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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Aug. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) has been selected to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings, which is designed to help improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings and protect the environment.Sears Holdings entered 122 Sears and Kmart stores that will battle it out against thousands of other teams representing buildings across the country. All efforts will be focused on eliminating waste through improvements in energy efficiency with help from the EPA's ENERGY STAR program.

"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."

The company has realized significant savings as a result of its previous entries into the Battle of the Buildings contest and three of our Kmart stores finished in the Top 15 Overall in the 2012 competition. Specific highlights include:

• Kmart in Gillette, Wyo. (store #4863) in 2012 finished sixth place overall, first place in the Big Box Retail category and second place in the general Retailer category
• Sears in Glen Burnie, Md. (store #1013) in 2010 finished in second place with an astounding 31 percent energy reduction
• Sears Grand in Cape Girardeau, Mo. (store #1822) in 2011 reduced energy consumption by 20 percent

The competitors in the 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition represent more than 25 different types of commercial buildings — such as retail stores, schools, hotels, and museums — and hail from all 50 states, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. More than 100 competing buildings are over 100 years old.

The EPA will maintain a devoted to the competition, featuring a list of the competitors and their ongoing results, a live Twitter feed where competitors will post updates on their progress, and a user-generated photo stream where competitors will upload pictures of their energy-saving efforts.

"Thousands of buildings across the country are going on energy diets with help from the EPA and ENERGY STAR," said Jean Lupinacci, director of EPA's ENERGY STAR Commercial Buildings Program. "Organizations like those competing in this year's National Building Competition are taking a bold step by putting themselves in the spotlight as they compete to protect the environment and save as much energy as possible."

Competitors will measure and track their building's monthly energy consumption using the EPA's ENERGY STAR online tracking tool, ; make improvements to their building's energy performance; and share their progress. Among the more than 3,200 competitors this year, the building or tenant space that demonstrates the greatest percentage-based reduction in energy use intensity will be recognized as the winner in April 2014.

According to EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and energy use at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with the EPA's ENERGY STAR program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere each year.  As an organization, SHC has reduced our electricity use by more than 1 billion kWh over the last six years. We have accomplished this through lighting retrofits, installing motion and occupancy sensors, and improving the HVAC equipment efficiency.

Watch the battle unfold:

For more information on Sears Holdings' environmental sustainability initiatives, visit or follow us on Twitter @EnviroSears.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer with almost 2,500 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada and the home of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, fitness equipment and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, with a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, the Kardashian Kollection, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as Sofia by Sofia Vergara and The Country Living Home Collection. We are the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually, and have a long-established commitment to those who serve in the military through initiatives like the Heroes at Home program. We have been named the 2011 Mobile Retailer of the Year, Recipient of the 2013 ENERGY STAR® "Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award" for Product Retailing and Energy Management and was named one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. Sears Holdings Corporation operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation. For more information, visit Sears Holdings' website at . Twitter: @searsholdings || Facebook:

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SOURCE Sears Holdings Corporation