Energy Star is a voluntary energy-efficiency program in USA, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE). The EPA establishes energy efficiency specifications, and those that meet these specifications are eligible to display the ENERGY STAR logo.
It is claimed that the program has saved 5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than USD 500 billion in energy costs, and prevented 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 75 product types are eligible for the ENERGY STAR label, including computers. The specifications are periodically updated and the version 9.0 for computers, which has been under preparation since December 2022, has now been finalized and published by EPA as Energy Star 9.0 for Computer.
Key changes include the inclusion of Ruggedized notebook product type, simplification of Mode Weighting and Typical Energy Consumption (TEC) Base Allowance for various computers, modification of functional adder allowance, addition of a new allowance factor for touch displays, and clarification on the use of external power supplies in test methods.
Regarding implementation timeline, EPA has announced the following:
- Effective immediately, manufacturers may elect to have their Certification Body (CB) certify eligible Computers to the Version 9.0 requirements.
- After 2 June this year, certifying new products to the Version 8.0 will stop. However, existing certifications will remain valid until 27 October this
year.
- Computers manufactured after 27 October must meet the Version 9.0 requirements to bear the ENERGY STAR mark. All certifications of
products to the Version 8.0 specification will be invalid for the purposes of ENERGY STAR and CBs can only submit product models certified to
the Version 9.0 to EPA.
For further information, please contact Kenny.Ho@nemko.com
(The article is based on the information provided by Kenny Ho and edited by T.Sollie)
