The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that each agency is implementing steps to enforce labeling standards and strengthen the Energy Star Qualified Products program as part of their ongoing partnership.
In September 2008, we reported on criticisms questioning Energy Star’s viability in the marketplace and outlining the areas in which the program was falling short of its own goals. A year later, we followed up with the news that the EPA and the DOE had re-evaluated their respective roles on the program and announced planned enhancements, including stricter product testing requirements and increased verification of compliance.
Now the agencies are implementing a two-step process to effectively conduct and manage expanded testing and performance verification of Energy Star-qualified products.
- During March, the DOE began testing six of the most commonly used Energy Star-labeled appliances: freezers, refrigerator-freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, water heaters, and room air conditioners. The agency plans to test 200 basic models at third-party laboratories over the next few months to verify compliance with Energy Star standards.
- Both agencies are developing a system that will require all products seeking the Energy Star label to be tested in approved third-party laboratories and will require manufacturers to ensure continuing product compliance by participating in an ongoing performance verification program.
Early in March, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on an undercover investigation it conducted in 2009 to test the effectiveness of the Energy Star program’s certification process and the level of scrutiny throughout.
According to the report, the investigation determined that Energy Star “is for the most part a self-certification program vulnerable to fraud and abuse.” Because Energy Star did not at the time verify all product performance data as reported by manufacturers, GAO investigators found that the certification controls were largely ineffective.
Investigators created fake manufacturing companies and obtained Energy Star Partner status for them, then submitted for Energy Star qualification 20 fake products with performance data that met the program’s requirements. Some of the products were plausible, but others, such as a gas-powered alarm clock, were far-fetched. Fifteen of the bogus products made it through the process and achieved Energy Star certification—including the gas-powered alarm clock. Four were flagged by the certification tool or by program officials for third-party verification, however, the GAO investigation found that this step was not always successful in rejecting the fake products because officials didn’t always validate the third-party testing data provided.
The GAO’s investigation highlighted several of the flaws in the certification process and its fraud prevention controls that the DOE and the EPA are currently working to correct through the previously mentioned ramp-up of product testing and verification improvements. According to the agencies, Energy Star is being transitioned into a certification-based program with a more rigorous up-front screening process.
In a statement, the EPA acknowledged the GAO’s findings and pointed to the recent enhancements by the EPA and the DOE in product testing and verification practices for Energy Star products. According to the EPA, a 2009 review of certified products found that 98 percent of those tested met or exceeded Energy Star requirements. The statement also noted that self-policing (or competitor-policing) is a routine occurrence, as manufacturers have an incentive to test competitors’ products and report the violations they find.
Stay tuned for future coverage of EPA and DOE efforts to strengthen the Energy Star program and overcome its many challenges.
