Washington, D.C. - Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado today joined Rep. Peter Welch in making his office carbon neutral.

With his announcement from Colorado, Perlmutter becomes Congress's second carbon neutral office.  In April, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced her plan to make the U.S. House carbon neutral by the end of the 110^th Congress.

For the announcement, Welch noted that "Ed Perlmutter is walking the walk in addressing the environmental and energy challenges we face.  As we work together in Congress to aggressively address global warming, we can and we must take immediate steps now to tackle this challenge.  Mr. Perlmutter has shown tremendous leadership with his Green Office Initiative, demonstrating that through strong local partnerships we can make meaningful progress."

For more on Welch's Carbon Neutral Initiative, visit: Welch announces 'carbon neutral' congressional office.

Perlmutter's full press release announcement is as follows:

CONGRESSMAN ED PERLMUTTER

415 Cannon HOB, Washington, DC 20515, (p)202.225.2645; (f)202-225-5277;

12600 W. Colfax Ave., Ste B400, Lakewood, CO 80215; (p) 303.274.7944; (f)303.274.6455

***PRESS RELEASE***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   
May 30^th 2007

Congressman Perlmutter Announces Carbon Neutral Office as Part of his Green Office Initiative

Calls on all Congressional Offices to become carbon neutral

Lakewood, CO-Today, Rep. Ed Perlmutter announced that his office has become carbon neutral as he unveiled his Green Office Initiative, an ongoing collaboration between public policy, research institutions and the business community to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. 

"My Green Office Initiative is a step in the right direction and proves that members of Congress, along with the research community and local business can all combine to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.  Quite simply, this initiative is good for national security, good for jobs and good for the climate," stated Perlmutter. "As a member of Congress we must lead by example and not just talk about renewable energy.  Every year we will recalculate our carbon footprint and try to reduce it.  I call on other members of Congress to make their office carbon neutral, and my staff and I will assist them in that process.  To fully wean ourselves from foreign oil and combat climate change we must take action."

There are three parts to the Congressman's Green Office Initiative:

1. Becoming Green: The Congressman's Congressional Office is carbon neutral. This was achieved by first calculating the CO₂ produced in running the day-to-day activities of a congressional office including air travel, daily commuting and driving to district events along with the heating, cooling and electricity used in both offices.  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated that 93 tons of carbon are produced in one year's activities.  Rep. Perlmutter has personally purchased $830 of Colorado based wind renewable energy credits to offset the unavoidable carbon produced by his office.

"This significant initiative by Congressman Perlmutter and his office shows clearly that we can effectively improve energy efficiency and use renewable energy to reduce the environmental impact of the buildings in which we work." said Robert Westby, Sustainable NREL Lead, who collaborated with the congressman and his staff in achieving carbon neutrality. "Such important measures as these are fast finding their way into the mainstream - proof that these efforts are not only environmentally sound, but are smart business practices as well."

2. Working Green:  The building in which the 7^th Congressional District Office is located is seeking LEED-EB Silver (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design-Existing Building) certification and will have photovoltaic (PV) panels placed on the roof to provide 2-3% of the building's energy needs.  The building which was designed by the RMH Group and is owned by Propp Realty, is a model of energy efficiency. The RMH Group, a sustainable engineering firm also residing in the building, originally designed the Golden Hill Office Centre with a myriad of energy efficiency features and was the catalyst to pursuing the LEED-EB certification and the PV array on the roof. 

Perlmutter stated, "I am proud to have my District Office in such an energy efficient building with renewable energy features in place.  I believe I am one of the first members of Congress whose office will reside in a LEED certified building which is the premiere green building standard."

"The technology has been available for many years to dramatically lower the energy consumption of commercial buildings in the U.S., but many building owners and developers have not focused reducing energy use.  It is time to change this focus to design and construct more efficient buildings that reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  The Golden Hill Office Centre on West Colfax was constructed over 20 years ago for the same cost as comparable buildings.  It uses 34% less energy than a conventional office building and, in the process, has avoided 48 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the last 24 years of operation" said Bill Green, President of The RMH Group.

"It is great to have Rep. Perlmutter's District Office in one of our properties.  By pursuing LEED-EB Silver status and placing the PV panels on the roof it definitely makes the Golden Hill office building an attractive building for present and future tenants.  If I can help the environment and make a good long term investment I will do so" stated Daryll Propp, owner of Propp Realty.

3. Promoting Green: As chair of the Energy Efficiency Task Force in the House Financial Services Committee, the Congressman is sponsoring legislation and supporting ideas in Congress to promote energy efficiency standards. The Task Force is currently meeting with groups and individuals to formulate ways to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in the financial services community.  Congressman Perlmutter submitted an amendment to the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007 allowing institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans more available to energy efficient housing.  This bill passed the House this month. 

Additionally, along with members of the Colorado Congressional Delegation and House leadership, Rep. Perlmutter helped secure an increase in funds to the Department of Energy for programs that fund NREL.  This is the flagship renewable energy research facility in the country and is located in the 7th Congressional District.

Furthermore, Rep. Perlmutter is a proud co-sponsor of legislation introduced by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) entitled the Carbon Neutrality Act of 2007, which allows legislative offices and executive agencies to use their budget to purchase greenhouse gas offsets or renewable energy credits to offset their carbon output. 

"Ed Perlmutter is walking the walk in addressing the environmental and energy challenges we face.  As we work together in Congress to aggressively address global warming, we can and we must take immediate steps now to tackle this challenge.  Mr. Perlmutter has shown tremendous leadership with his Green Office Initiative, demonstrating that through strong local partnerships we can make meaningful progress," said Welch, who joins Perlmutter as the only two members of Congress running carbon neutral offices.

Updates to Congressman Perlmutter's Green Office Initiative will be available soon on the Congressman's website, http://www.perlmuter.house.gov/.