EPA ENERGY STAR Program

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR program is a certification program that is used to identify energy-efficient products and buildings. To qualify for ENERGY STAR certification, a product or building must meet certain standards or criteria related to energy efficiency.

To obtain ENERGY STAR accreditation, an organization must typically demonstrate that it has the necessary policies, processes, and procedures in place to manage energy consumption effectively. This may include demonstrating that the organization has appropriate staffing levels, that it follows established best practices and guidelines, and that it has systems in place to monitor and improve energy performance.

ENERGY STAR accreditation can be beneficial for several reasons. It can help to demonstrate the organization's competence and credibility to regulatory bodies, customers, and other stakeholders, and may be required in order to qualify for certain contracts or business opportunities. Accreditation can also help to improve the energy performance of the organization's operations, and may lead to increased efficiency and cost savings.

United States Accreditation, INC., an accreditation body applied for by the EPA, can offer future (AB) and accreditation to both testing laboratories and product certification bodies.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) changed the ENERGY STAR program to require third-party certification of product test data in 2010. The EPA also requires accredited or witnessed (supervised) laboratories to perform product testing.

Laboratories wishing to test products for qualification are required either to attain accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 from a recognized accreditation body, or to be a participant in a Witnessed Manufacturers Test Lab (WMTL)/Supervised Manufacturers Test Lab (SMTL) program run by a recognized product certifier. Any laboratory wishing to offer testing services for the EPA ENERGY STAR ongoing verification testing process must be a third-party laboratory.

This specialty program is covered under Our Electrical, Mechanical, Thermal, and Sustainable Energy fields of testing.

Program Requirements

• ISO/IEC 17025 Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories
• EPA ENERGY STAR-specific requirements