About ENERGY STAR Awards

Each year, EPA’S ENERGY STAR program honors a group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements. ENERGY STAR Award Winners lead their industries in the production and sale of energy-efficient products and services, and in the development and adoption of strategies that provide substantial savings in the buildings where we work, and in our homes. All these efforts contribute to reduced emissions and a create a healthy environment. Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners.
Award Categories
ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Awards
The highest honor among ENERGY STAR Awards is the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award. EPA presents the Sustained Excellence Award to partners that have already received ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition. *
ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Awards
This award recognizes ENERGY STAR partner businesses and organizations in good standing that demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, and commitment to environmental protection through energy efficiency and ENERGY STAR.
Subcategories for ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence and ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year are the same and are described below:
- Energy Efficiency Program Delivery. Awarded to states, utilities, regional energy efficiency nonprofit organizations, associations, and other organizations for sponsoring energy efficiency programs to improve the efficiency of products, homes, and buildings within their community or territory.
- Energy Management. Awarded to ENERGY STAR partners that can demonstrate excellence in improving the energy performance of buildings and plants through a corporate-wide, portfolio-based energy program.
- Energy Rating Company. Awarded to Home Energy Rater and Provider partners for their outstanding contributions in support of energy-efficient homes. Home Energy Raters must verify at least 100 ENERGY STAR certified homes during the previous calendar year.
- New Home Builder. Awarded to ENERGY STAR partner home builders and affordable housing programs for work building and promoting energy-efficient homes. Home builders must have constructed at least 50 ENERGY STAR certified homes (25 for affordable housing builders) in the previous calendar year, formally committed to building 100% of their homes to meet ENERGY STAR program requirements.
- Product Brand Owner. Awarded to ENERGY STAR partner companies for designing and manufacturing high-efficiency products, including appliances, windows, electronics, and lighting. Also awarded to ENERGY STAR partner service providers (e.g., cable, satellite, and telecommunications providers) that label and distribute ENERGY STAR certified products.
- Retailer. Awarded to ENERGY STAR partner companies in the retail sector for extensive commitment to promoting and selling ENERGY STAR certified products.
- Service and Product Provider. Awarded to ENERGY STAR partner companies that offer energy services and products in the commercial, institutional, or industrial markets for successfully assisting their clients in strategic energy management and building design. This includes energy services companies (ESCOs), unregulated energy retailers and marketers, engineers, architects, energy consultants, contractors, distributors, manufacturers, commercial lenders, energy information providers, and any other provider of energy efficiency-related products and/or services.
ENERGY STAR Contractor of the Year
Contractor of the Year Awards are presented to contractors who demonstrate innovative business practices that make them leaders among their peers. Award winners take on challenges and apply unique approaches to realize notable success in their local Home Performance with ENERGY STAR markets, including developing and demonstrating new approached and innovations to service delivery. They exhibit outstanding professionalism, build strong customer relationships, and apply building science solutions to improve homes.
Excellence Awards
Excellence Awards are given to companies and organizations in recognition of other important contributions to energy efficiency. These awards recognize excellence in:
- Data Innovation. ENERGY STAR energy efficiency program sponsors, service and product providers, state and local governments, and/or other partner organizations that have demonstrated innovation in access to data required by EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool, and/or expanding the use of the data and building performance metrics available from it. This award is focused on innovation, and therefore will not recognize a partner for the same activity more than once. Organizations with ongoing but notable business practices supporting general benchmarking and the use of energy performance data should not apply for this award. Such organizations should instead apply for the Service and Product Provider Program Delivery or Partner of the Year award.
- ENERGY STAR Marketing. Awarded to all ENERGY STAR Product, Commercial & Industrial, Homes, and Residential partners, including retailers, manufacturers, energy efficiency program sponsors, or other organizations, that planned and executed a successful ENERGY STAR energy-efficiency marketing effort.
- Product Design. Awarded to companies that demonstrate leadership in the design and manufacture of ENERGY STAR certified products.**
ENERGY STAR Award Winners in Many Industries
Through its partners, ENERGY STAR reaches across states, industries, and sectors to deliver energy efficiency to all Americans. This breadth is reflected in the list of ENERGY STAR Award Winners each year, which often includes: home builders and developers, industrial manufacturers, product manufacturers, utilities and other energy efficiency program sponsors, retailers, commercial real estate companies, hospitals, school districts, engineers, architects, state agencies, regional energy efficiency nonprofit organizations, energy rating companies, telecommunications providers, energy services companies (ESCOs), unregulated energy retailers and marketers, energy consultants, distributors, commercial lenders, energy information providers.
If you are unsure of which award category is appropriate for your organization, please contact us at awards@energystar.gov.
Learn more about ENERGY STAR Awards.
Note:
*With the exception of the Energy Management category, there are no separate applications for Sustained Excellence Award.
**There is no separate application for Excellence in Product Design recognition; this recognition is given to partners who apply for recognition through the Partner of the Year Product Brand Owner application.
Learn More
Read more about the organizations leading the way on energy efficiency.
Recognizing innovative technologies for consumers who want cutting-edge energy efficiency.
Recognizing outstanding ENERGY STAR partners within the residential new construction industry.