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EPA, DOE strengthen Energy Star testing, enforcement
Washington, D.C. — Manufacturers of Energy Star qualified products better start doing a better job of ensuring their compliance to these energy-efficiency standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have released a new set of actions designed to strengthen the Energy Star program. This includes a new two-step process to expand testing of Energy Star qualified products in addition to third-party testing already underway.
The DOE has started to test some of the most commonly used appliances, which account for more than 25 percent of a household’s energy bill, and both agencies are now developing a system to test all products that earn the Energy Star label. These steps were taken to help improve the energy efficiency of homes and appliances.
Energy Star products have helped consumers save nearly $17 billion on their utility bills and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to emissions from 30 million cars in 2009, according to the agencies.
The two-step process includes the DOE’s testing on six of the most common product types: freezers, refrigerator-freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, water heaters and room air conditioners. DOE will test approximately 200 basic models at third-party, independent test laboratories over the next few months.
The process also requires that all products seeking the Energy Star label to be tested in approved labs and for manufacturers to participate in an ongoing verification testing program.
In October, the DOE formed an enforcement team within the Office of the General Counsel, which is leading the department’s efforts to monitor compliance with Energy Star criteria and enforce minimum appliance standards. The agencies say this includes a program to randomly review manufacturers’ compliance with DOE certification requirements and pursue any violations.
The DOE announced in December last year that it would enforce reporting requirements that manufacturers are required to submit to the department certifying the energy use of residential appliance models and compliance with energy-efficiency standards. The agency gave manufacturers a 30-day window to submit complete and accurate reports to the department. By the deadline, the DOE received energy use reports from 160 different manufacturers, covering more than 600,000 residential products
The agencies have taken action against 35 manufacturers in the past four months to ensure their compliance with both Energy Star and DOE’s appliance efficiency standards. For example, in December last year they took steps to remove the Energy Star label from 20 LG refrigerator-freezer models that multiple independent labs confirmed were consuming more energy than allowed under the Energy Star criteria.
In January, the DOE signed a consent decree with Haier on four of its freezer models — including two Energy Star models — that were consuming more energy than reported. As part of the agreement, Haier is required to notify all affected consumers, repair any defective units and pay $150,000 a voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury.
The EPA also terminated US Inc/US Refrigeration’s partnership with Energy Star based on a history of logo misuse, unresponsiveness, and pattern of failure to comply with Energy Star program guidelines.
Despite recent actions by the DOE, non-compliance with Energy Star standards has been minimal. EPA says a spot check of the program in 2009 by the Inspector General — testing 60 Energy Star products — only yielded one failure. The printer product failed on one of three tests — not entering sleep mode fast enough.
See related article:
DOE: Appliance makers need to comply with new standards by January 8
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