J.C. Penney earns Energy Star certification for over 500 stores

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney has secured Energy Star certifications in over 500 stores, one supply chain facility and its home office, far surpassing the company’s initial goal of having 400 locations certified by the end of 2013. (The Environmental Protection Agency awards Energy Star certification to buildings that rank within the top 25% of similar commercial buildings nationwide by meeting strict energy performance levels set by the EPA.)



"We are very pleased to be recognized with the 2013 Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award, an honor we’ve received five years in a row," said Katheryn Burchett, senior VP of property development. "Our stores that proudly display the Energy Star label generate fewer greenhouse emissions than non-certified structures, and each certified building saves the company thousands of dollars in energy costs every year."



The retailer has taken a number of initiatives to drive energy savings at the store level, including LED lighting retrofits in hundreds of locations, installing advanced metering technologies that track electricity usage and deploying in-store energy management systems. Additionally Penney has installed rooftop solar energy systems in 12 retail locations.



“J.C. Penney has long been a pioneer in corporate energy management, even becoming the first retailer to earn Energy Star for one of its stores in 2007,” said Jean Lupinacci, chief of the Energy Star program for commercial buildings and industrial plants.



In addition to Energy Star certification achievements, Penney has made remarkable strides in its 20 by 2015 initiative, which aims to reduce energy consumption by up to 20% per gross square foot by the year 2015. Within the first three years of the initiative, J.C. Penney has successfully reduced energy usage by nearly 17% resulting in the reduction of scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. This was reflected in the 2013 Carbon Disclosure Project climate change disclosure score of 76, which is a 17% improvement over the last reporting year.