Government spending may get a bad rap, but there is one federal program that saved consumers $4 billion last year and benefited the environment as well. It’s called Energy Star, and it’s a voluntary labeling effort that identifies both products and buildings that exceed minimum federal standards for energy consumption. Purchase of Energy Star-labeled appliances and use of the program’s analysis tools has already helped many consumers save up to 30 percent of their utility costs.

With real and threatened energy shortages and rising utility rates, Energy Star provides important ways for consumers and businesses alike to increase their energy efficiency and cut costs. With everyone from state government to manufacturers to utility companies backing the action, a lot of the work is being done for you, with rebates and incentives thrown in to boot. It pays to know what’s available.

Energy Star’s Early Years

According to Energy Star spokesperson Maria Vargas, the program began in the Air office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose primary goal is to reduce air pollution. Started in 1992, Energy Star came on the heels of another program called Green Lights that worked with building owners and managers to install more energy-efficient lighting. "The catalyst for both of those programs was the recognition that energy efficiency can deliver significant pollution prevention savings, through deploying existing proven technologies that were very cost effective," she explains. "The hope was that by being government programs, they could really highlight these opportunities. Not only could people trust that advice as unbiased but it could really focus attention on these opportunities to save money and save energy without sacrificing either the quality of life that you have in a building, or delivery of product performance."

The first products to be given Energy Star labels were computers–"Because," says Vargas, "the technology could be fairly quickly adopted, and because of the recognition that the computer and other pieces of office equipment were on so often when they weren’t being used that there was a huge potential for energy savings and environmental protection." Since then, labeling has been extended to heating and cooling equipment and home appliances and electronics; currently there is labeling for 30 different products. Building on the success of single-product labels, new homes and buildings are now eligible for the label.

The Department of Energy (DOE) became a partner to Energy Star in 1995. Vargas explains, "The DOE does a lot of research and development; they also set standards for appliances, so it meant an ability to use existing protocol that they had for how they determined the efficiency of products. Energy Star is a voluntary effort to use that same protocol, but really identifies the top 25 percent in the market that were more efficient than those standards."

Are You Certifiable?

The process for getting a building Energy-Star certified involves using a Web-based calculating tool provided by Energy Star itself. Enter a building’s energy bills for the past year and the tool will let you know on a scale of zero to 100 where the building falls in terms of efficiency when compared to similar buildings nationwide. Vargas says, "Before this tool, if you owned buildings all over the country, you had no sense of determining whether one was more efficient than another. What the tool does is it normalizes for climate, for occupancy, for use and a number of other things, so all of a sudden you can start comparing apples to apples." If a building rates low, you realize there’s a lot you can do there. And if a building rates at 75 percent or higher, it’s eligible for the Energy Star label. A professional engineer would need to provide verification for both the data and the quality of space in that building. "In other words," says Vargas, "we don’t want people scoring a 75 because they’ve turned off all the lights and have no indoor air quality; we want to make sure that there’s no sacrifice involved in the building." Currently, this benchmarking is available for office buildings, schools and grocery stores; residential buildings are somewhere in the future.

On the product-labeling end, Energy Star works with the manufacturers to set specification levels for a given product or appliance. They then award the label to the products that meet or exceed that specification, so there’s no downside. "It’s very easy," says Vargas. "It either has the Energy Star label or it doesn’t."

Vargas feels the most important thing co-op and condo owners can do is to look for the Energy Star label when buying products such as washers, dryers, VCRs or fax machines for their home. "I think ultimately you can save about 30 percent on your energy bill, and that averages about $400 a year for the typical home. So those cost savings are real, they come at no sacrifice in performance, and they come while you’re helping the environment."

Appliances with features such as remote control, digital display and battery recharging consume what is known as standby power; that is, they consume power even when they are turned off. Standby power uses roughly five percent of residential electricity. President Bush recently announced a goal of reducing that, and requested that the Energy Star standard be one watt, as opposed to the average of four to seven watts. Vargas reports that the program has already been working with that in the area of home electronics, as that is where the primary efficiency gains in items such as TVs and VCRs come from. They will include that standard where it’s technically and economically feasible.

Another Ally for Energy Star

Gary Davidson, spokesman for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), says that New York became the first state partner of Energy Star in 1998. Initially, that entailed promoting the importance of Energy Star to consumers through public service and advertising campaigns. Davidson says it’s grown since then; now they’re working with builders to promote the construction of Energy Star homes; coordinating, under Governor Pataki’s executive order, the purchase of Energy Star equipment for state agencies, and developing energy efficiency standards for new products and equipment that aren’t covered under the Energy Star label.

NYSERDA offers some enticing incentives for people to upgrade their appliances to the Energy Star label. Their "Keep Cool" initiative offers a $75 bounty for customers that trade in old inefficient air conditions and replace them with new, labeled units. "What we didn’t want," says Davidson, "was people simply purchasing an Energy Star air conditioner and taking the old air conditioner out of the living room and putting it into the bedroom, basically adding demand to the grid. By having them trade in the old appliance, we can ensure that whatever is in the air conditioner that can be recycled is recycled, and hazardous materials can be disposed of properly, and we’re getting that old unit off the grid, thus reducing the demand. In New York in the summertime, that’s important; there were some concerns about possible shortages, especially in the New York City area, so reducing cooling demand is one way of addressing that." Currently, more than 400 retailers in the New York area are participating in the program. "We’ve had tremendous success with the program," says Davidson. Now in its second year, "Keep Cool" has succeeded in getting the word out about energy efficient air conditioners, which use 20 to 30 percent less energy than their predecessors. So far, something like 1,500 old air conditioners have been traded in through the program.

Another efficiency program, called the Residential Technical Assistance Program, or "RESTECH," offers consumers "energy audits" to identify areas where they can curb energy usage. "We recommend consumers contact us about our energy audits," says Davidson. "It will help reduce the cost of energy [to the consumer]."

NYSERDA has a network of contractors to perform the surveys throughout New York State. During an energy audit, a contractor comes to an individual home and does a systematic check of the residence. They look at heating, cooling, lighting, fixtures, and other components in the home with a view to saving energy. Says Davidson, "Sometimes existing systems components need to be replaced, tuned up or cleaned to make them run more efficiently." For co-op and condo owners, NYSERDA also has bulk-purchasing programs that can help them get a better rate on the Energy Star units they are purchasing.

Behind Closed (Apartment) Doors

The 1st Rochdale Cooperative NYC is a consumer-owned, not-for-profit energy and telecommunications cooperative. It is a purchasing cooperative that buys bulk electricity from competing suppliers for delivery to its members through existing lines. Norma Dunkelberger, program manager for energy management services, provides educational programs for members. She has worked with building managers of all kinds of residential buildings, and says that when the subject turns to discussing what people can do behind their apartment doors to save energy, managing agents invariably say, "We’re the managers, we can’t force them to do anything." In response, Dunkelberger proposed making educational presentations to the residents and distributing a brochure titled The ABC’s of Apartment Energy Use. She explains, "The ABC’s really are Appliances, Bulbs, and Controls. Those are the priorities. [Energy-efficient appliances] are where you get the most for your dollar, because those are the biggest electricity users." As for Bulbs, Dunkelberger says that 80 to 90 percent of the electricity consumed by an incandescent bulb is actually generating heat, not light. "And that changes the amount of air conditioning that you have to use in a room." Dunkelberger also points out that halogens are the kings of wasteful bulbs, and encourages the use of fluorescents. "There are screw-in fluorescent bulbs that fit a standard socket, and they’ve gotten more sophisticated in terms of the color of the light they give off–much more like an incandescent. They don’t flicker, and they’re very cool. They’ve gotten very versatile since the old circle lines, the elementary school tubing."

The third item–Controls–refers to the light switch, as in Just Turn It Off. Motion detectors and timers are helpful here as well, particularly for those in the habit of leaving a light on for security.

Dunkelberger’s efforts don’t stop with education. She also develops creative ways to encourage residents to purchase Energy Star appliances. At one co-op, she proposed a sales-and-information fair to present Energy Star air conditioners to residents. The board and the manager were happy to cooperate, offering their service and maintenance staff to help Dunkelberger set up the fair, and volunteering to store the old air conditioners they were recycling under lock and key until pickup. For her part, Dunkelberger worked with a dealer to come up with the best choice of Energy Star units she could find, making sure they met the building’s specific requirements. Dunkelberger also arranged for both bulk purchasing discounts and recycling rebates from NYSERDA. The fair was a huge success–a quarter of the building’s 750 units bought 300 of the new energy-efficient air conditioners, and the management company opted to continue the sales in their office after the fair’s conclusion. Remarkably, the co-op building was master-metered, so residents did not know what their electric bill would have looked like prior to the introduction of the Energy Star A/C units. Many, however, were aware of what increasing energy bills might do to their maintenance charges, and were impressed enough with Dunkelberger’s presentation of the Energy Star program to give the new units a chance, even without the hard numbers in front of them. Dunkelberger attributes the success of the fair to several things: taking the time to tailor the configuration of units to the building’s needs; gaining the cooperation of the people who wanted to hold the fair for their apartment dwellers; and the beneficial partnership she established with both her retail partner and with NYSERDA.

Cost vs. Benefits

Dunkelberger has an answer to those made hesitant by the somewhat higher cost of Energy Star appliances: "If you agree that the machine should save energy, it means paying something extra. But if enough of us buy this way and force manufacture of this line in each manufacturer’s assembly line, then the price should come down. It’s creating demand in the market; it will increase the capability of people to control their energy expenditure."

Dunkelberger is also very enthusiastic about new appliances on the market, saying that new energy-efficient refrigerators use just half as many kilowatt hours per year as refrigerators made ten years ago. And new front-loading washing machines save in three ways: They use less operating electricity; they use less water, which saves on water heating; and they spin more water out of your clothes, saving on time in the dryer.

For boards unsure of how to go about integrating Energy Star appliances into their buildings, Dunkelberger can serve as an advisor throughout the process, arranging delivery, installation, and maintenance, as well as advising on warrantees and rebates.

Start to Save Now

The days of cheap energy are past. To make a measurable difference in energy consumption in a residential building, Dunkelberger stresses that you must get behind the apartment door. Vargas concurs, saying the place for co-op and condo owners to start saving is in the home, letting Energy Star guide your purchases. "For consumers, it makes shopping very easy; you don’t have to do a research project before you go the store. If a product has an Energy Star label on it, you can be assured that that product is in the top quartile of the marketplace in terms of energy efficiency, and also that you’re not sacrificing performance."