Sears enters Energy Star's Battle of the Buildings competition

Sears will be among thousands of teams representing commercial buildings in this year's Energy Star Battle of the Buildings competition, a yearly event that encourages businesses to trim their energy consumption with a healthy dose of friendly fire.

"Sears Holdings is honored to be a part of the EPA's Energy Star National Building Competition for the fourth consecutive year," said David Rich, vice president of Retail Operations. "This year, we are dramatically increasing the number of facilities which we have entered into the competition and are looking to take our energy management program to the next level."

Sears Holdings has entered 122 Sears and Kmart stores to compete against the other entrants, which range from retail stores to schools, hotels and museums.

A website maintained by the EPA will track the competitors and their progress, as well as a live Twitter feed for competitors to post and a user-generated photo stream. The building to achieve the biggest percentage-based reduction in energy usage will be announced as the winner among more than 3,200 competitors next April.

Previously, three of Sears' Kmart stores finished in the Top 15 Overall category in last year's competition. Sears credits the competition with helping the company achieve significant savings in its energy consumption.