NEEA was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) March 31 in Washington, D.C. with a 2009 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for its program delivery in both the residential and commercial sectors.

An ENERGY STAR partner since 1998, NEEA was honored for its work in 2008 to increase market share of ENERGY STAR qualified products, homes and buildings through comprehensive outreach, education and marketing efforts in both the residential and commercial sectors.

“EPA is pleased to recognize the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance for leadership in addressing global warming through greater energy efficiency,” said Kathleen Hogan, director of the climate protection partnerships division at the EPA. “NEEA has excelled at helping customers improve their efficiency, save money and better understand the steps they can take to help in the fight against global warming.”

NEEA’s commercial building initiative, BetterBricks, was honored for improving energy efficiency within the Northwest’s real estate and healthcare markets. As a result of BetterBricks outreach, real estate firms representing 27 million square feet of office space benchmarked energy use using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager in 2008. NEEA’s BetterBricks initiative also helped hospitals representing 25 percent of the region’s beds benchmark their energy use in 2008. Currently, hospitals representing 30 percent of the Northwest market now have clear energy management plans incorporated into their operations.

In the residential sector, NEEA’s Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes program was recognized for doubling its market share in 2008 despite the downturn in the economy. In addition, the Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes program, working with the Oregon Department of Energy and its utility partners, helped pave the way for upgraded residential energy codes in Oregon that are now 15 percent more efficient than the state’s previous code.

“NEEA is proud of our partnership with ENERGY STAR and our contribution to increasing energy efficiency,” said NEEA Executive Director Claire Fulenwider. “By leveraging the ENERGY STAR brand and its tools and by working together with electric utilities, we have made great strides in helping increase the number of energy efficient products, homes, businesses and high performance buildings throughout the Northwest."