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EPA Revises Energy Star DTV Specs

Arlington, Va. — The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday updated its guidelines for qualifying the most energy-efficient digital televisions eligible to bear the Energy Star label.

The new version 3.0 specification, which takes effect Nov. 1, addresses all DTV display technologies on a technology neutral basis and will grant the Energy Star label only to the top 25 percent to 30 percent most energy-efficient TV models. In addition, for the first time, the specification will take into account active mode or “on” mode power consumption in addition to standby mode energy use.

The spec also takes into account power consumption levels based on screen size, with the understanding that larger screen sizes affect energy use.

In the coming months, the EPA said it will provide all stakeholders with separate instructions that explain how to continue as an Energy Star partner for TVs under the new specification.

Once this specification is in effect, manufacturers must re-commit as a partner under the version 3.0 specification, and must submit qualifying product data for EPA review.

In a statement announcing the change, EPA CE and IT product manager Katharine Kaplan, said: “The EPA is thrilled to announce the completion of the new On Mode Energy Star specification for televisions. This specification has the potential to save Americans billions of dollars and avoid millions of metric tons of carbon being released into the environment. EPA thanks partners like [the Consumer Electronics Association] and its member companies for their contributions to this specification and now challenges them to do what they do so well — bring consumers the very best in terms of feature-rich, high-quality, energy-efficient TVs.”

CEA, which collaborated with the EPA in establishing the new energy consumption standard, said the rating system should “lead to further reductions in the amount of energy consumed by digital televisions.”

“CEA and its members are proud to have worked directly with the EPA to develop a specification so new-generation televisions can bear the well-recognized Energy Star label,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA president/CEO. “The consumer electronics industry has been committed to Energy Star since its inception in 1992, and together we have developed market-oriented energy efficiency incentives covering major categories of consumer electronics.”
The CEA said that more than 1 billion of the 2 billion Energy Star products sold since 1992 have been CE devices. In 2007 alone, Energy Star helped Americans save about $14 billion on their energy bills while protecting our environment through greenhouse gas emissions reductions equivalent to the emissions of 25 million vehicles.

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