MONTPELIER — A Vermont business team has been awarded a contract worth up to $34 million by the Environmental Protection Agency to improve energy efficiency in the U.S. commercial, industrial and institutional sectors.

The Clark Group, a national environmental consulting and government affairs firm, with offices in Montpelier and Washington, D.C.; the Vermont Energy Investment Corp., located in Burlington; and the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School in South Royalton were awarded the blanket purchase agreement to provide the EPA with technical, analytical and outreach assistance to the national Energy Star program.

The contract provides that the EPA may acquire up to $34 million in services from The Clark Group and its team partners over five years.

“This team brings together unparalleled energy efficiency and national environmental expertise,” said Lisa Mahoney, a partner in The Clark Group’s Vermont office.

“For us this is a huge deal. It is really exciting,” said Mahoney. “Our hope is that this will allow us to expand here and our other spaces.”

Currently, the Montpelier office of The Clark Group has two employees, who Mahoney said were instrumental in securing the contract.

The Energy Star program seeks to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses across the United States. In 2010, the program claims it reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 33 million vehicles and saved Americans nearly $18 billion in utility payments.