-- Business leader will bring global manufacturing and environmental expertise to the company--

SOLON, Ohio, Aug. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Focus, Inc. (NASDAQ:EFOI), a leader in LED lighting technologies, has announced that Rick Fedrizzi, outgoing CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and chairman and incoming CEO of the International WELL Building Institute, has joined the Energy Focus Advisory Board.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e11b7d9a-9be4-4fde-90e7-a676517505ee

“We are enormously honored and excited to welcome Rick to our advisory board,” said James Tu, CEO and President of Energy Focus.  “He is one of the most respected and accomplished global green movement leaders, dedicated to advocating and facilitating synergies between sustainability and capitalism. Rick has led innumerable game-changing programs and initiatives at USGBC that have catalyzed a global green building movement and set a market standard for sustainability achievement over the past 25 years.”

USGBC’s LEED green building program has grown exponentially under Mr. Fedrizzi’s leadership. More than 70,000 commercial projects spanning more than 15 billion square feet and more than 200,000 residential units across the world participate in LEED, with nearly 2 million square feet of building space earning LEED certification every day. With a presence in more than 160 countries, about 40% of LEED-certified square footage is outside the U.S., making it the most widely used global green building program in the world. It has also led to one of the most productive engines of innovation in the global economy. The combination of green real estate and the new products and services that support it are valued at almost $1 trillion.

“While the LEED certification program has made an unprecedented sustainability impact on the world, the scope of work at USGBC reaches far beyond LEED, and intersects with one of our core passions – improving the educational environment,” said Mr. Tu. “Too many of our children are trying to learn in buildings that are compromising their health and ability to succeed, partly due to the flickers and spiky color spectrum of light that fluorescent lamps emit. Our kids deserve better, and the Center for Green Schools at USGBC is at the forefront of a global effort to make green schools possible for all within this generation.”

In 2012, the Center launched the Green Apple Day of Service as a Commitment of the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2015, more than 4,000 projects, events and commitments were held in all 50 states and in 42 countries around the world. More than 300,000 volunteer hours were invested to help improve schools’ physical plants, with energy audits, edible gardens, and education moments that engage communities with the critical importance of this work.

“In 2015, we became the exclusive tubular LED partner for Green Apple due to the shared passion between USGBC and Energy Focus on the potential impacts LED lighting could bring to schools to dramatically reduce carbon footprint and simultaneously improve the health and well-being of our children. We have utterly enjoyed the deepening partnership with USGBC since then,” continued Mr. Tu. “Having helped over 100 school districts across the country retrofit their classrooms with our LED lighting products, we are proud of our efforts to take proactive steps to positively impact the physical and psychological well-being of students. And with his move to IWBI as chairman and CEO, Rick will be able to bring an important new dimension—health and well-being—in addition to sustainability, to help advance our awareness campaigns on the significant, yet largely unknown to the public,  benefits of our 100% flicker-free LED lighting products for working populations and school kids alike.”

“Energy Focus is making tremendous advances in lighting technology that have the dual benefit of advancing building energy efficiency as well as improving the comfort of people who use these leading-edge products,” said Mr. Fedrizzi.  “The exceptional partnership USGBC and Energy Focus has forged through the Center for Green Schools has allowed me to experience their commitment to excellence first hand. I’m honored to join the Advisory Board and I look forward to our continued partnership as I transition to IWBI.”

About Energy Focus

Energy Focus, Inc. is a leading provider of energy efficient LED lighting products and a developer of energy efficient lighting technology. Its LED Lighting products provide energy savings, aesthetics, safety and maintenance cost benefits over conventional lighting. The company’s long-standing relationship with the U.S. Government includes providing energy efficient LED lighting products to the U.S. Navy and the Military Sealift Command fleets. Customers include national, state and local U.S. government agencies as well as Fortune 500 companies and many other commercial and industrial clients. World headquarters are located in Solon, Ohio, with additional sales offices in Washington, D.C., New York and Taiwan.

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