How do you know that the products you purchased are really energy efficient? Energy efficiency has become one of the criteria for selecting new ICT products. What if the Energy Star rating is bogus?
The GAO created four bogus manufacturing firms and fictitious individuals that applied for Energy Star partnership. 20 products, that did not exist, were submitted for certification based on fake energy saving claims.
The GAO was tasked by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to determine the effectiveness of the Energy Star program. The March 2010 GAO Report, "Covert Testing Shows the Energy Star Certification Process is Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse," provides details of the operation.
A computer monitor was one of the fictitious products. The product was approved by Energy Star rapidly, within 30 minutes of submitting the application. It turns out that private organizations contacted the bogus manufacturer to purchase the monitor because it was participating in the Energy Star program. Another bogus product was a printer that was approved within 1 month but the required product literature was never submitted.
My favorite certified Energy Star product was the gasoline powered alarm clock. The clock product described was about was the size of a small generator. The product was approved without a review of the submitting company website or questioning of the claimed efficiencies.
The Energy Star program is overseen jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program has been in existence since 1992. It is primarily a self certification program. Some certifications are performed by third parties. Tax breaks and rebates promote the program. Federal agencies are also required to purchase certain products.
The program covers desktop computers, workstations, thin clients, laptops, notebooks displays, fax machines, scanners and servers. There are about 35 manufacturers in the program. If the Energy Star ratings of some of these products were false, this would increase the enterprise energy costs.
The Energy Star program rules will be tighter starting January 1, 2011. If the cost to certify products increases, will the enterprise bear the cost or will manufacturers drop out of the program?
The new rules call for:
* A recommitment to the Energy Star program by the manufacturers was to be submitted by November 30, 2010. The deadline has been extended to January 1, 2011.
* Manufacturers need to submit complete laboratory reports of the product’s energy savings.
* The reports will be then approved or not by the EPA.
* The third party testing organization must be approved by the EPA.
* If the manufacturer does not recommit to the program, their name and products will be dropped from The Energy Star website. Their products will no longer be on the qualified products list as of January 4, 2011.
The results of the new rules could:
* Hit the computer manufacturers hard because so many of these products are produced in Asia.
* Delay of the approval from a few weeks to a few months that could hold up the product launch and hurt sales.
* Third party testing in Asia, where many of the products are manufactured, is limited and may not be acceptable to the EPA.
* The Information Technology Industry Council estimates that the new rules could add $500,000 to $1.5 millions in yearly costs to a manufacturer.
* Increase the product costs to the enterprise.
* Increase in the size and number of testing labs in the U.S. As of early December, there are only six testing organizations approved for computer testing in the U.S. A backlog of testing could occur in 2011 with the new rules delaying some product launches. As usual, the objecting groups predict dire results. The Energy Star program will not die. The federal government requires procurement of Energy Star rated products.
Some manufactures may op out of the program and have their products de-listed at the EPA Energy Star website. I believe that the EPA will not back down but may modify some rules and delay the requirement dates especially for computers, displays and servers.
