ENERGY STAR Impacts

2021 ENERGY STAR Impacts Factsheet thumbnail

ENERGY STAR® delivers real energy, environmental, and economic impacts. As the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, ENERGY STAR provides simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations—including nearly 40 percent of the Fortune 500®— partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions through voluntary action.

ENERGY STAR Results

  • Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses save 5 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid more than $450 billion in energy costs, and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.1,2
  • Over the lifetime of the program, every dollar EPA has spent on ENERGY STAR resulted in $350 in energy cost savings for American business and households.1
  • In 2019 alone, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped Americans save nearly 500 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and avoid $39 billion in energy costs. These savings resulted in emissions reductions of nearly 390 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, roughly equivalent to 5% of U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions.1,2
  • Over the lifetime of the program, for every dollar of EPA investment, 3 metric tons of GHGs have been reduced.2
  • ENERGY STAR’s 2019 energy savings also led to reductions of 220,000 short tons of sulfur dioxide, 220,000 short tons of nitrogen oxides, and 27,000 short tons of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This avoided air pollution was responsible for an estimated $7 - 17 billion in public health benefits.2
  • The ENERGY STAR Program leverages significant private investment – over the life of the program, every dollar EPA has spent on ENERGY STAR resulted in $250 invested by American businesses and households in energy efficient infrastructure and services.
  • More than 90% of American households recognize the ENERGY STAR.3
  • More than 840 utilities, state and local governments, and nonprofits leverage ENERGY STAR in their efficiency programs, reaching roughly 97% of households in all 50 states. Nationwide, utilities invested $8.4 billion in energy efficiency programs in 2019.4
  • Over 800,000 Americans are employed in manufacturing or installing ENERGY STAR certified appliances, including heating and cooling equipment -- roughly 35% of an estimated 2.4 million U.S. energy efficiency jobs in 2019.5

ENERGY STAR products

  • In 2019, ENERGY STAR certified products helped consumers save 230 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid $23 billion in energy costs, and achieve 170 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.1,2
  • Americans purchased more than 300 million ENERGY STAR certified products and more than 300 million ENERGY STAR certified light bulbs in 2019, for cumulative totals exceeding 7 billion products and more than 4 billion light bulbs, respectively.
  • For the first time, a majority of American households surveyed reported purchasing an ENERGY STAR certified product.3
  • The estimated annual market value of ENERGY STAR product sales is more than $100 billion.
  • EPA sets definitions of efficiency leadership for more than 75 residential and commercial product categories. Currently, approximately 75,000 product models have earned the ENERGY STAR based on these rigorous criteria.
  • More than 3,600 product models from over 280 manufacturers were recognized as “ENERGY STAR Most Efficient” in 2020.
  • By choosing ENERGY STAR, a typical household can save about $450 on their energy bills and still enjoy the quality and performance they expect.6
  • 70% of purchasers would recommend ENERGY STAR products to a friend.3

Learn more about ENERGY STAR products

ENERGY STAR for commercial buildings

  • In 2019, the ENERGY STAR program for commercial buildings helped businesses and organizations save 230 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid $14 billion in energy costs, and achieve 170 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.1,2
  • In 2020 alone, more than 270,000 commercial properties used EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® tool to measure and track their energy use, water use, and/or waste and materials. These buildings comprise more than 25 billion square feet of floorspace—more than a quarter of all the commercial floorspace in the nation.
  • More than 6,400 buildings earned the ENERGY STAR in 2020, bringing the total close to 38,000 buildings.
  • On average, ENERGY STAR certified buildings use 35% less energy than typical buildings nationwide.
  • As of the end of 2020, 34 local governments, three states, and one Canadian province rely on EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® tool as the foundation for their energy benchmarking and transparency policies.

Learn more about ENERGY STAR for commercial buildings

ENERGY STAR for industrial plants

  • In 2019, the ENERGY STAR program for industrial plants helped businesses save 35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid $2 billion in energy costs, and achieve 40 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.1,2
  • As of 2020, 33 diverse industrial sectors work with ENERGY STAR to strategically manage their energy use, from cookie and cracker bakeries and pharmaceutical plants to integrated steel mills and petroleum refineries.
  • 95 industrial plants earned the ENERGY STAR in 2020.
  • 42 industrial plants achieved energy intensity reductions in the 2020 ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry campaign in which industrial sites commit to reducing their energy intensity by 10% within five years. 183 plants registered baseline energy use intensity with the Challenge for Industry in 2020.

Learn more about ENERGY STAR for industrial plants

ENERGY STAR for the residential sector

  • In 2019, the ENERGY STAR residential new construction program helped homeowners save 3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, avoid $410 million in energy costs, and achieve nearly 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.1,2
  • More than 2.2 million ENERGY STAR certified new homes and apartments have been built to date, including more than 120,000 in 2020 alone.
  • More than 3,000 builders, developers, and manufactured housing plants are ENERGY STAR partners, including all of the nation’s twenty largest home builders. One out of every 12 single-family homes built in 2020 was ENERGY STAR certified.
  • ENERGY STAR certified homes and apartments are at least 10% more energy efficient than those built to code and achieve a 20% improvement on average while providing homeowners and residents with better quality, performance, and comfort.
  • In 2020, more than 70,000 homeowners retrofitted their homes through the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program in 2020, for a total of nearly 950,000 to date.

Learn more about ENERGY STAR for the residential sector

References

The majority of data cited is from 2020. In cases where 2020 data is not yet available, 2019 data is used. All instances are noted as such.

  1. Estimated energy cost savings represent the present value of net energy cost savings, calculated by taking the difference between total energy bill savings and the incremental additional investment in energy-efficient technologies and services.
  2. Estimates of contributions to emissions reductions do not account for overlapping impacts of regulatory programs and may be affected by other dynamics on the electrical grid.
  3. EPA Office of Air and Radiation, Climate Protection Partnerships Division. (2020). National Awareness of ENERGY STAR® for 2019: Analysis of 2019 CEE Household Survey. http://energystar.gov/awareness.
  4. ACEEE. (2020). The 2020 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. https://aceee.org/research-report/u2011 (link is external).
  5. NASEO and Energy Futures Initiative. (2020). U.S. Energy and Employment Report. https://www.usenergyjobs.org/ (link is external). The survey does not account for retail employment.
  6. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (2020). Typical House Estimates. Prepared for EPA Office of Air and Radiation, Climate Protection Partnerships Division.

For more information on our calculation methods, see the Technical Notes (PDF, 150 KB). For ENERGY STAR facts and figures broken down geographically by state, see ENERGY STAR State Fact Sheets. For achievements by ENERGY STAR Award Winners, see the ENERGY STAR Award Winners Page.