Energy Equity

Energy efficiency will be essential in making the clean energy transition affordable, inclusive, and achievable at the scale required to address climate change. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program is committed to promoting broader access to energy-saving products and home improvements among disadvantaged households. Below are some of the ways that EPA is working to advance energy equity through the ENERGY STAR program.

Financing Energy Efficiency Upgrades

A key focus of the ENERGY STAR Home Upgrade—a carefully crafted set of six high-impact, energy efficiency improvements for your home—is to facilitate innovative financing approaches designed to address barriers faced by the most energy burdened. A new web resource educates potential utility investors on one such approach—Inclusive Utility Investment—as an equitable and mutually beneficial method for deploying energy efficient home upgrades.

Highlighting Affordable ENERGY STAR Certified Products

ENERGY STAR also prioritizes outreach to low-income populations on products that have the greatest opportunity to save energy and dollars, such as lighting, refrigerators, and room air conditioners. The ENERGY STAR Best Value Finder tool helps consumers find these ENERGY STAR products at the best price. And for products that may be cost-prohibitive, the ENERGY STAR program looks for alternatives such as storm windows as a more affordable alternative to replacement windows. Paired with utility-sponsored rebates and tailored educational messaging, ENERGY STAR certified products can deliver significant cost savings for low-income families.

Building Energy Efficiency into Affordable Housing

ENERGY STAR certification is included as a criterion in many state government housing finance programs that provide low-income housing tax credits. ENERGY STAR certification is required in 10 states and is incentivized (but not required) in an additional 25 states and DC. In 2023, more than 450 ENERGY STAR certified homes were built by Habitat for Humanity affiliates, for a total of more than 20,000 to date, and more than 31,000 ENERGY STAR certified manufactured homes were constructed, for a cumulative total of nearly 200,000.