NEEP - Initiatives - ENERGY STAR Products

• • • Initiatives Home

ENERGY STAR^® Products

The goal of the regional ENERGY STAR Products initiative is to permanently change the regional residential marketplace for high-efficiency residential products including ENERGY STAR refrigerators, room air conditioners, clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light fixtures and ceiling fans so that product sales and consumer preferences are reflected in increased market share and updated equipment efficiency standards and building code requirements.

Initiative Status

Initiative Goals

Initiative Activities

Coordinated Marketing and Promotions
Lighting Product Testing and Quality Assurance
Strategic Development and Information Exchange
Market Research and Analysis

NEEP's activities are funded by initiative sponsors and a grant from the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR^® Program.

For more information, contact Melissa Lucas, NEEP's Residential Programs Manager (781-860-9177, ext. 15).

ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Status

NEEP facilitates this regional initiative through the Appliance and Lighting Working Group (ALWG), begun in 1998, now spanning an eight-state region in New England, New York and New Jersey. Through regional coordination, initiative sponsors have successfully leveraged resources to increase the availability and purchase of ENERGY STAR products significantly above national levels. Increasingly, initiative sponsors are engaging retailers and manufacturers to increase the role of industry resources to effectively promote ENERGY STAR products across the region.

Leveraging of resources towards program goals also involves coordination of regional marketing and promotional activities with national ENERGY STAR campaigns, sometimes in coordination with other regions. Initiative sponsor marketing and retailer outreach is coordinated in some cases through jointly procured contactors. Others operate independent marketing and retailer outreach, but in coordination with the joint regional or national efforts. Through the regional initiative, sponsors actively support national programs to ensure the quality and performance of ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent lamps and fixtures.

Initiative activities for 2006 were informed by the development of updated regional market transformation strategies in 2005 for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances.

[Top of Page]

ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Goals

The strategic goals of the ENERGY STAR Products initiatives are to:

Increase energy savings from ENERGY STAR lighting and appliances by maintaining regional market shares significantly above national levels;
Increase ENERGY STAR lighting and appliance product choices and their availability at a broader range of retail outlets;
Increase consumer and retailer awareness and understanding of the benefits of ENERGY STAR lighting and appliances; and
Update ENERGY STAR specifications to increase energy savings opportunities in appliances and lighting product quality.

New efforts in 2006 are informed by the recommendations of the updated regional market transformation strategies and include:

Evolution of the negotiated cooperative promotions (NCP) process to more closely tie promotional incentives to documented increases in product sales.

Leveraging manufacturer tax incentives in the 2005 Federal Energy Policy Act to increase the market penetration of the most efficient clothes washers and refrigerators.
Encouraging ENERGY STAR and other national programs (e.g., CEE) to upgrade appliance product specifications to increase energy savings.
Development of regional strategies to increase energy savings from ENERGY STAR consumer electronics and new lighting technologies (e.g., light emitting diodes – LEDs).

[Top of Page]

ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Activities

NEEP facilitates the Regional ENERGY STAR Products initiative through the regional ENERGY STAR Appliance and Lighting Working Group (ALWG) to achieve these outcomes through:

Coordinated Marketing and Promotions: Through the ALWG, NEEP will coordinate initiative sponsor marketing and promotional activities, including coordination with related regional and national program efforts. A major focus in 2006 is coordination of initiative sponsor co-promotions with retailers and manufacturers to increase ENERGY STAR Product sales, to increase the range of product choices and type of retailer outlets, and to educate retailers and consumers about ENERGY STAR product benefits. NEEP will also assist sponsors to coordinate ENERGY STAR product promotions with national promotions and other energy efficiency program efforts (e.g., new construction, home performance).

Lighting Product Testing and Quality Assurance: On behalf of initiative sponsors, NEEP will participate in national projects and discussions to achieve a high level of compliance with ENERGY STAR specifications for CFL product performance and reliability. These include the completion of the current Program for the Evaluation and Analysis of Residential Lighting (PEARL) testing cycle, and, through the PEARL Board, participation in the on-going ENERGY STAR CFL specification revision process. The focus of the PEARL Board's involvement is to ensure that the proposed third-party quality assurance (QA) testing component of the revised specification is both robust and transparent. As proposed, this QA testing, largely based on the successful PEARL model, will be primarily industry funded and should supplant PEARL as the principal means of assuring CFL quality.

Strategic Development and Information Exchange: NEEP will facilitate ongoing consideration and integration of the 2005 market transformation strategies for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances into initiative sponsor plans and activities to connect near-term energy savings goals with longer-term market transformation. This includes development of coordinated recommendations to ENERGY STAR and CEE to update product specifications to increase energy savings opportunities in appliances, and strategies to encourage appliance manufacturers to use newly approved tax incentives in 2006 and 2007 to increase the market penetration of the most efficient clothes washers and refrigerators.

NEEP will also research programs elsewhere and recommend to initiative sponsors strategies to achieve energy savings from additional ENERGY STAR products. A particular focus of this research will be consumer electronics and new lighting technologies (e.g., light emitting diodes – LEDs) including coordination with relevant national and regional efforts.

NEEP will provide strategic briefing memos to initiative sponsors as a follow-up to participation in relevant national forums (e.g., ENERGY STAR Lighting Partners Meetings).

Finally, NEEP will coordinate initiative activities and development with updates to building energy codes (e.g., lighting requirements) and appliance efficiency standards (e.g., federal appliance standard for refrigerators).

Market Research and Analysis: NEEP will assist the initiative sponsors to document the success of their lighting and appliance programs to overcome market barriers. Efforts include coordination of initiative sponsor efforts to significantly increase retailer data collection efforts and to collect data through home saturation surveys of energy efficient lighting products. NEEP will also, on behalf of the sponsors, continue to work with U.S. DOE, efficiency programs in other regions and industry stakeholders to develop a national CFL sales tracking system that meets national as well as regional needs.

[Top of Page]

Copyright © 2006 Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc.
5 Militia Drive • Lexington, MA 02421
Tel 781-860-9177 • Fax 781-860-9178
www.neep.org • info@neep.org


• • • Initiatives Home

	ENERGY STAR^® Products The goal of the regional ENERGY STAR Products initiative is to permanently change the regional residential marketplace for high-efficiency residential products including ENERGY STAR refrigerators, room air conditioners, clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light fixtures and ceiling fans so that product sales and consumer preferences are reflected in increased market share and updated equipment efficiency standards and building code requirements. Initiative Status Initiative Goals Initiative Activities Coordinated Marketing and Promotions Lighting Product Testing and Quality Assurance Strategic Development and Information Exchange Market Research and Analysis NEEP's activities are funded by initiative sponsors and a grant from the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR^® Program. For more information, contact Melissa Lucas, NEEP's Residential Programs Manager (781-860-9177, ext. 15). ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Status NEEP facilitates this regional initiative through the Appliance and Lighting Working Group (ALWG), begun in 1998, now spanning an eight-state region in New England, New York and New Jersey. Through regional coordination, initiative sponsors have successfully leveraged resources to increase the availability and purchase of ENERGY STAR products significantly above national levels. Increasingly, initiative sponsors are engaging retailers and manufacturers to increase the role of industry resources to effectively promote ENERGY STAR products across the region. Leveraging of resources towards program goals also involves coordination of regional marketing and promotional activities with national ENERGY STAR campaigns, sometimes in coordination with other regions. Initiative sponsor marketing and retailer outreach is coordinated in some cases through jointly procured contactors. Others operate independent marketing and retailer outreach, but in coordination with the joint regional or national efforts. Through the regional initiative, sponsors actively support national programs to ensure the quality and performance of ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent lamps and fixtures. Initiative activities for 2006 were informed by the development of updated regional market transformation strategies in 2005 for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances. [Top of Page] ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Goals The strategic goals of the ENERGY STAR Products initiatives are to: Increase energy savings from ENERGY STAR lighting and appliances by maintaining regional market shares significantly above national levels; Increase ENERGY STAR lighting and appliance product choices and their availability at a broader range of retail outlets; Increase consumer and retailer awareness and understanding of the benefits of ENERGY STAR lighting and appliances; and Update ENERGY STAR specifications to increase energy savings opportunities in appliances and lighting product quality. New efforts in 2006 are informed by the recommendations of the updated regional market transformation strategies and include: Evolution of the negotiated cooperative promotions (NCP) process to more closely tie promotional incentives to documented increases in product sales. Leveraging manufacturer tax incentives in the 2005 Federal Energy Policy Act to increase the market penetration of the most efficient clothes washers and refrigerators. Encouraging ENERGY STAR and other national programs (e.g., CEE) to upgrade appliance product specifications to increase energy savings. Development of regional strategies to increase energy savings from ENERGY STAR consumer electronics and new lighting technologies (e.g., light emitting diodes – LEDs). [Top of Page] ENERGY STAR Products Initiative Activities NEEP facilitates the Regional ENERGY STAR Products initiative through the regional ENERGY STAR Appliance and Lighting Working Group (ALWG) to achieve these outcomes through: Coordinated Marketing and Promotions: Through the ALWG, NEEP will coordinate initiative sponsor marketing and promotional activities, including coordination with related regional and national program efforts. A major focus in 2006 is coordination of initiative sponsor co-promotions with retailers and manufacturers to increase ENERGY STAR Product sales, to increase the range of product choices and type of retailer outlets, and to educate retailers and consumers about ENERGY STAR product benefits. NEEP will also assist sponsors to coordinate ENERGY STAR product promotions with national promotions and other energy efficiency program efforts (e.g., new construction, home performance). Lighting Product Testing and Quality Assurance: On behalf of initiative sponsors, NEEP will participate in national projects and discussions to achieve a high level of compliance with ENERGY STAR specifications for CFL product performance and reliability. These include the completion of the current Program for the Evaluation and Analysis of Residential Lighting (PEARL) testing cycle, and, through the PEARL Board, participation in the on-going ENERGY STAR CFL specification revision process. The focus of the PEARL Board's involvement is to ensure that the proposed third-party quality assurance (QA) testing component of the revised specification is both robust and transparent. As proposed, this QA testing, largely based on the successful PEARL model, will be primarily industry funded and should supplant PEARL as the principal means of assuring CFL quality. Strategic Development and Information Exchange: NEEP will facilitate ongoing consideration and integration of the 2005 market transformation strategies for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances into initiative sponsor plans and activities to connect near-term energy savings goals with longer-term market transformation. This includes development of coordinated recommendations to ENERGY STAR and CEE to update product specifications to increase energy savings opportunities in appliances, and strategies to encourage appliance manufacturers to use newly approved tax incentives in 2006 and 2007 to increase the market penetration of the most efficient clothes washers and refrigerators. NEEP will also research programs elsewhere and recommend to initiative sponsors strategies to achieve energy savings from additional ENERGY STAR products. A particular focus of this research will be consumer electronics and new lighting technologies (e.g., light emitting diodes – LEDs) including coordination with relevant national and regional efforts. NEEP will provide strategic briefing memos to initiative sponsors as a follow-up to participation in relevant national forums (e.g., ENERGY STAR Lighting Partners Meetings). Finally, NEEP will coordinate initiative activities and development with updates to building energy codes (e.g., lighting requirements) and appliance efficiency standards (e.g., federal appliance standard for refrigerators). Market Research and Analysis: NEEP will assist the initiative sponsors to document the success of their lighting and appliance programs to overcome market barriers. Efforts include coordination of initiative sponsor efforts to significantly increase retailer data collection efforts and to collect data through home saturation surveys of energy efficient lighting products. NEEP will also, on behalf of the sponsors, continue to work with U.S. DOE, efficiency programs in other regions and industry stakeholders to develop a national CFL sales tracking system that meets national as well as regional needs. [Top of Page]


Copyright © 2006 Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc. 5 Militia Drive • Lexington, MA 02421 Tel 781-860-9177 • Fax 781-860-9178 www.neep.org • info@neep.org

ENERGY STAR® Products

ENERGY STAR^® Products