Prior to Verizon CommunicationsвЂ™ emergence as a high-profile Fortune 500 telecommunications conglomerate, Bell Atlantic (eventually to become Verizon) executives were establishing a commitment to environmental protection. Also a pilot partner in the EPA Climate Leader Program, a 2001-2002 winner of the Energy Star Award, a winner of the 2002 Climate Protection Award and 2001 Financial Times Global Energy Award, and recipient of various other forms of recognition, the c ompany has demonstrated a multi-layered dedication to improving its environmental impact through its energy use. Verizon Communications has been working closely as an Energy Star partner to develop the benchmarking tool, and is a leader in the telecommunications sector in the areas of energy conservation and clean energy procurement.

Furthermore, EPA projects savings of over $200 million a year and the prevention of 2 million tons of carbon emissions if telecommunications firms rise to this challenge with the help of the benchmarking tool. EPA claims that central office spaces use considerably more energy per square foot than any other commercial spaces. In particular, the benchmarking tool could be used to rate energy performance at central office spaces, or switching centers, to see how they compare to others nationwide on a scale of 1 to 100. Department of EnergyвЂ™s (DOE) Energy Star Program, promising that EPA would help companies develop a benchmarking tool to track energy use.

To support this activity, Whitman encouraged companies to join EPA and the U.S. In November 2001, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman introduced a challenge to the industry, calling for a voluntary 10 percent reduction in energy use. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the telecommunications industry spends over $2 billion every year to power its facilities. Introspective Energy Conservation StrategiesДЄccording to the U.S.

Verizon in home agent tool