to replace / repair improperly functioning equipment.
- Upgrade heat pumps to lower energy rated units during capital replacement programme.
- Refine building rules to reflect energy saving opportunities.
- Replace inefficient lights in various locations with high-efficiency lamps and fixtures.
EPA’s national energy performance rating system provides a 1-to-100 scale that helps organisations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. A building that scores a rating of 75 or higher is eligible for the Energy Star. Energy Star was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today the Energy Star label can be found on more than 50 different kinds of products, new homes and commercial and industrial buildings. Buildings that have earned the Energy Star designation prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the government. In 2006, Americans, with the help of Energy Star, saved about $16 billion on their energy bills while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 27 million vehicles.