Integrity Efforts for ENERGY STAR Products

  • Product-Specific Requirements are the foundation for ENERGY STAR product labeling, defining performance eligibility based on objective, repeatable test procedures. EPA follows a robust process for revising specifications to ensure that ENERGY STAR reflects advances in energy efficiency. Updates to specifications allow ENERGY STAR to deliver on its promise to designate products and services that protect the environment through superior energy efficiency without trade-offs in performance or functionality
  • Third-party certification. To earn the ENERGY STAR label, product performance data must be certified by EPA-recognized certification bodies prior to labeling. EPA requires testing in recognized laboratories with demonstrated capabilities. EPA oversees third-party certification of ENERGY STAR products by more than twenty independent certification bodies and more than 500 recognized labs.

    In the rare event that products are certified in error, EPA has a set of certification error procedures (PDF, 91 KB) that include provisions for product control measures.
  • “Off-the-shelf” Verification Testing. EPA oversees verification testing to ensure products associated with the ENERGY STAR label continue to comply with program requirements. In 2023, EPA-recognized certification bodies administered post-market verification testing on over 1,200 products, resulting in 74 unique disqualifications for a compliance rate of 94%. Source: 2023 Verification Testing Summary
  • Clear Consequences for Product Failures. EPA has a clear set of disqualification procedures (PDF, 182 KB) that brand owner partners are subject to if their ENERGY STAR certified models fail to meet performance requirements through product testing. EPA also has a set of Partner Response Forms (PRF), to be submitted to EPA in response to product failures:
  • Monitoring Use of the Label. EPA monitors use of the ENERGY STAR mark through online labeling audits of marketplaces and websites. These quality assurance reviews and associated enforcement-related activity help to ensure that the ENERGY STAR label is used properly and only on ENERGY STAR certified models.
  • Heightened Oversight of ENERGY STAR Bulb Performance. Disproportionate disqualification rates for bulbs compared to other ENERGY STAR product groups, and among ENERGY STAR bulb Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), prompted EPA to implement heightened oversight measures for partners associated with bulb OEMs with high rates of product disqualifications.