New 'most efficient' label takes Energy Star a step further
By Taylor Knight, USA TODAY
When was the last time you saw a commercial advertising a washer, dryer or some other appliance that didn't bear the Energy Star label for energy efficiency? It's probably been a while. In fact, the program, jointly run by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, has fielded criticism through the years that too many appliances were winning the designation, which in some minds diluted its impact.
Consider this from the EPA's Office of Inspector General in October, 2010: "We believe the Energy Star program has sought to maximize the number of qualified products available at the expense of identifying products and practices that maximize energy efficiency."
Now, in its continuing effort to tighten the criteria for these appliances, EPA and the Department of Energy are announcing a new label, "most efficient," to recognize the best-of-the-lot products in terms of energy efficiency.
The Energy Star Most Efficient program, which will operate on a pilot basis through 2011, has established top-performance standards for a limited number of appliance categories, including clothes washers, heating and cooling systems, televisions and refrigerator-freezers.
Katharine Kaplan, EPA's team lead for Energy Star Product Development, says the first categories to be eligible were chosen based on data that showed that as a group they had "super efficient" levels and were also ones promoted at a higher level for their efficiency by utilities and state-sponsored utility programs.
Specifications were not created "with a particular percentage of products in mind," Kaplan says. But the criteria are associated with the top 5% of energy-efficient products.
EPA's guidelines say the most efficient products "must demonstrate efficiency performance that is truly exceptional, inspirational or leading-edge — consistent with the interests of environmentally motivated consumers and early adopters."
At the same time, geography can be a factor for some products, such as cooling and heating equipment. What's high-efficiency in one region may not be in another, the guidelines say.
Household names such as Sears' Kenmore, LG, Samsung and Panasonic are among those with products to earn the most efficient label in the program's rollout. Products earning the label can be seen at energystar.gov/mostefficient.
However, the initiative is aimed at not only identifying the most efficient appliances currently available, but also to spur innovation among manufacturers. Originally the program aimed to recognize the top 25% in energy efficiency, but Consumer Reports in 2010 said roughly three-quarters of TVs, dishwashers and humidifiers qualified for Energy Star designation in 2009. The consumer magazine said the focus should be on toughening standards. "When more than 35% of all products sold in any category qualify for Energy Star, that should signal that the technology and economies of scale have reached a point where achieving an Energy Star is too easy and that the bar needs to be raised," the magazine said.
Indeed, as more have met the standard, the program has stepped in and continued to raise the bar, Kaplan says. Now, program administrators "have upped the ante on the speed of our revisions," especially for fast-evolving products such as consumer electronics, she says.
She denies that the "most efficient" initiative was spurred by criticism, but rather came from "EPA and DOE interests in driving efficiency faster and satisfying early adopters." Kaplan calls Energy Star "a market transformation program aiming to incrementally move the market" with the goal that eventually all the market might meet the criteria.
The program also took criticism initially because manufacturers were able to certify the efficiency of their own products. But that's no longer the case. Both the base Energy Star products and the ones rated "most efficient" are now tested in EPA-recognized testing laboratories.
Anticipating a second year for the initiative, the EPA is expected this fall to consider new categories for addition as well as to update the existing standards.
"We see this as a great opportunity to do well for consumers as well as for the climate and the environment," Kaplan says.
Contributing: Dennis Kelly
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