The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named Citigroup a 2011 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. Citi is the only bank to have received this prestigious award this year, which honors organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency.
The company's accomplishments include dozens of efforts focused on making conservation and sustainability integral to the business. In just a few examples, Citi has:
The benchmarking concept that the EPA's ENERGY STAR program advocates has been enormously important in helping Citi identify energy management best practices to be shared across the company's real estate portfolio. The bank has also been using the ENERGY STAR score to prioritize buildings for capital improvements and retrofits.
Citi began measuring the environmental impact of its buildings and released its first environmental footprint reduction goal in 2006, aiming for a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by year-end 2011. Last year, Citi Realty Services set additional targets for 2015, including further reductions in GHG emissions, waste and water use.
The EPA's nod is the latest in a series of green honors for Citi, including recognition from Newsweek, The Banker, Bank Technology News and IDG's ComputerWorld magazines for various aspects of the company's environmental initiatives.
"ENERGY STAR and banking go hand in hand," said Don Callahan, Citi's Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Operations & Technology Officer. "We believe we have a responsibility to do what we can to reduce our environmental footprint. The EPA recognizes that companies in any industry should play a role, and that companies of Citi's size can be leaders, significantly impacting climate change through innovative programs and employee engagement."