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Buildings are huge energy hogs.

In the United States, they consume approximately 42 percent of the nation’s primary energy, 72 percent of its electricity and 34 percent of its directly used natural gas – more energy than is consumed by every other country in the world except China and the U.S. as a whole, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Locally, several stakeholders have teamed up to create a competition – the Kilowatt Crackdown – in which building users vie to save the most power. Results from 2013 were announced recently; the 64 participating Portland-metro commercial buildings account for 15 million square feet, and together saved 4.1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

The goal of the program is to spur adoption of energy efficiency best practices by pairing building owners and managers with experts who can help identify opportunities for savings. For instance, in the 1000 Broadway building, managers installed dampers and adjusted air-conditioning discharge pressures to reduce overnight costs, and also added LED lights to the lobby and garage.

In a prepared statement, Diane McMahon, president of 1000 Inc., which manages the 1000 Broadway building, said the Kilowatt Crackdown advisers understood the nuances of her building, and were passionate and proactive in providing energy savings options. In addition to the financial savings the building realized, McMahon said her tenants saw value in the owner’s environmental consciousness. That’s a big motivator for many building owners.

Kilowatt Crackdown is a joint effort between the Energy Trust of Oregon, Clark Public Utilities, the Building Owners and Managers Association of Oregon, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the city of Portland, and the Portland Development Commission.

More information about the competition is available at .

While competition organizers are not allowed to share proprietary energy savings information for each building, the results of the competition are:

Highest-performing buildings for first-year participants:

First place – Bonneville Power Administration headquarters, managed by the Bonneville Power Administration

Second place – Multnomah Building, managed by Multnomah County

Third place (tie) – Forum Building, managed by Oregon Pacific Properties; and World Trade Center Portland, managed by World Trade Center Properties/Portland General Electric

Highest-performing buildings for returning participants:

First place – Congress Center, managed by Shorenstein

Second place – Liberty Centre, managed by Langley Investment Properties

Third place – Oregon Square 729, managed by American Assets Trust

Most improved buildings for first-year participants:

First place – The Reserve, managed by Harsch Investment Properties

Second place – McGillivray Place, managed by Melvin Mark Co.

Third place – 1000 Broadway, managed by 1000 Inc.

Most improved buildings for returning participants:

First place – The Portland Building, managed by city of Portland

Second place – Pacwest Center, managed by Langley Investment Properties

Third place – Portland City Hall, managed by city of Portland

Jury awards:

Most Aggressive – OHSU Center for Health and Healing, managed by CBRE

Energy Efficiency Champion – Ty Barker, general manager, Unico Properties LLC