Green Up Your Home With EnergyStar

ENERGY STAR was created in 1992 as a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The program is considered an international standard for identifying and promoting energy-efficient products that reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Although the program was created in the United States, many other countries—Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the European Union—have also adopted the program as their standard.

Participation in the program is considered voluntary for manufacturers and individual products in a company’s catalog can be qualified as ENERGY STAR. The label is now affixed to over 60 product categories (and thousands of models).

HOW MUCH CAN I SAVE?

The typical American household spends nearly $2,000 a year on energy bills to power appliances and electronics. When using qualified products, savings can reach 30 percent or more and return $700 back into your bank account. These savings also show a marked reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the fears of going “green” with consumer products is they won’t perform as well as their energy-burning counterparts. Not true. Qualified products deliver the same or even better performance as comparable models while using less energy to operate.

The first thing a consumer can do when shopping for electronics is to place ENERGY STAR at the top of their checklist. If it doesn’t have the blue ENERGY STAR label, don’t buy it.

QUALIFICATIONS

Manufacturers go the extra mile when preparing and submitting their products for qualification testing. Their research and development teams specifically design products with the ENERGY STAR qualification in mind. Each product category has different qualifications that must be met.

Computer Monitors – Must use from 25–60 percent less electricity than standard models, depending on how they are used.

Televisions – Must use approximately 30 percent less energy than standard units.

Home Audio – Must use approximately 6 percent less energy than standard models.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In 2008, Americans—with the help of ENERGY STAR—saved $19 billion on their energy bills and avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 29 million cars. Since the program’s inception, Americans have purchased more than 2.5 billion ENERGY STAR qualified products.