EPA Announces New Energy Star Requirements for Dishwashers and Furnaces (HQ)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is updating Energy Star requirements for home dishwashers and
furnaces. The new requirements are a part of Energy Star’s
overall commitment to protect people’s health and the
environment by encouraging energy efficiency.
Effective January 20, 2012, both standard-sized and compact
residential dishwashers meeting the new Energy Star requirements
will be between 10 and 30 percent more energy efficient than
conventional models, and about 8 percent more efficient than
dishwashers that met the previous Energy Star requirement. If every
dishwasher in the U.S. met the new requirements, consumer energy
and water bill savings would grow to approximately $235 million per
year, reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those
from more than 180,000 vehicles.
Distributors, contractors and consumers will also be able to
identify and purchase Energy Star qualified furnaces that are
appropriate to their particular climate zone beginning February 1,
2012. The furnaces that meet the new requirements for the southern
half of the U.S. will be labeled with a specific U.S. South Energy
Star mark. The qualified furnaces in the South, where homes require
less heat, will be up to 12 percent more energy efficient than
baseline units. Qualified furnaces in the northern half of the U.S.
including Canada will bear the standard Energy Star logo and will
be up to 16 percent more energy efficient than baseline models. If
every gas furnace sold in the U.S. were to meet the new Energy Star
requirements, which are up to 5 percent more efficient than the
previous Energy Star requirement, consumer energy bill savings
would grow to more than $170 million per year and reducing annual
greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of those from approximately
175,000 vehicles.
In order to earn the Energy Star label under the new requirements,
product performance must be certified by an EPA-recognized
third-party, based on testing in an EPA-recognized laboratory. In
addition, manufacturers of the products must participate in
verification testing programs run by recognized certification
bodies. The new requirements for residential dishwashers and
furnaces are among the 20 revisions to product requirements
expected to be completed this year.
Energy Star was started by EPA in 1992 as a market-based
partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy
efficiency. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than
60 different kinds of products, as well as new homes and commercial
and industrial buildings that meet strict energy-efficient
specifications set by the EPA. Last year alone, Americans, with the
help of Energy Star, saved about $18 billion on their energy bills
while preventing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the annual
emissions from 33 million vehicles.
More information on Energy Star qualified dishwashers:
https://www.energystar.gov//index.cfm?c=revisions.residential_dishwashers
More information on Energy Star qualified furnaces:
https://www.energystar.gov/products/spec/furnace_specification_version_4_0_pd
More information on the Energy Star program: https://www.energystar.gov/