Apply for ENERGY STAR Certification for Industrial Plants

Wet corn milling, auto manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, cement manufacturing, flat glass manufacturing, container glass manufacturing, juice processing, frozen fried potato processing, pulp and paper manufacturing, and cookie and cracker baking plants achieving a score of 75 or higher using the ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) specific to their plant type are eligible to apply for ENERGY STAR certification.

Petroleum refining plants are also eligible to to apply for ENERGY STAR certification through a separate scoring system.

Qualified plants will receive a certificate of achievement along with a letter of congratulations to the company’s corporate energy manager and chief executive officer. The plant will also receive a decal and graphics to create a flag or banner, both reflecting the year for which the plant has qualified for ENERGY STAR certification.

Use the appropriate EPA ENERGY STAR plant EPI to determine the performance of your plants, and to find candidates which may qualify for ENERGY STAR certification. To view the EPI‘s for these industries, see Industries in Focus.

Eligibility & How to Apply

Follow the six steps below to qualify your plant as ENERGY STAR certified:

1. Plant must be wet corn milling, auto manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, cement manufacturing, flat glass manufacturing, container glass manufacturing, juice processing, frozen fried potato processing, pulp and paper manufacturing and cookie and cracker baking plants, or petroleum refining.
   
   Please note that Petroleum Refineries have a separate scoring system performed by Solomon Associates. For further information, please contact Mr. Bill Trout at Bill.Trout@SolomonOnline.com.
2. Download the most current version of the correct EPI for your industry and collect the data necessary to score the plant‘s energy performance. The dataset must include 12 months of continuous data ending within the last four months of when the application is submitted.*
3. Determine if the plant achieves a score of 75 or above.
4. Satisfy the following environmental compliance criteria:**
   • No High Priority Violations of the Clean Air Act within the past 3 years,
   • No significant violations involving on–site generation facilities within the past 3 years,
   • No Consent Decree within the last year, and
   • No criminal convictions or pleas within the past 5 years or current criminal investigations involving an employee(s) or corporate officers for environmentally–related violations involving air emissions or on–site generation facilities at this plant.
   ENERGY STAR certification acknowledges that the plant has performed at a high level of energy efficiency and is not a broad–based claim about a plant’s overall environmental performance.
5. Plant must have safe lighting levels as recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) for industrial facilities and described in IESNA Lighting Handbook; 9th Edition, Chapter 19.
6. Obtain application documents from the EPA, fill them out and return them to the EPA. This includes a Statement of Energy Performance (SEP), which must be signed and stamped by a Professional Engineer certifying that the information used to calculate the plant‘s energy performance score is correct.
   
   State and territorial engineering licensors laws and regulations vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Before offering or performing services, it is recommended that Professional Engineers understand the engineering professional practice and ethics requirements contained in the state and territorial laws and regulations.

NOTE: The ENERGY STAR certification is awarded based on verified actual energy performance data for a twelve month period of time. A plant that has earned the ENERGY STAR certification becomes eligible to reapply one year after the date of the last energy data included in the SEP submitted as part of the previous year‘s application.***

* For exceptions to this rule please contact Rebecca Hindin

** For questions about a plant‘s compliance status please contact Rebecca Hindin

*** For questions regarding certification year policies please contact Rebecca Hindin

Please send all application materials via overnight mail service to:
Rebecca Hindin
ENERGY STAR for Plants
1310 L Street, NW
Office 913L
Washington, DC 20005

For further information, contact:
Rebecca Hindin
Email: hindin.rebecca@epa.gov