These awards, launched by the European Commission in 2000 and 2005 respectively, promote the reduction of energy consumption by public and private organisations on a voluntary basis. These initiatives count over 700 participants all over Europe, who save approximately 545 GWh each year. This is equivalent to the energy used by two mid-size European cities over the same period.

Managed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the GreenLight and GreenBuilding programmes are voluntary schemes that invite private and public organisations to reduce their energy consumption in their premises.

The two award ceremonies take place in Frankfurt on April 13 & 14 during the "Improving Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings" Conference (IEECB’10). A total of 24 participants receive awards in this 2010 edition for their results or their innovative projects. Decisions are based on their energy savings, technologies used and the sector they belong to.

GreenLight

Since its creation in 2000, the GreenLight initiative has recruited more than 500 partners from across Europe. By replacing old-fashioned lighting with modern, low-energy lamps, and by controlling the use of lighting, they have achieved total savings of 241 GWh/year. This corresponds to a saving of around €24 million in running costs and over 94 million kilograms of CO2 emissions per year.

GreenBuilding

The GreenBuilding initiative, created in 2005 following the success of the lighting initiative, has recruited over 185 partners. The 286 participating buildings save an estimated 304 GWh/year in primary energy, which corresponds to an average percentage saving of 41%.

These results have been achieved by a combination of measures, mainly by installing more efficient heating and air conditioning systems, followed by a better insulation of the building envelope and more efficient lighting. Harnessing solar and geothermal energy has also contributed.

All buildings built after 31 December 2020 must have high energy-saving standards and be powered to a large extent by renewable energy, thanks to an agreement reached by European Council and Parliament. This is due to energy efficiency package, which contains three proposals: an energy labeling Directive, a directive on labeling of tires and another on energy in buildings.