Monday, March 22, 2010

The ENERGY STAR® Program – A Look Behind the Label

Following a recent announcement by both the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency that an additional layer of testing will be added to the already rigorous ENERGY STAR® program, I decided to take a deeper look at what the ENERGY STAR® label really means.

The ENERGY STAR® program was introduced in 1992 by the EPA as “a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” (Source: www.energystar.gov). At the outset, the products it covered were mostly computer equipment, but the program quickly expanded to include general office equipment then grew further into residential heating and cooling systems. In 1996, the EPA added the U.S. Department of Energy as a partner of the program on certain items, which now include a wide variety of products such as doors, windows and many appliances. The DOE and EPA jointly oversee compliance with the program, including initial testing, random sample testing, aggressive follow-up on violations and more.  (Photo Credit:  www.thedigeratilife.com)   

The recently announced additional layer of testing involves 200 different models of the most commonly used appliances, including refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, air conditioners, and water heaters (Source: www.energy.gov, March 19). These were chosen for additional testing because they comprise roughly 25% of the average home’s overall energy bill and tend to be popular purchases.

Other new steps introduced are more uniform testing procedures, which must now be conducted only at approved laboratories, and an ongoing verification program.   (Photo Credit:  www.sierraclubgreenhome.com)

Did you know?
  • To qualify, the type of product must contribute to significant potential nationwide energy savings (no small-market, niche products)
  • If the ENERGY STAR product is more expensive than similar items, it must demonstrate a cost savings equal to the difference in a reasonable amount of time
  • In 2009, these products combined for a savings of $17 billion on nationwide utility bills and the equivalent greenhouse gas emission reduction of removing 30 million cars from the road
    (Sources: 
    www.energystar.govwww.energy.gov)
There are roughly 40,000 products that carry the ENERGY STAR label and there are already rigorous standards in place to ensure that they live up to their energy savings promise.  To learn more about how products can earn this designation, please visit this ENERGY STAR page.

So, what happens if a product fails in follow-up testing or is reported to the EPA and DOE as out of compliance with the program? In these situations, the rights to the label are immediately revoked and the product is investigated by the EPA, DOE or both.  The large amount of negative attention that such an investigation can generate should encourage full with all testing and verification, but both the EPA and DOE have been aggressive about enforcing program compliance in the past.  In one example of corrective action, in 2008 LG Electronics came to an agreement with the DOE to pay back consumers for promised energy savings and provide free, in-home upgrades to improve several models of refrigerators (Source:  www.energy.gov).  (Photo Credit: www.greenzer.com)

In addition to all of these promises, many ENERGY STAR products are also eligible for tax credit.  These include:
  • Windows and doors
  • Insulation
  • Roofing material
  • Air conditioners and furnaces
  • Water heaters
  • Biomass stoves
  • Geothermal heat pumps
  • Solar panels, solar water heaters
  • Small wind energy systems
(Photo credit: blog.hgtv.com) For details about items that are tax-credit eligible and allowable credit amounts, please visit this ENERGY STAR page.  (Photo Credit: www.ge.com)

It says a great deal about the commitment of both the EPA and the DOE to the energy efficiency cause that they continue to strengthen oversight of this program. So, the next time you see an ENERGY STAR® label, you’ll know that thousands of hours of research and testing were invested to verify that every such product saves you both the energy ad money that it promises. In addition, you can be sure that each of these products remains in compliance today and that there are more energy efficient products to come. For more information about both ENERGY STAR® products and testing procedures, please visit www.energystar.gov

 A note for Colorado residents - Recharge Colorado:
The Governor’s Energy Office recently announced an energy efficiency program that will offer 75,000 rebates worth approximately $22 million as of April 19, 2010.

The rebates, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, “will offer Colorado consumers a service unprecedented in scope – providing comprehensive and localized information about rebates, financial incentives, contractors, energy conservation tips and availability of goods and services across the state.” (Source: http://rechargecolorado.com/) (Image Credit: www.lipower.org)  

ENERGY STAR® appliance rebates will account for 16,000 of the total rebates available and will be only be offered on those appliances that are ENERGY STAR® rated (not just ENERGY STAR® labeled).

The following items are eligible as of April 19, 2010:
  • Clothes washers - $75
  • Dishwashers - $50
  • Refrigerators - $100 (with proof the previous refrigerator was recycled)
  • Refrigerators -  $50 with no proof of recycling
  • Furnaces – gas condensing $500
  • Hot water heater – gas condensing/high performance $200 (minimum efficiency rating available in coming weeks)
  • Hot water heater – gas tankless $300
  • Gas boilers - $400
For more details, please click here or visit http://rechargecolorado.com/.  

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Efficiency Improvements - Smarter Windows, Skyscrapers and the New Efficiency Research Hub

Electrochromic Windows – An Efficiency Breakthrough that's now Commercially Available

Smarter windows have officially arrived.  A company called Sage Electrochromic just won a $72 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to produce its SageGlass® product. “SageGlass® allows natural light in while controlling unwanted solar heat and glare and can be used in building windows, skylights, and curtain walls,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Website (Source: www.energy.gov, March 5). (Image Credit: www.buildinggreen.com/)

The windows include several thin layers of metal oxide materials that can remain opaque or darken with the influence of a weak electrical current. This special ability allows for the windows to adjust to the amount of light and heat that’s incoming, which in turn cuts down on energy loss through the windows. The rough figure of energy waste through conventional windows is around 30% depending on the building, so the installation of these windows alone could mean significant energy cost savings. For more details about how this exciting new window technology works, please visit the Sage Electrochromic technical information page here.
 

A Local Non-Profit’s Success with an Iconic Building’s Retrofit

To follow-up on my article about this project when it launched in July of 2009, the Rocky Mountain Institute’s eight-month joint venture to study and recommend efficiency retrofitting for the Empire State Building in Manhattan recently came to a close The venture, a project of the Clinton Climate Institute, Johnson Controls, Jones Lang LaSalle and Colorado-based non-profit the Rocky Mountain Institute, managed to find 38% in energy efficiency savings across the building for an annual cost savings of $4.4 million (Sources:
www.esbsustainability.com/,  greensource.construction.com, March 3). 

All of the recommended measures had to meet strict cost-effectiveness standards and both the project's results and methodology are posted online at www.esbsustainability.com. Among the recommended efficiency measures were the installation of digital demand controls (9% savings), an office layout technique called “tenant daylighting” (6%), switching from constant air volume units to variable air volume ones (5%), retrofitting the building’s chiller plant (5%), window glazing (5%) and several others (Source: www.esbsustainability.com). To learn more about the project, please visit http://www.esbsustainability.com/ and take a peek at both the interactive tools section and their comprehensive reports.  (Image Credit:  www.esbsustainability.com/)


The Energy Regional Innovation Cluster – Efficiency Solutions for Every Project Scale 

Seven federal agencies recently announced that they will ban together to contribute $129.7 million over the next five years to create an energy efficiency research center aimed at solving issues that range from efficiency basics to mass implementation on a commercial scale (Source: www.energy.gov, February 12). The official Department of Energy release goes on to re-iterate that nearly 40% of the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the United States comes from buildings and that the program will also focus on job creation. This new “hub” will be a unique mixture of energy efficiency experts and will be called the Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC). The principal goals of this lab will be to combine the efforts of the public and private sectors to tackle large- and small-scale efficiency issues to guide better solutions through to the marketplace at a faster rate. (Image Credit:  www.life.com/)

Such a lab will be a very exciting and unprecedented way to join the research strengths of both the government and the private sector and allow them to work together on problems of all scales to develop solutions that could have a huge impact on efficiency innovations over the next few years. The new lab’s location has yet to be determined, but will likely be at a university, an existing DOE laboratory, at a non-profit or within a private company. Other funding providers include the U.S. Department of Commerce (up to $5.5 million between three DOC programs) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (Source: www.energy.gov, February 12).