Energy Star: A Black Eye for Green Certification

The other morning, I woke up to an NPR story about Energy Star, the green certification touted by appliances claiming to be energy-efficient.  Apparently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office submitted twenty bogus "green" products for Energy Star certification, fifteen of which were approved by the EPA.  I called the GAO this morning to ask for permission to show you the chart of products they had published in their report (see below) and they did me one better by sending me four links that are pretty amazing.

To wit: visit the following bogus (and equally bogus-looking) websites created by the GAO's Forensic Audits and Special Investigations unit to test the limits of Energy Star approval:

• Tropical Thunder Appliances (tag line: "Resilient, Economical, All-American"), supposed vendor of appliances for home (clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, water coolers, humidity control, room air cleaners, and room ACs) and commercial use (more dishwashers, griddles, fryers, steamers, ovens, refrigerators, freezers, hot foot holding cabinets, and ice machines);

• Cool Rapport (tag line: "relax, put up your feet, and stay awhile"), supposed vendor of HVAC systems (boilers, furnaces, heat pumps, thermostats, ventilated fans, and air conditioners) and "home envelope products" (doors, windows, shingles, tiles, metal panels);

• Futurizon Solar Innovations (tag line: "lighting a way to a greener" (sic)), supposed vendor of CFL bulbs, light fixtures, decorative light strings, heat pumps, "whisper quiet ceiling plans (sic), and "solar bottles"; and

• Spartan Digital Electronics (tag line: "efficient, durable, effective"), supposed vendor of external power adapters, battery charging systems, computer displays, printers, scanners, "end use products", and --- get this--- a "gas-powered alarm clock".

To make matters worse, tests performed by Consumer Reports revealed real Energy Star products to be far less effective than their claims would suggest.  "We found, particularly, problems with refrigerators," explained a representative from Consumer Reports magazine in the NPR report.  Just yesterday, USA Today ran a story describing measures the EPA is taking to rectify the situation.  Apparently, companies will now have to actually submit lab reports demonstrating eligibility and will soon have to use accredited labs for testing.

But all this is more than just bad news for Energy Star and the EPA; it is a black eye for the entire battery of green certifications that have hit the markets over the past few years.  Concerned consumers trust certifications to tell them what is green enough to purchase.  What does it mean when one poorly managed green certification calls the entire family into question?

.