JCPenney Stores in Washington Earn Energy Star Label

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that four JCPenney stores in Washington State will receive the Energy Star label for their energy efficiency and environmentally conscious performance. The EPA says that the four stores save a collective three million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

In addition to reduced carbon emissions, the four stores also save the company nearly $250,000 in energy costs. Bob Meyers, the principal deputy assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said in the EPA press release, "JCPenney, a 2007 Energy Star partner of the year, is once again demonstrating that what is best for the environment can be best for your wallet."

The four JCPenney stores that have received the Energy Star label are located in Bellevue, Burlington, Puyallup, and Vancouver. The stores use over a third less energy than the typical retail stores, which translates to saving 35 percent of the typical carbon emissions for large retail stores in the region. The carbon saved is equal to the carbon emissions that result from the electricity use of approximately 200 households.

Earlier this month, the EPA had set the qualifications of retail buildings that hope to gain the Energy Star label as those buildings in the top 25 percent of similar buildings in the nation. The EPA also offers a Portfolio Manager tool that allows stores to track and rate their performance online in comparison to more than 400,000 retail stores.

Retail stores have the largest electricity bills of all commercial buildings in the US, and rank as the second highest greenhouse gases emission producers, percentage-wise. Not only does being energy efficient save the environment and provide a good marketing tool for consumers that support a green lifestyle, but the efficiency will also help a business' bottom line in cutting costs that the business must allocate for energy.

Other retail stores are eligible for the Energy Star label in addition to large retailers. Small retailers can also qualify if they are in the top 25 percent of small retailers in energy efficient practices. Other types of commercial buildings are also eligible as well as industrial buildings. Schools, hotels, factories, and even college dorms can receive the Energy Star label.

The Energy Star program was started in 1992 to designate everything from refrigerators to buildings such a homes and stores as energy efficient. The EPA credits the Energy Star program as helping save Americans more than $14 billion in energy costs, or the carbon emission equivalent of 25 million cars in the last year alone.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency