LessEn Seeks to Lower Energy Consumption of Existing Commercial Buildings Worldwide

CHICAGO (November 17, 2010) — A national listing of energy efficient commercial buildings in the United States that are included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR program is now available on a new mobile phone application offered by LessEn, an Urban Land Institute (ULI) initiative to help lessen energy consumption in commercial buildings around the globe.

The ENERGY STAR database is one of several public data sets that LessEn is seeking to make available globally through the app, which can be downloaded to smart phones. Using augmented reality, the LessEn energy map and app overlays the ENERGY STAR registry onto the buildings in real time. The ENERGY STAR buildings are marked with a green arrow, enabling users to discover the location of any ENERGY STAR building in the area displayed on the screen.

A click through to the ENERGY STAR website will offer richer detail, including the size of the building, its age, and building performance information. Inclusion in the ENERGY STAR registry means that the buildings are considered to be in the top 25 percent of the nation’s building stock in terms of energy conservation.

The move to make the data available through a smart phone app was the result of a cooperative effort between EPA and ULI. The Institute is demonstrating the ENERGY STAR app database this week at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild conference in Chicago (ULI booth 1028). LessEn’s building energy data app debuted earlier this year with data from the U.K. government; and the addition of a building data set from Metropolitan Authority of Tokyo is planned.

LessEn is part of ULI’s ongoing efforts to highlight the role that the built environment can play in mitigating climate change. ULI is addressing the issue of land use and climate change through a variety of programs, including LessEn, which is a global information exchange created to facilitate the discussion of information regarding energy consumption of existing buildings.

The energy efficiency app is illustrative of LessEn’s information sharing process, said ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Phillips. “This new tool from LessEn has great potential in assisting land use practitioners who want the convenience of accessing building data from their smart phones. It is one of many ways ULI is raising awareness of green retrofits as a key component in energy conservation worldwide,” Phillips said.

“Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s buildings is critical to protecting our environment,” said Jean Lupinacci, Chief of the ENERGY STAR Commercial and Industrial Branch. “From the boiler room to the board room, organizations are leading the way by making their buildings more efficient and this new application is another great way to share this information with American consumers.”

Among the buildings on the LessEn energy map and app is the tallest building to earn the ENERGY STAR designation, the Aon Center in Chicago, the host city for this year’s Greenbuild.

The LessEn energy map already features more than 30,000 public and private buildings in England and Wales. The UK data distinguishes high-performance buildings with green arrows, average- performance buildings with amber arrows, and low-performance buildings with red arrows.

To download the LessEn app visit www.less-en.org.

For more information:
Trisha Riggs (for Urban Land Institute) 202-624-7086; [email protected]

Julie Kirby/ Michael Saxton, Greenpoint (for ULI United Kingdom)
+44 (0) 207 908 4116/4115. [email protected] / [email protected]

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

About LessEn
LessEn (www.less-en.org) is a global initiative by ULI to reduce energy consumption in existing commercial buildings. Based around a web portal, LessEn aims to become the world’s largest free resource of information, products and services for energy efficiency. It also aims to create the largest global community of individuals focused on reducing energy within the built environment. The goal of LessEn is to help achieve more energy efficient buildings.

About Energy Star
The Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) designation is available for 13 types of commercial buildings, including retail stores, hotels, schools, supermarkets and more. Twelve thousand buildings across the nation have earned the Energy Star rating for superior energy efficiency over the past decade, and the numbers continue to climb daily. Energy Star buildings typically use 35 percent less energy and emit 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than average buildings.