In 2010 alone, 6,200 commercial buildings across the nation earned an Energy Star rating. This is a significant (nearly 60 percent) increase from 2009. The EPA explains that these Energy Star rated buildings are saving $1.9 billion in energy costs every year, all while helping to protect the environment.

If your organization is interested in monitoring your energy usage and applying for an Energy Star label, consider learning more about our energy star compliance program!

Energy Star provides some great tips on how to make green offices a reality on their Bring Your Green to Work website. The website offers checklists, videos, and even an interactive cubicle to determine how you can reduce your energy usage. Simple things such as changing the light bulb on a desk lamp or disconnecting your power strip when leaving the office can have an impact on your office’s total energy usage.

Creating a “green team” with co-workers can also help to make this impact more noticable. Posting reminders around the office, gaining support from upper management, and holding monthly meetings are just a few ways to promote energy conservation to other co-workers.

Current participants in the Energy Star Challenge are diverse, ranging from multifamily housing properties and corporate office complexes to hospitals and retail centers. In fact, Energy Star currently works with over 17,000 public and private sector organizations. Verizon Wireless has even recently signed on as a high profile Energy Star participant in late November. Click here to see a full list of all energy star partners!

Participating in the Energy Star Challenge is an excellent way for your organization to take responsibility by conserving energy, all while becoming recognized by an environmentally friendly public. According to a recent blog post from our partners at WaterWatch Corporation, the number of renters interested in living in green properties is steadily on the rise.

Interested in learning more about how your organization can benefit from the Energy Star Label? Contact UBM today!

A screen capture of the Breathingearth.net interactive map.

Interested in decreasing your carbon footprint? Utility Bill Manager provides organizations with carbon emissions reporting so your business can determine its impact on the environment and learn how to decrease it.

For even more blog updates, check out our partners at WaterWatch Corporation!

Nature.org offers a carbon footprint calculator that determines your individual carbon footprint based on a variety of lifestyle choices.  Some of the lifestyle choices include the number of people you live with, the type of car you drive, and food consumption habits. The site also provides helpful hints for those interested in decreasing their carbon footprint.     

Visit the Nature.org today for to calculate your personal carbon footprint, or feel free to contact Utility Bill Manager to learn more about how our carbon emissions reporting services can benefit your organization.

The practice of vacant unit theft is all too common. In Michigan alone, nearly 70,000 homes and businesses are currently stealing electricity and natural gas in some manner. A large amount of these cases have been attributed to vacant unit theft in the city of Detroit.

While much of the vacant unit theft comes from poor residents in the area who are squatting in vacant units, energy theft isn’t exclusively associated with poverty. Detroit officials claim that there are also a large amount of tenants with the funding to pay utility bills who instead choose to steal their utilities for as long as possible.

Organizations across the nation are battling the costs associated with vacant utility theft. If you manage a multitude of properties and are worried about the high costs associated with vacant unit theft, consider contacting us to learn about UBM’s vacant unit cost recovery program.

In our Utility Bill Manager blog, we will provide you with valuable insider information about UBM and the energy management industry as a whole. Each of our posts will aim to help your organization decrease utility related stresses, save money, and become more energy efficient. Check back frequently for website resources, industry news, and energy management tips from our experienced staff!

Interested in learning more about UBM? Be sure to visit the services portion of our website to learn about all of our utility management and payment processing solutions!