The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Johnson Controls, Inc. with a 2010 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award for its contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through its energy efficient products and services. The company’s accomplishments will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on March 18, 2010.

Johnson Controls, an Energy Star partner since the program started in 1992, is being honored for its work in efforts to help buildings meet  Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency. In 2009, Johnson Controls launched a major initiative to integrate Energy Star programs into the services it provides to its customers. The company trained approximately 425 field personnel in North America on Energy Star tools and applications. To complement this training, it added several new tools to facilitate  Energy Star benchmarking of its customer’s buildings and interpret the results. During that time, Johnson Controls benchmarked more than 900 buildings through the  Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool.

Johnson Controls also used  Energy Star in its internal branch operations in its “Energy and Sustainability Champions” project. Teams of field employees benchmarked 16 North American branch offices using  Energy Star Portfolio Manager. These teams then developed plans to further improve energy and environmental performance of these branches. “We’re especially pleased to receive this award in our 125th year of operations. There’s no better way to demonstrate our long-term commitment to energy efficiency – a practice started by our founder Warren Johnson in 1885 – than with the  Energy Star award,” said C. David Myers, president, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls.

“We believe that energy efficiency in buildings is the first and most important step to take to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Using  Energy Star is a great way for our customers to better understand their current energy performance, and how to improve it.” The  Energy Star Partner of the Year Awards are given to a variety of organizations to recognize their efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution.