The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored 111 companies, nonprofits and other enterprises with Energy Star awards this week in the annual program that recognizes outstanding energy efficiency efforts.

The organizations receiving awards in a ceremony Tuesday represent a fraction of the more than 20,000 participants in the Energy Star program. The honors recognize work to offer more energy efficient products; design and construct efficient buildings and homes; improve efficiency of existing buildings, facilities and houses; and communicate the benefits of energy efficiency to employees, customers and the marketplace.

Outstanding efforts are awarded at three levels. In ascending order, they are the Energy Star Award for Excellence, the Energy Star Partner of the Year Award and the Energy Star Award for Sustained Excellence, the highest honor.

Forty-six companies, nonprofits and school district received the Sustained Excellence award, including nine that were six- or seven-time honorees. The seven-time winners were 3M and USAA Real Estate Company. CenterPoint Energy, General Electric Lighting & Appliances, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Osram Sylvania Inc., Transwestern, Whirlpool and Wisconsin Focus on Energy received their sixth award. Forty-four enterprises received Partner of the Year award, and 21 were awarded for excellence.

In the past decade, the benefits from Energy Star have more than tripled, according to the EPA (see chart below).

In 2010, Americans prevent more 170 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which the EPA estimated as being equivalent to preventing the annual emissions from 33 million vehicles.

Energy Star also resulted in an $18 billion savings in utility bills, according to the EPA.

More information on the program is available at www.energystar.gov.

Here is the list of 2011 Energy Star award winners:

Sustained Excellence Award Winners

3M (St. Paul, MN)
APS (Arizona Public Service) (Phoenix, AZ)
Advantage IQ, Inc. (Spokane, WA)
ArcelorMittal (Chicago, IL)
Austin Energy (Austin, TX)
Bentall Kennedy (Seattle, WA)
Bosch Home Appliances (Huntington Beach, CA)
CB Richard Ellis (Los Angeles, CA)
CalPortland Company (Glendora, CA)
CenterPoint Energy (Houston, TX)
Community Housing Partners (Christiansburg, VA)
Energy Education, Inc. (Dallas, TX)
Energy Inspectors (Las Vegas, NV)
Energy Trust of Oregon (Portland, OR)
EnergyLogic (Berthoud, CO)
Food Lion Family, Bloom, and Bottom Dollar Food (Salisbury, NC)
Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, MI)
GE Appliances & Lighting (Louisville, KY)
Gresham-Barlow School District (Gresham, OR)
Hines (Houston, TX)
ITW Food Equipment Group - North America (Troy, OH)
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (Plano, TX)
Joint Management Committee (Lexington, MA)
KB Home (Los Angeles, CA)
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (Mooresville, NC)
Merck (Whitehouse Station, NJ)
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity (Nashville, TN)
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (Albany, NY)
New York-Presbyterian Hospital (New York, NY)
OSRAM SYLVANIA (Danvers, MA)
Oncor (Dallas, TX)
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) (San Francisco, CA)
Pella Corporation (Pella, IA)
PepsiCo, Inc. (Purchase, NY)
Raytheon Company (Waltham, MA)
Saint-Gobain (Valley Forge, PA)
Servidyne (Atlanta, GA)
Southern Energy Management (Morrisville, NC)
Sponsors of Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc. (NEEP) (Lexington, MA)
Sunoco, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)
TIAA-CREF (New York, NY)
TRANSWESTERN (Houston, TX)
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (Erlanger, KY)
USAA Real Estate Company (San Antonio, TX)
Whirlpool Corporation (Benton Harbor, MI)
Wisconsin Focus on Energy (Madison, WI)

Energy Star Partner of the Year Award Winners

AEP Texas (Corpus Christi, TX)
Above and Beyond Energy (Wilmington, NC)
Andersen Corporation (Bayport, MN)
Citi (New York, NY)
Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH)
Colgate-Palmolive Company (New York, NY)
ComEd (Chicago, IL)
Constellation Energy/Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) (Baltimore, MD)
Continental Refrigerator (Bensalem, PA)
Design Tech Homes (Spring, TX)
Efficiency Vermont (Burlington, VT)
Electrolux Major Appliances (Charlotte, NC)
EnergyCAP, Inc. (State College, PA)
Evergreen Public Schools (Vancouver, WA)
FSL Home Improvements dba FSL Home Energy Solutions (Phoenix, AZ)
Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) (Gainsville, FL)
HEI Hotels & Resorts (Norwalk, CT)
Hanesbrands Inc. (Winston Salem, NC)
Home Creations (Moore, OK)
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (Elgin, IL)
Jones Lang LaSalle (Chicago, IL)
KPPC--Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center (Louisville, KY)
Kohl's Department Stores, Inc. (Menomonee Falls, WI)
LG&E and KU (Louisville, KY)
Loudoun County Public Schools (Broadlands, VA)
Manitowoc Foodservice (New Port Richey, FL)
Meritage Homes (Scottsdale, AZ)
Momentum, LLC (Boise, ID)
NVR, Inc. (Reston, VA)
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (Trenton, NJ)
New Mexico Gas Company (Albuquerque, NM)
Nissan North America, Inc. (Franklin, TN)
PNM (Albuquerque, NM)
Panasonic Home & Environment Company (Secaucus, NJ)
Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) (Tulsa, OK)
Questar Gas Company (Salt Lake City, UT)
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon, South Korea, )
Sears Holdings Corporation (Hoffman Estates, IL)
Staples, Inc. (Framingham, MA)
TexEnergy (Irving, TX)
The Boeing Company (Chicago, IL)
The E Group, a Division of FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (Akron, OH)
Wells Real Estate Funds (Norcross, GA)
Xcel Energy (Minneapolis, MN)

Award for Excellence Recipients

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan, )
Canon U.S.A., Inc. (Lake Success, NY)
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (Indio, CA)
DIRECTV (El Segundo, CA)
Habitat for Humanity of Elkhart County (Goshen, IN)
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver (Denver, CO)
Lennox Industries Inc. (Richardson, TX)
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) (Uniondale, NY)
Menards (Eau Claire, WI)
Metro Lighting (Brentwood, MO)
National Grid (Waltham, MA)
National Housing Trust (Washington, DC)
Nationwide Marketing Group (Winston Salem, NC)
New Hampshire CORE Utilities (Manchester, NH)
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (Raleigh, NC)
Orange County Environmental Protection Division (Orlando, FL)
San Antonio Housing Authority (San Antonio, TX)
Scotsman Ice Systems (Vernon Hills, IL)
Sharp Electronics Corporation (Mahwah, NJ)
Southern California Edison Company (Rosemead, CA)
Utah Building Energy Efficiency Strategies (Salt Lake City, UT)