Power Effectivity Program Lives To See One other Day

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The favored Power Star vitality effectivity certification program has survived many shifts within the political winds since launching in 1992, as a result of it’s, effectively, fashionable. Power Star is a beneficial advertising and marketing device for US equipment producers and builders, amongst different stakeholders. Whether or not or not it survives over the following 4 years is anyone’s guess, however for now, Power Star continues to offer customers with dependable, easy-to-understand details about vitality environment friendly merchandise.

Power Star & Power Effectivity Info

Power Star will not be a type of pesky meddling authorities vitality effectivity mandates. Launched in 1992 through the Bush administration, Power Star is a voluntary certification program administered collectively by the US Environmental Safety Company and the Division Power. It’s tasked with offering clear, dependable vitality effectivity info to customers.

This system certifies dozens of merchandise, together with home equipment, lighting, electronics, and whole buildings and houses. It’s up to date often to accommodate new merchandise and new applied sciences like EV charging stations.

Power Star additionally has 1000’s of companion organizations together with nearly 40% of Fortune 500 firms. When a proposal to remove Power Star surfaced again in 2017, the response was swift and livid. Lots of of US producers and different companies joined with environmental teams to foyer efficiently in opposition to chopping this system (see heaps extra Power Star background right here).

Power Effectivity Sells Nicely

By 2017 this system’s acquainted blue and white brand had turn out to be a coveted image of business excellence, a motivator of innovation, and a beneficial advertising and marketing device, which explains why producers and different non-public sector stakeholders rose in its protection.

On February 18, the CleanTechnica inbox acquired a press launch from the main dwelling builder Stone Martin Builders that illustrates why main companies proceed to pursue Power Star certification. They acknowledge that dwelling patrons worth vitality effectivity. Stone Martin emphasizes that angle, stating that it’s “Alabama’s main dwelling builder providing ENERGY STAR-compliant single-family houses within the Opelika-Auburn space.”

“To rejoice its partnership with the EPA program, the Opelika dwelling builder introduced plans to assemble greater than 800 ENERGY STAR-certified houses throughout Alabama in 2025,” Stone Martin provides.

As well as saving cash on utility payments, Stone Martin signifies that dwelling patrons additionally worth the environmental side of vitality effectivity. The Power Star certification “provides our householders confidence that they’re investing in a house constructed to final, with diminished environmental impression and long-term value financial savings,” explains Stone Martin COO John Manasco.

So, How Power Environment friendly Is An Power Star Residence?

To be clear, Power Star certification for residential properties will not be up there within the heady ambiance of passive home building and different hyper-efficient constructing methods. Nonetheless, it represents a step up from standard building. Power Star houses are at the very least 10% extra vitality environment friendly than new houses that adhere to minimal code ranges for home windows, insulation, and HVAC efficiency.

“Homebuyers can count on advantages together with improved indoor air high quality, constant temperatures all through the house, and better resale values,” Stone Martin notes.

The Power Star program additionally emphasizes the long run worth of an authorized dwelling. To attain certification, vitality effectivity have to be independently verified for home windows, insulation, and HVAC. “These options are rigorously engineered to enhance consolation and efficiency for the lifetime of the house,” Power Star provides.

Builders Love Power Star

Stone Martin is only one instance. As of 2023, Power Star counted 2,500+ builders, builders, and manufactured housing vegetation on its roster, together with many of the high builders nationwide.

That features KB Residence. The corporate celebrated a milestone in December when it introduced the development of greater than 200,000 Power Star licensed houses. “This milestone highlights the corporate’s long-standing dedication to constructing extremely energy-efficient new houses and additional demonstrates its management place because the #1 energy-efficient nationwide homebuilder,” KB acknowledged in a press launch dated December 11, 2024.

KB has surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar again in 2013 for its early-adopter method to vitality effectivity when it launched its ZeroHouse 2.0 idea full with rooftop photo voltaic and an EV charging station. Amongst different sustainability-related awards and recognitions, the corporate additionally notes that it’s an award-winner within the EPA Power Star, WaterSense, and Indoor airPLUS dwelling builder packages.

KB primarily based the #1 vitality effectivity declare on its rating within the Residence Power Ranking System Index, a program funded by the Power Division geared toward serving to dwelling homeowners, potential patrons, and renters to match the price of utility bills.

Power Effectivity Battle Brewing For Water Heaters

Whether or not or not the HERS Index will probably be out there for much longer is an open query, contemplating the continued budget-cutting, personnel-shedding spree below method on the White Home.

The Power Division already threw one monkey wrench into the works on February 14, when Power Secretary Chris Wright introduced the mothballing of a number of new Biden-era vitality effectivity requirements protecting central AC, garments washers and dryers, and lightbulbs, amongst different home equipment.

“Moreover, the Division of Power is creating a brand new vitality effectivity class for pure fuel tankless water heaters,” the Power Division added.

That’s…fascinating. Water heaters account for 14-18% of dwelling vitality use, which implies a quicker payback for investing more cash up entrance in an vitality environment friendly mannequin.

Tankless water heaters are costly, however they’re extra environment friendly than standard heaters. Tankless heaters can run on electrical energy or fuel, although gas-fired heaters typically ship extra water than electrical ones. Nevertheless, the Power Division advises that neither one is appropriate for bigger dwellings the place a number of customers can outstrip the speed of circulation.

That could be a moot level, now that vitality environment friendly electrical warmth pump water heaters are in the marketplace, giving customers one other different.

Digital energy vegetation are additionally within the combine. Digital energy vegetation allow electrical energy ratepayers to economize by taking part in load-shifting charge incentives geared toward shaving down peak demand. These incentives apply to standard sizzling water heaters in addition to tankless ones, however provided that they use electrical energy.

Ratepayers with their very own photo voltaic panels and vitality storage can even go to the following stage and earn revenue by promoting their extra kilowatts to wholesale electrical energy markets.

The digital energy plant motion Power regulators in Texas launched a solar-plus-storage digital energy plant pilot take a look at two years in the past, attaining an aggregation of 25.5 megawatts. Within the newest improvement, this system was turned over to Texas grid administration company ERCOT, with the objective of rising this system to 80 megawatts.

If you happen to use Power Star merchandise, share your ideas about this system within the remark thread. Higher but, name your representatives in Congress.

Picture: The Power Star vitality effectivity program is a beneficial advertising and marketing device for builders, equipment makers, and different stakeholders, and a dependable supply of knowledge for customers (courtesy of Power Star).