EPA Recognizes Sears Holdings With 2013 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., March 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) with a 2013 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. This year, Sears Holdings is being awarded for both its role as a retailer of ENERGY STAR certified products and for energy management in its stores. Sears Holdings' accomplishments will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2013.

Sears Holdings, an ENERGY STAR partner since 1998, will be honored for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency. Sears Holdings demonstrates impressive commitment to providing a wide-array of ENERGY STAR products and services, along with superior energy management across its building portfolio, coupled with enhanced associate and consumer education to drive awareness and adoption of energy efficiency and climate protection. The company's related accomplishments last year include:

• Energy Savings: In 2012, Sears Holdings' total weather normalized source energy usage decreased by 2,872,416,518 kbtu, a reduction of more than 7 percent over last year. Additionally, the company reduced average weather normalized source energy intensity to 133.9 kbtu/sqft, a 7.1 percent reduction over 2011. This reduction of EUI was made possible by energy savings across all of the Sears Holdings formats. Furthermore, the company reduced electricity usage by nearly 220,000,000 kWh, a 6.6 percent savings over the previous year.
• Product Selection: The introduction of the Kenmore Connect platform was among interesting developments at Sears in 2012. Sears looks forward to the continued expansion of the platform in the future and the potential for integration with the ENERGY STAR program and overall energy efficiency.  Additionally, Sears also experienced growth across its portfolio in the Most Efficient program and now offers 48 clothes washers and 11 refrigerators. This is a differentiation that is important in continuing to be a market leader with ENERGY STAR.
• Marketing: In 2012, the company continued to communicate its environmental leadership to its SHOP YOUR WAY Members and customers through its dedicated Sears and Kmart green websites (Sears.com/green and Kmart.com/green). Social media has also remained a feature of Sears strategy this year it utilized company Facebook, Twitter and team specific Twitter channels to deliver its sustainability message.
• Partnership: Sears' strong relationship with local utilities differentiates the company from other retailers. Through Sears Green Leadership team, it is able to capitalize on these relationships to drive traffic to its stores and generate awareness for the ENERGY STAR brand.

"EPA is recognizing Sears Holdings for earning EPA's highest ENERGY STAR award - the 2013 Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award," said Bob Perciasepe, Acting Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Sears Holdings leads the field with its commitment to energy efficiency and demonstrates how all Americans can save energy, save money, and create a healthier environment."

Across the U.S., top companies and organizations are leading the way toward a more energy-efficient future through their participation in ENERGY STAR.

Over the last 20 years, with help from ENERGY STAR, American families and businesses have saved more than $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

"The ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award is a validation that we are focused on the right things — our Members and customers, and making their lives better," said Ron Boire, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Sears Full Line Stores and Kmart Formats. "One of our greatest priorities is to provide our shoppers with meaningful savings. ENERGY STAR products, particularly appliances, deliver financial benefits over a product's lifetime. We are very proud to be recognized for our longstanding commitment to supporting and promoting ENERGY STAR. We will continue the tradition of celebrating our associates', our Members and customers' conservation efforts."

Sears' commitment to ENERGY STAR qualified products provides its SHOP YOUR WAY Members with the most rewarding and cost-effective solutions that they can purchase across all integrated retail channels: store, online, phone and home.  Furthermore, Sears is actively pursuing strategic partnerships with other prominent ENERGY STAR partners to offer exclusive product promotions for its SHOP YOUR WAY Members.

The 2013 Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Awards are given to a select group of organizations that have exhibited outstanding leadership year after year. These winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving aggressive goals, and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches. These awards recognize ongoing leadership across the ENERGY STAR program, including energy-efficient products, services, new homes, and buildings in the commercial, industrial, and public sectors. Award winners are selected from the nearly 20,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation is a leading integrated retailer with over 2,600 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 15 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 2012 ENERGY STAR® "Corporate Commitment Award" for Product Retailing and Energy Management and 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 www.searsholdings.com.  Twitter: @searsholdings || Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SHCCareers

About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, ENERGY STAR offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy, money, and help protect the environment for future generations. Nearly 20,000 organizations are ENERGY STAR partners committed to improving the energy efficiency of products, homes, and buildings. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Sears Holdings Public Relations
(847) 286-8371

Kristinn Vazquez
ENERGY STAR
(202) 343-9062
Vazquez.Kristinn@epa.gov

SOURCE Sears Holdings Corporation