EPA honors Kohl’s, Staples for sustained excellence in energy efficiency

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded its 2015 Energy Star Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence Award to Kohl’s Department Stores and Staples in recognition of the companies’ continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency initiatives.



Kohl’s: An EPA Energy Star member since 1998, Kohl’s currently has more than 950 Energy Star-certified locations totaling more than 80% of its stores nationwide, the highest percentage of certified stores among U.S. retailers. In 2014 alone, 122 Kohl’s stores received Energy Star certification, marking the largest number of stores the company has certified in one year since 2010.



“We’re proud of our continued commitment to driving energy efficiency across Kohl’s stores nationwide and this award for sustained excellence from EPA showcases our ongoing efforts to conserve resources,” said Ken Bonning, Kohl’s senior executive VP. “Not only has our dedication to energy-efficient practices enabled more than 100 Kohl’s stores to receive Energy Star certification in 2014, the average Energy Star score of a Kohl’s store has increased year over year – a great indication of our progress in this area.”



Kohl’s uses the Energy Star portfolio manager to track energy performance of all facilities, assess opportunities for enhanced energy performance and implement best practices. The company also constructs new stores with the intent to pursue the program’s “Designed to Earn” designation. These stores are eligible to earn Energy Star certification after maintaining superior energy performance for one year in operation.



Kohl’s has also set a goal through the Department of Energy Better Buildings Challenge to reduce its energy use in more than 112 million sq. ft. of occupied building space by at least 20% by 2020. Against this goal, Kohl’s achieved 12% reduction in energy use in 2013 and another 4.3% reduction in 2014.



In addition to this year’s award, Kohl’s received Sustained Excellence Awards in 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as Partner of the Year Awards in 2010 and 2011.



Staples: Staples has been an Energy Star partner since 2001. This is the fifth consecutive year the retailer has been honored with Energy Star Partner of the Year Award.



Staples achieved the certification of 625 buildings, and recertified 225 buildings in 2014. Staples was a strong competitor in the EPA Better Buildings Challenge committing to reduce energy intensity 25% by 2020 and to reduce its carbon footprint 50% by 2025.



Overall, Staples achieved an 11.3% portfolio-wide reduction in energy intensity over the past years with its energy efficiency program including green power investments providing 18 million kWh of clean energy from solar.



“Staples truly values our partnership with Energy Star,” said Bob Valair, director of energy and environmental management.” It’s exciting to see the impact we’ve made through energy efficiency in our portfolio of buildings and we remain committed to continuing our work to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment.”



Since its inception in 1992, Energy Star and its partners have helped prevent a total of more than two billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.