The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Commerce announced selections for three Centers for Building Operations Excellence that will receive a total of $1.3 million to create and deploy programs aimed at training building operators as part of the Better Buildings Initiative.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star program has announced the launch of the 2012 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. EPA said 3,200 buildings across the nation will be going head to head to improve energy efficiency, cut utility costs, and reduce emissions.

Hospitals use a lot of energy to save lives. To find ways to cut the energy intensity of large hospitals as well as schools and retail buildings by half, DOE’s Commercial Buildings Program and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are working together with ASHRAE and other members of the building industry.

Danfoss announced that it will sponsor and speak at GreenBiz Group’s Verge conference, Nov. 12-13, in San Francisco.

A surge in growth in energy-efficient building design, along with the increased complexity of construction projects, is accelerating demand for building commissioning services, which include not only initial building commissioning, but also recommissioning, retrocommissioning, and continuous commissioning.

Servidyne Systems LLC, a leading building optimization company focusing on energy efficiency and sustainability, has announced an expansion of its efficiency solutions to include a continuous improvement program called Active Fifth Fuel Management™.

Optimum Energy has announced the promotion of Ben Erpelding to chief technical officer and the appointment of four executives to its management team.

Carrier announced it is now offering an energy assessment program designed to assist small- to mid-size commercial building owners. The assessments identify energy drains in buildings and provide cost-effective recommendations to improve indoor comfort while reducing energy use and operating expense.