GLENDALE, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 20, 2013) - American Realty Advisors is announcing that sixteen properties, acquired and managed on behalf of its clients, will be among more than 3,200 participants competing in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings.

The competition serves as a platform for organizations to showcase their efforts to improve energy efficiency and promote environmental sustainability. In the spirit of popular weight-loss competitions, American's sixteen properties, located nationwide, will "battle it out" against the top competitors across the country to "work off" energy waste through creative improvements in usage and efficiency with help from the ENERGY STAR program.

"American takes great pride in the assets we acquire and manage on behalf of our clients. Energy efficiency, water conservation, and sustainable building practices are a key component of the value we provide to our clients," said Scott Darling, President and Executive Managing Director, Portfolio Management. "This competition is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to best practices in sustainability metrics, as we cut energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and increase the savings to our clients."

The teams in the 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition represent more than 25 different types of commercial buildings -- retail stores, schools, hotels, hospitals and more -- across all 50 states, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. The competitors range from a General Motors warehouse in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to the St. Louis Cardinals' Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, to the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

EPA will maintain a website devoted to the competition, www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings, featuring a list of competitors and their "weigh-in" results, a map of competitor locations, a live Twitter feed where competitors can post updates on their progress, and a user-generated Flickr photo stream where competitors will be able to upload pictures highlighting their energy-saving efforts.

"Thousands of buildings across the country are going on energy diets with help from 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 monthly energy consumption using EPA's ENERGY STAR online tracking tool, Portfolio Manager; make improvements to their building or space'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!

American Realty Advisors is taking the following steps to reduce energy by:

• performing lighting retrofits

• upgrading energy management systems

• performing other material retrofits that will reduce energy consumption

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% of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted. Thousands of businesses and organizations work with 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.

Watch the battle unfold at www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings

American Realty Advisors
American is an investment advisor, and a leading provider of real estate investment management services to institutional investors. With over $5.7 billion in assets under management, American has provided real estate investment management services to institutional investors for over 25 years utilizing core and value-added commingled funds and separate accounts. The firm's portfolios include office, industrial, multi-family, retail and other properties nationwide, all of which are managed on behalf of American's clients. Information regarding American can be found at www.americanreal.com.