by Jonathan Hiskes
The EPA draws
inspiration from The Biggest Loser in a new competition that pits 14 buildings
against each other to see which can trim its energy usage the most.
The National
Building Competition is explicitly modeled after the weight-loss reality TV
show, spotlighting structures that include a 23-story Manhattan office
building, a San Diego Marriott hotel, a Colorado elementary school, and a Chapel
Hill, N.C., dormitory. The 200 applicants were required to use a host of energy-efficiency tools from the EPA and Department of Energy. The 14 contestants are having their energy use measured from September 2009 through this August. The
building that saves the most will be announced the winner on Oct. 26.
It’s an attempt to
inject a shot of drama into the, uh, titillating world of building efficiency.
It’s a really important policy sector, proven by the fact that it has charts
like this:
To back off from the
flippancy, building efficiency overhauls should be among
the least controversial of clean-energy improvements, since most steps pay
for themselves fairly quickly.
Here’s the EPA competition
explained by Bob Harper, who is apparently a guy from TV:
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