 HASC and Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR® Partner to Help Dharmic Places of Worship Become More Energy Efficient Washington DC, July 11th: On this auspicious day of Guru Purnima, we thank the great Vedic Gurus who from ancient times have held a light to remove the darkness of our ignorance. And in keeping with their teachings, HASC today announces a partnership with Energy Star®. The ENERGY STAR® certification is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program that helps businesses, congregations, and individuals save energy, save money, and protect the environment by generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical buildings. The Almighty is Omnipresent everywhere in the universe,
including planet earth (in the oceans, rivers, forests, mountains, air, water,
atmosphere, and space). Take only what you need from the bounties of planet
earth; sacrifice greed so every one's needs are also met; do not plunder, do not
hoard. Whose property is it after all? It all belongs to God. On the launch of the partnership with HASC, Jerry Lawson, National Manager, ENERGY STAR® Small Business & Congregations Network said, “EPA is very pleased to be officially partnering with HASC after our years of informal collaboration at White House conferences and other efforts that bridge America’s diverse faith communities. We very much look forward to providing all our free tools, training and tech support for energy efficiency, and to joining with HASC in celebrating the first temple to achieve ENERGY STAR® certification.” HASC will work to bring educational programs about ENERGY STAR® for our temples and their devotees to become energy efficient. One such tool is the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager®, which is a free online resource which can help a temple accurately assess their energy and water consumption so that they can develop strategies for greater efficiency, which will ultimately result in reduced utility costs. Both HASC and the EPA have outlined steps to achieve energy efficiency, in a joint flyer for Dharmic places of worship. Dr. Pankaj Jain, Director of HASC’s EcoDharmic Seva team highlighted "Ensuring our temples become ENERGY STAR® certified will not only result in lower greenhouse gas emissions, but also cleaner air for all of us to breathe. We have successfully demonstrated in Dallas Fort Worth, our temples can also save money by becoming energy efficient. Our team will continue to work hard to increase such awareness through education.” Calling on community and temple leaders, HASC Founder Anju Bhargava stated, “HASC’s partnership with EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program is a historic moment for our community. Our tradition shows our environmental leadership potential which can influence global climate change policies. We can surely achieve our values of conservation and energy efficiency through our temples and devotees. And mobilized youth can accelerate this effort exponentially. We request our temple and community leaders to share this informational bulletin and invite participation from the devotees and the youth to green the temple, their homes and their businesses.” HASC’s EcoDharmic Seva team is available to work with the temples and devotees in bringing this education to their places of worship and community centers. For additional information contact us at seva@hinduamericanseva.org. Media Contact: Ved Chaudhary, ved@hinduamericanseva.org, 732-500-8545/973-992-5210 |
