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energy use and greenhouse gas emissions," said Maria Vargas, the Energy Department's director of the Better Buildings Challenge. The marathon was created in part due to the success of Legrand's own Power Down Day held in November 2012, which challenged employees across all sites to reduce energy consumption by as much as possible in a single day. "The results were pretty dramatic and the competition created quite a buzz across the company," said Susan Rochford, vice president for energy effi- ciency, sustainability and public policy for Legrand North America. "We had fun, we'd raised aware- ness, and we saved energy. But a one-off event is not sufficient if the goal is to achieve lasting energy behavior change." For the marathon, each Le- grand site captured a baseline reading of electricity consump- tion on the same day and same time last September from which the company could measure energy savings from Oct. 1-27. The winning site reduced energy consumption by 63 percent and the company overall reduced energy consumption by 15.5 percent and saved $47,000 in energy expenses. "Legrand is sharing lessons learned from its expe- rience with the marathon so that other companies can host similar events," Vargas said. Since 2011, Legrand has participated in the Better Buildings Challenge, an initiative launched by President Barack Obama that supports a goal of doubling Ameri- can energy productivity by the year 2030 while at the same time motivating corporate and public sector lead- ers to save energy. Legrand committed 14 sites to the challenge, pledging to reduce its energy intensity by 25 percent in 10 years. By the third year at the end of 2013, the company already had reduced its intensity 32 percent compared to the baseline set in 2009, said Rochford. Because of that early success, the company setting a further goal of another 25 percent intensity reduc- tion by 2022. www.CTGreenGuide.com SprinG 2015 • Connecticut Green Guide 23 Green fact: Legrand saved enough energy during its Energy marathon to drive the Chevy volt strictly on battery to the moon and back 3.3 times, or enough to drive around the Earth 63.8 times. SOURCE: LEGRAnD In Person! Connect with Hartford's business community... CT Business Expo On The Road Women In Business Best Places To Work in CT Lifetime Achievement 40 Under Forty Family Business Awards To find out more about these and other events at Hartford Business Journal, visit HartfordBusiness.com/hbjevents. build existing relationships Make new connections and enjoy. In Print. Online. In Person. www.HartfordBusiness.com Delivering Business.