According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 47.6 percent of all energy produced in the United States is consumed by the building sector. With nearly half of our energy being used by buildings, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the vast opportunity to reduce consumption by encouraging building owners to trim their energy waste.

Kane County government recently joined the EPA’s ENERGY STAR National Building Competition for 2015. In this “Battle of the Buildings,” thousands of facilities all over the nation will compete to see who can save the most energy in 2015, compared to 2014. In past years, top finishers in the competition reduced their energy use by more than 25 percent!

This year, EPA has invited groups of five or more buildings to compete in teams. This is the first year that Kane County government will enroll a team in the Battle of the Buildings. The County’s inaugural team will include the Government Center in Geneva, the Health Department in Aurora, and the Judicial Center, Adult Justice and Juvenile Justice Centers in St. Charles.

The 2040 Energy Plan for Kane County, adopted in June 2011, encourages municipalities, institutional, commercial and industrial sectors throughout the County to set energy reduction goals for their facilities that will lead to both environmental and economic benefits. Kane County has established goals of reducing energy use in its government buildings by a minimum of 10 percent from the baseline year.

Kane County’s Facilities Department recently completed multiple HVAC upgrades and other maintenance activities that will help decrease energy use in several government buildings this year, and additional capital improvements planned for 2015 will continue to reduce electric and natural gas consumption in a range of County buildings.

“Approximately $2.5 Million will be invested during FY2015 in mechanical and infrastructure improvements that will help several County buildings operate more efficiently in the future,” explains Operations Executive Don Biggs. “These specifically include HVAC and mechanical projects which account for a large portion of expenditures.”

Participating in the Battle of the Buildings will give Kane County government an opportunity to highlight some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to help reduce energy consumption and save money in County operations.

The Battle of the Buildings competition officially launches in July 2015, but the results are based on energy savings for all of 2015. The EPA will maintain a list of the competitors and their results at www.energystar.gov/battleofthebuildings, and the Kane County Division of Environmental & Water Resources will continue to showcase the County’s sustainability efforts on its Sustain Kane website.