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ENERGY STAR Product Specification Development

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. During the ENERGY STAR product specification development and revision process, EPA employs a set of key six Guiding Principles (151KB) to ensure that ENERGY STAR:

identifies products where large gains in energy efficiency and pollution reduction can be cost-effectively realized
can play an influential role to expand the market for these products.

ENERGY STAR ICT Products Roadmapping Workshop – July 10, 2012

New Specifications in Development

EPA and DOE continually develop new ENERGY STAR specifications to expand the program to new products.

Revisions to Existing Specifications

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.

EPA Product Development Team Contacts

News

The Version 6.0 ENERGY STAR Clothes Washer specification was finalized on 5/2/2012, and will take effect on 2/1/2013. The Version 6.0 requirements include more stringent Modified Energy Factor and Water Factor requirements for commercial clothes washers, and changes the scope of the specification to exclude combination all-in-one washer dryers.

The Version 1.0 ENERGY STAR specification for Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) was finalized on 5/10/2012 and will take effect on 8/1/2012. UPSs ensure continuity of power to computers, servers, and other electronic products. The specification covers both ac- and dc-output UPSs for consumer, commercial, data center, and telecommunications use, and provides incentives for multi-mode operation and reporting the energy consumption of connected products.