The following is from a Pierce County press release:

May 1 marks the kickoff of Pierce County’s courthouse energy reduction challenge against Kitsap County.

The county courthouse is going head-to-head with Kitsap County’s courthouse campus to see which building can save the most energy over the next 31 days. In support of Pierce County’s new energy conservation policy and goal to reduce energy use by 15 percent, employees will be working together to reduce energy use in the County-City Building and beat Kitsap County!

The County-City Building has already been successful at reducing energy use by 7 percent since 2009, which has accounted for 1.3 million kWh in electricity savings. The amount of energy saved has offset the building’s greenhouse gas emissions by 912 metric tons, which is equivalent to the emissions generated from the consumption of 102,249 gallons of gasoline.

The building has undergone various energy efficiency upgrades, including a window project that better insulates the building, new LED lighting that uses a fraction of the energy, upgraded HVAC equipment, and the implementation of efficient and sustainable building operations. Even though we’ve been successful in reducing energy consumption, we still have many opportunities to save energy right at our own desks.

Let’s not only beat Kitsap County, but also reduce our energy use in all buildings by following these energy saving tips!