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One of the main goals of the ENERGY STAR program is to develop performance-based specifications that determine the most efficient products in a particular category. Products that meet these specifications earn the ENERGY STAR label.
To develop ENERGY STAR product specifications, EPA and DOE use a systematic process that relies on rigorous market, engineering, and pollution savings analyses as well as input from industry stakeholders. This process ensures that the ENERGY STAR:
EPA and DOE continually develop new ENERGY STAR specifications to expand the program to new products.
ENERGY STAR specifications are then periodically revised to ensure relevancy under current market conditions. EPA and DOE strive to make certain that specifications differentiate the most efficient products and move the market toward more energy-saving designs.
In order to protect the integrity of the ENERGY STAR program and the label, the product development team also implements product testing and coordinates with other countries to promote international harmonization of specifications.
EPA is proud to announce a revised specification for ENERGY STAR qualified imaging equipment becomes effective July 1, 2009. Imaging products - printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, mailing machines, and all-in-one devices - that have earned the ENERGY STAR will be 14 percent more efficient than current qualified models, while continuing to deliver the features and functionality consumers have come to expect.
If all imaging products sold in the United States met the new specification, consumers would save nearly $500 million a year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 500,000 cars. There are more than 200 million imaging equipment units in U.S. buildings today. Together, these units consume 40 billion kWh each year, accounting for two percent of U.S. building sector electricity consumption