Your ENERGY STAR program feedback

Recently, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked for ways to make the ENERGY STAR program more efficient. We surveyed members for ideas and learned:

• Agency Management – While half of everyone who responded thought DOE should become the ENERGY STAR lead agency, 30 percent thought DOE and EPA should continue to share responsibility for the program.
• Certification – Regarding energy certification, 60 percent of members who responded thought manufacturers should have the option to self-certify. Nearly 30 percent thought ENERGY STAR should integrate its current verification process with third-party safety audits.
• Other Improvements – We also received numerous ideas for how the ENERGY STAR program could be improved, including making sure it has adequate funding and resources, better program marketing, and enhanced integration with other DOE and EPA programs to avoid duplication.

NAFEM combined its comments and recommendations with a cross-industry coalition of manufacturing associations. Collectively, these organizations provided numerous recommendations, including these notable items:

• Revisit the assumption that all products can achieve additional energy savings beyond those already achieved;
• Seek stakeholder feedback on and review of proposed new specifications before they are finalized;
• Rely on the federal test procedure for certification, just as manufacturers must for energy-related claims. When these do not exist, EPA should rely on industry consensus standards.