Public awareness of the Energy Star label now stands at 56 percent of U.S. households, according to a nationwide survey of perceptions in 2003 released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday. This is a 15 percentage point increase in awareness over previous years, the EPA said.
Commissioned by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, a nonprofit organization that promotes the manufacture and purchase of energy-efficient products and services, the survey shows that in many major markets where local utilities and other organizations use Energy Star to promote energy efficiency to their customers, public awareness of Energy Star averages 67 percent.
Energy Star is a federal government backed voluntary program that sets criteria for products and processes demonstrating superior energy efficiency, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs. If just one room in every U.S. home used Energy Star lighting, the change would keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, the EPA estimates. The EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) set energy efficiency criteria for products in 40 different categories of products that can bear the Energy Star label in the marketplace. These include appliances, electronics, office equipment, lighting, heating and cooling systems, windows, and new homes.
Americans have become familiar with the Energy Star label since it was introduced in 1992, under the Clinton administration to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Computers and monitors were the first labeled products.
The new survey found that one in five households selected an Energy Star qualifying product in the past year.
More than 50 percent of these households reported being favorably influenced by the Energy Star, and more than 60 percent of these households said they are likely to recommend Energy Star products to their friends.
In 2003, the EPA estimates, Americans who used Energy Star products saved enough energy to power 20 million homes and avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 18 million cars, while saving $9 billion.
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