stmichaeladelphi.org

Release Date: 11/02/2011Contact Information: Molly Hooven, Hooven.Molly@epa.gov, 202-564-2313, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the University of Central Florida (UCF) is the winner of EPA’s 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. In its second year, the competition featured teams from 245 buildings across the country in a head-to-head battle to save energy, reduce costs, and protect people’s health and the environment. UCF’s winning building was a parking garage on the university’s main campus where energy use was decreased by 63.2 percent. Together, competitors cut their energy costs by $5.2 million.

“All of the Energy Star National Building Competition participants are seizing the opportunities energy efficiency presents to cut pollution and save money. Congratulations to the University of Central Florida for leading the way,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Increasing energy efficiency is a key strategy for securing our nation’s energy future, and Energy Star can help everyone from homeowners and small businesses to big buildings cut energy use and protect health by reducing air pollution.”

From improvements in operations and maintenance to upgrades in equipment and technology, the competitors saved a combined total of more than 240 million kBtus of energy and $5.2 million on utility bills annually. Competitors reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by more than 3,600 homes. The top overall finishers and their percent-based reductions in energy use include:

University of Central Florida, Parking Garage C, Orlando, Fla. 63.2%
Twinsburg High School and Sports Complex, Twinsburg, Ohio 46.3%
Polaris Career Center, Middleburg Heights, Ohio 43.4%
Hartman Elementary School, Wylie, Texas 43.2%
Scientific Instruments, West Palm Beach, Fla. 42.2%
Fannie Mae Office Building, 3939 Wisconsin Ave., Washington, District of Columbia 34.6%
Office Depot, Plano, Texas 34.1%
North Suburban Medical Office Building, Thornton, Colo. 33.7%
Office Depot, Raleigh, N.C. 33.1%
Kokomo High School, Kokomo, Ind. 32.3%

The energy efficiency improvements achieved by UCF demonstrate that significant opportunities exist to save energy even in buildings that are not typically associated with sizeable energy use. Lighting accounts for the majority of energy consumed by an above-ground parking structure, therefore UCF focused their efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of the garage lighting. Improvements included upgrading the main garage to high performance T-5 fluorescent lights, retrofitting the top deck with light emitting diode (LEDs) fixtures, and adding motion sensors in the storage areas. In addition to cutting their energy use by 63 percent, UCF reduced their lighting bill for the parking garage by more than half due to improvements made during the competition. UCF is now spreading their successful strategies, as well as savings, to other buildings across the campus.

The 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition measured energy performance from September 1, 2010 through August 31, 2011. Competitors tracked their building’s monthly energy consumption using EPA’s Energy Star online energy tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. UCF won the competition by demonstrating the largest percent-reduction in energy use, adjusted for weather and the size of the building. The energy use intensity and square footage for each top overall finisher was verified by an independently licensed professional engineer or registered architect at the conclusion of the competition. This marks the second year a university has won the competition. In 2010, Morrison Residence Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill won the competition, reducing energy use by more than 35 percent.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with EPA’s Energy Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.

More information on the 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition, including top overall finishers and top finishers by building category: http://www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings
Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email

Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases

Get email when we issue news releases

View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.

Dubai: John Daly will add major excitement to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic when the PGA Tour veteran makes his first appearance in the $2.5 million European Tour event, starting at the Emirates Golf Club from February 9-12.

The presence of Daly, who will be playing on a sponsor’s exemption, will further bolster an already strong star cast for the event, studded with the ranks of three of the world’s four top-ranked players — Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer — besides victorious US Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples.

One of golf’s most colourful personalities, "Long Daly," as he is known for driving distance off the tee, can be devastating on his day with his grip-it-and-rip-it style of swing.

Hopeful

Article continues below

Cloud computing has become an important new tool for IT managers in controlling the cost and complexity of business-critical applications and data. Cloud computing is compelling to enterprises because it allows them to consolidate resources, provision services more quickly, and even rationalize costs more effectively with new business models.

To stay competitive and keep costs down, today’s enterprises need to consolidate resources, quickly provision services, and more effectively rationalize costs with new business models.

If done correctly, cloud computing can help solve these problems, and further help IT managers maintain business-critical applications and data. But there are numerous challenges that can prevent organizations from succeeding with cloud initiatives.

This solution brief addresses those limitations, and looks at how Riverbed Technology helps you overcome them.

This Riverbed white paper looks at:

• Improving infrastructure performance

• Private Cloud Services

• Public Cloud Services

• Accelerating Cloud Services

Release Date: 11/09/2011Contact Information: Environmental Protection Agency, Molly Hooven, Hooven.Molly@epa.gov, 202-564-2313, 202-564-4355, Natural Resources Canada, Patricia Best, 613-996-2007, 613-992-4447

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) have signed an agreement that will create a common platform for measuring and assessing the energy performance of commercial buildings in both countries. The agreement will harmonize the approach of the two countries by enhancing EPA’s existing Energy Star Portfolio Manager software tool to track and rate the energy performance of Canadian commercial buildings, in addition to buildings in the United States.

“This agreement between EPA and NRCan is part of a broad commitment to working together on energy efficiency, an important element of cleaning the air and securing our energy future,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We are glad that Canada selected EPA’s Portfolio Manager tool to support their national energy management program for existing commercial and institutional buildings, and we look forward to the benefits this new partnership will create for the health of our families, for our economy, and for our environment.”

“Energy benchmarking is an important aspect of an effective energy management strategy to improve energy efficiency in buildings because, what gets measured gets done,” said the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources. “This agreement is another example of how we are working with the U.S., through the Clean Energy Dialogue, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change."

The Clean Energy Dialogue (CED) was established by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper as a bilateral mechanism to strengthen collaboration on clean energy technology and innovation. Through the CED, Canada and the U.S. are accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy while enhancing energy security and revitalizing the economy by creating jobs in this emerging sector.

With a database of more than 250,000 buildings, representing nearly 27 billion square feet of commercial and institutional building space in the U.S., the popular Portfolio Manager tool provides both governments with solid, measurable information on energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions from commercial buildings.

Recent surveys show that there is a higher demand for energy-efficient buildings, with the most efficient commanding rental rates that are, on average, three percent higher per square foot and selling at prices that are typically 16 percent higher than other similar buildings.

Through the agreement, important enhancements will be made to Portfolio Manager, including the development of a Canadian-based energy performance scale and the addition of Canadian reference data (weather, energy and emissions factors and metric units). The tool will also be available in both official languages.

The agreement, developed under the U.S. Federal Technology Transfer Act, took effect on October 1, 2011 and will run through March 30, 2016.

More information on EPA’s program: https://www.energystar.gov/buildings
More Information on NRCan’s program: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/buildings.cfm
Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email

Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases

Get email when we issue news releases

View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.

Malawi, a largely agricultural country, is making efforts to overcome decades of underdevelopment and the more recent impact of a growing HIV-Aids problem.

Malawi has been urged by world financial bodies to free up its economy, and has it has privatised many loss-making state-run corporations.

Since 2007 the country has made real progress in achieving economic growth as part of programmes instituted by the government of President Mutharika in 2005. Healthcare, education and environmental conditions have improved, and Malawi has started to move away from reliance on overseas aid.

Its single major natural resource, agricultural land is under severe pressure from rapid population growth, although the government's programme of fertilizer subsidies has dramatically boosted output in recent years, making Malawi a net food exporter.

Tens of thousands of Malawians die of Aids every year. After years of silence, the authorities spoke out about the crisis. A programme to tackle HIV-Aids was launched in 2004, with President Muluzi revealing that his brother had died from the disease.

Release Date: 01/05/2012Contact Information: Nahal Mogharabi, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov, (213-244-1815)

(01/05/12) SAN FRANCISCO – Toxic chemicals managed, treated or released into the environment from facilities operating in Nevada increased in 2010 when compared to 2009, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The data comes from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, commonly referred to as TRI. It’s one of the EPA’s largest publicly available databases, providing communities valuable information on more than 650 toxic chemicals that are managed or released by various industries. The chemical information in the inventory is calculated by industrial facilities and reported to the EPA, as required by Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act..
“Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed the law that gave communities the ‘Right-To-Know’ about potential toxic hazards in their area,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The annual toxics report helps residents and local governments make informed decisions, and by working together with businesses, they can reduce chemical use.”
Total releases include toxic chemicals discharged by facilities to air, water, land, and underground, and the amount transferred off-site for disposal. Pollution controls apply to many of the reported releases. Reporting facilities must comply with environmental standards set by local, state and federal agencies.
Release data alone are not sufficient to determine exposure or to calculate potential risks to human health and the environment. TRI data, in conjunction with other information, such as the toxicity of the chemical, the release medium (e.g., air), and site-specific conditions, may be used in evaluating exposures that may result from releases of toxic chemicals.
Total TRI Releases for Reporting Years 2008 – 2010 (in pounds)

YearAirWaterOn-site LandUnderground InjectionOff-siteTotal

2008 1,555,488 160 196,366,905 01,810,650199,733,204

2009 1,666,516 118 179,544,500 01,602,689182,813,823

2010 1,509,948 1,293,701 472,142,276 01,927,538476,873,463

Data from 2010 in Nevada shows:

· 161% increase overall in total releases from 2009 to 2010 (294 million pounds released)
· Metal Mining comprises 98% of Nevada releases
· Arsenic and arsenic compounds made up 57% of Nevada’s reported releases in 2010
· 31% of total Nevada releases were “surface impoundments” and 61% were “other land disposal” categories.

Annual Toxics Release Inventory reporting began in 1988 after the enactment of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. The 25th anniversary of the act provides information to the public on annual toxic chemical releases reported by certain industrial and federal facilities. The TRI does not include data on toxic emissions from cars and trucks, nor from the majority of non-industrial sources, such as agriculture. In 2000, TRI expanded to include persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, or PBTs, at ranges from 0.1 grams to 100 pounds. PBT pollutants are toxic chemicals that remain in the environment and food chain, posing risks to human health and ecosystems.

Top 10 Nevada facilities

Facility NameCityCountyTotal Releases (in pounds)

1NEWMONT MINING CORP COPPER CANYON FACILITYBATTLE MOUNTAINLander 208,127,221

2NEWMONT MINING CORP TWIN CREEKS MINEGOLCONDAHumboldt 169,175,460

3BARRICK GOLDSTRIKE MINES INCELKOElko 29,261,541

4CORTEZ GOLD MINESCRESCENT VALLEYLander 24,308,733

5NEWMONT MINING CORP – C ARLIN SOUTH AREACARLINEureka 16,357,404

6RUBY HILL MINEEUREKAEureka 10,291,679

7JERRITT CANYON MINEELKOElko 4,433,257

8US ECOLOGY NEVADA INCBEATTYNye 3,433,319

9SMOKY VALLEY COMMON OPERATIONROUND MOUNTAINNye 1,933,852

10TRONOX LLCHENDERSONClark 1,628,068

TRI Explorer
TRI Explorer is a tool that you can use to see the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. It allows you to look at data by state, county, or zip code; by chemical; or by industry. It provides maps that you can click on to find TRI facilities, chemicals and industries in a particular area.

National TRI Findings:

The 2010 TRI data show that 3.93 billion pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment nationwide, a 16 percent increase from 2009. The increase is mainly due to changes in the metal mining sector, which typically involves large facilities handling large volumes of material. Several other sectors also reported increases in toxic releases in 2010, including the chemical and primary metals industries. Releases from electric utilities decreased between 2009 and 2010. Total air releases decreased 6 percent since 2009, continuing a trend seen over the past several years. Releases to surface water increased 9 percent and releases to land increased 28 percent since 2009, again due primarily to the metal mining sector.

EPA has improved this year’s TRI National Analysis report by adding new information on facility efforts to reduce pollution and by considering whether economic factors could have affected the TRI data. With this report and EPA’s Web-based TRI tools, citizens can access information about the toxic chemical disposals and releases into the air, water, and land that occur locally. Finally, EPA’s first mobile application for accessing TRI data, myRTK, is now available in Spanish, as are expanded Spanish translations of National Analysis documents and Web pages.
Please visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri/myrtk/spanish/index.htm

For more on the TRI program including additional city, county and facility information, please visit the EPA’s Web sites: http://www.epa.gov/tri, http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer and http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

State fact sheets are available at: http://www.epa.gov/region09/toxic/tri/ and http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm.

For more information on the PBT Chemicals Program, please visit the EPA’s Web site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt
###Follow the U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest region on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EPAregion9 and join the LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1823773/
Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email

Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases

Get email when we issue news releases

View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.