HOUSTON - The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) announced that it has partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star® program to help facility professionals improve building performance through energy conservation. The IFMA Energy Challenge: Energy Star encourages all facility professionals to work toward a goal of reducing their organization’s measured facility energy use by 15 percent. IFMA has created a master account within the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager and asks facility professionals to create their own accounts, add information about their facilities, and share that information with IFMA.

IFMA said that, by measuring facility performance in a consistent manner, benchmarking energy and utility use, and sharing and implementing efficiency measures and best practices, Energy Star can help organizations save money; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; improve facility performance; and qualify for tax incentives and rebates.

“EPA is very excited to work with IFMA as it rolls out its energy challenge. We applaud the association for calling on its members to achieve an aggressive energy reduction target and promoting the value of benchmarking as a key component of successful energy management,” said Alyssa Quarforth, program manager for Energy Star, Commercial Properties. “We have found that association-based initiatives such as IFMA’s can drive significant energy improvements across commercial buildings, while also promoting increased awareness of Energy Star and the value of strategic energy management.”

Facility professionals interested in tracking and reducing their buildings’ energy use are encouraged to download the IFMA Foundation’s free “Sustainability How-to Guide: EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager” publication at www.ifmafoundation.org/programs/sustain_wp.cfm for step-by-step instructions and tips on how to create their own account and share their information with IFMA. IFMA said it will not publicize the organization names of those who submit information, only relevant benchmarking data.

Publication date: 03/22/2010