By Kevin McCarty
May 24, 2010

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded its webinar series May 13. The session examined how ENERGY STAR tools and resources can support local initiatives under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program.

Conference of Mayors Executive Director and CEO Tom Cochran praised EPA and its program staff for their support of the Conference of Mayors and its efforts to support cities in utilizing ENERGY STAR tools and resources in their EECBG programs. “ENERGY STAR resources match up well with the programs and projects being funded by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program,” Cochran stated. Expressing appreciation for the agency's support of this initiative, Cochran reminded webinar participants that, “EPA's ENERGY STAR staff make themselves available to support your efforts.”

Providing an overview of all available ENERGY STAR resources to support cities in their EECBG programs, Leslie Cook, Public Sector Manager with the ENERGY STAR Program, said, “Now that most of you are getting through the grant process… EPA is now working to match up ENERGY STAR resources with what we know you are doing.”

Cook noted that the top categories of project activity identified in recent Conference of Mayors survey are areas where ENERGY STAR tools are available and can help support local programs, specifically municipal building retrofits, private sector building retrofits, residential energy efficiency programs, community outreach and purchasing and promotion of ENERGY STAR-qualified products. “Many of your priorities cover the topics and goals that we also have in the ENERGY STAR program.” Cook also reminded the webinar participants that, “Everything coming out of EPA's ENERGY STAR office is free, and you can use these to promote to people in your community.”

Portfolio Manager Key Resource Among ENERGY STAR Offerings

As reviewed in the previous two webinars, Cook explained how ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager is especially important to city EECBG programs since “existing building retrofits are a huge priority” and it is designed to be used with all commercial buildings, including police and fire stations and even convention centers.

This tool, she said, can help cities “assess which buildings are top performers and where poor performing buildings are.” She also pointed out that this tool can be a key part of city efforts to track energy savings, costs, water use and C02 reductions, capabilities that can satisfy requirements to report performance to the Department of Energy on the use of EECBG funds.

She also reiterated how Portfolio Manager is being used to underpin major communitywide initiatives, such as the Kilowatt Crackdown programs in Louisville (KY) and other cities.

In her presentation, Cook highlighted the many ENERGYSTAR tools that are now available and how they can be deployed in advancing specific local initiatives being funded under the EECBG program. In concluding her remarks, she emphasized that, “ENERGY STAR resources can be integrated into existing program or used to launch stand-alone programs.”

For information on available ENERGY STAR tools and resources, please go to www.energystar.gov, and for more information on the webinar series, including presentations and archived sessions, please go to www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/energystar.