The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced new, more stringent Energy Star standards for computers and related equipment.
The standards will save over $1.8 billion in energy costs over the next 5 years and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual emissions of 2.7 million cars.
Only the most energy-efficient computer related equipment will now earn the Energy Star label, representing the top of their class.
The new requirements include improved efficiency across all modes of a computer’s operation, and require use of highly efficient internal and external power supplies. They go into effect on July 20, 2007.
On average, Energy Star qualifying computer equipment will be 65 percent more efficient than conventional models.
Computers were the first product to qualify for EPA’s Energy Star in 1992. The United States now has more 180 million computers in use; they consume nearly 58 billion kWh per year, or about 2 percent of annual U.S. electricity consumption.
Intel announced it will work jointly with the EPA to provide energy efficiency design expertise to smaller system vendors, to help them meet the specifications.
Energy Star specification for computers:
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