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Energy Efficient
Products
Energy Efficient
ProductsENERGY STAR products are independently certified to save energy without sacrificing features or functionality. Saving energy helps prevent climate change. Look for the ENERGY STAR label to save money on your energy bills and help protect our environment.
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Energy Savings
At Home
Energy Savings
At HomeImproving your home's energy efficiency with ENERGY STAR can help to reduce high energy bills, improve comfort and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Let us help you — whether you do-it-yourself or hire a qualified professional.
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Energy Efficient
New Homes
Energy Efficient
New HomesA new home that has earned the ENERGY STAR label has undergone a process of inspections, testing, and verification to meet strict requirements set by the US EPA. ENERGY STAR certified homes use 15-30% less energy than typical new homes while delivering better comfort, quality, and durability.
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Energy Strategies for
Buildings & Plants
Buildings
& PlantsImprove financial performance and reduce carbon emissions with EPA's strategic energy management approach.
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Buildings & Plants
Getting Started for...
Home > Buildings & Plants > Higher Education > Give Your Students an Edge: Add ENERGY STAR to Your Course Catalog
Give Your Students an Edge: Add ENERGY STAR to Your Course Catalog
The ENERGY STAR college course gives your students practical, hands-on experience with commercial building energy efficiency. EPA provides everything you need to bring commercial building energy efficiency to the classroom—including suggested readings, a syllabus and course outline, class materials, lecture presentations, and a student project.
Download the course materials to add this offering to your course catalog, and give your students an edge in the green workforce.
Why teach energy efficiency?
The energy used in the buildings where we work, play, and learn is responsible for nearly half of U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, so reducing energy use helps to protect the environment. But energy efficiency is not just good for the environment, it's also good for the bottom line of any organization, since ENERGY STAR labeled buildings use 35 percent less energy on average than typical buildings. These savings in energy mean lower utility bills. Thirty percent of Fortune 500 companies and numerous environmental leaders nationwide are partnering with ENERGY STAR to cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint through energy efficiency.
Understanding the importance of energy efficiency in commercial buildings, and how to make cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, is a valuable and marketable skill for your students in any economic climate.
What is this course?
Piloted in Spring 2010 at Metropolitan Community College of Omaha, NE, Introduction to Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Through EPA's ENERGY STAR Program is a college-level offering for students interested in gaining practical, hands-on experience with building energy efficiency. EPA is making it available to all interested colleges, universities, schools, associations, and organizations. The course may be structured as a quarter, semester, or trimester offering, and individual units or groups of units may also be grouped into shorter courses, seminars, or workshops.
What does it cover?
The course introduces students to the opportunities for improving commercial building energy efficiency in the context of EPA's well-known ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR is recognized by more than 75 percent of Americans and has saved consumers and businesses over $18 billion on utility bills annually.
During the course, students learn about: the linkages between commercial building energy use and climate change; methods of assessing the energy use of buildings; strategies for improving building energy efficiency; and approaches to expanding building energy efficiency efforts within their community. Students also complete a class project, in which they apply their classroom knowledge by assessing the energy efficiency of a local community building and identifying potential energy efficiency measures to implement.
Where do I start?
Review and download the course materials to get started today! For more information, please contact Caterina Hatcher, ENERGY STAR National Manager for the Public Sector, at hatcher.caterina@epa.gov.
