In early 2007, CEE began working proactively with ENERGY STAR® to shape a strategic direction for the brand that would continue to serve the needs of CEE members. At the June CEE meeting, Rich Karney, Maria Vargas, Anne Bailey, and Peter Banwell presented ENERGY STAR plans for 2008. CEE and its members then provided comments to EPA and DOE on these proposals, touching on maintaining integrity, ensuring significant energy savings, positioning the brand relative to climate change, new campaigns, and the importance of market share data collection. The objective of these comments was ultimately to contribute to development of the 2008 ENERGY STAR business plan.
Growth of ENERGY STAR
In September, Maria Vargas of EPA reviewed ENERGY STAR brand management, specifically in regard to the value of the brand to voluntary efficiency programs in achieving goals in both the United States and Canada. Sixty-five percent of the public recognizes the ENERGY STAR brand, and understands it indicates energy efficiency. How did a government agency achieve this kind of brand success?
Vargas recounted the beginnings of ENERGY STAR, when EPA searched for the intersection of interests among consumer preferences, manufacturer and retailer interests, and utility program goals. The common interest among the three groups was in finding efficient products that were cost-effective and that did not compromise on performance. The key message was efficiency, not conservation, on doing more with less. Products had to be of just as high, if not higher, quality than the ones they were replacing.
A second important concept was educating consumers about the “second price tag,” the cost of operating and maintaining the product. By making clear the savings in this arena, potentially higher initial costs can be justified. In addition, the backing of the U.S. government gave consumers an instant feeling of trust. Other important characteristics of the brand are its binary character, either a product has the ENERGY STAR brand or it doesn’t. Individuals are also empowered to make a difference through purchasing ENERGY STAR.
ENERGY STAR has evolved with its market by establishing brand guidelines and creating a brand book to consistently enforce use of the brand. While communications change over time, there has been an effort to maintain consistency and build on previous efforts. In addition, marketing ENERGY STAR has grown into a more emotional pitch that speaks to the heart as well as the head.
As ENERGY STAR has evolved, consumer interest in the environment has grown. According to EPA, Americans are strongly interested in the environment, with 87 percent expressing concern, and 93 percent recognizing that energy efficiency impacts the environment. Three-quarters of Americans state that they take environmental impact into account when purchasing an appliance. In addition, EPA surveys have shown a large majority of Americans understand that human behavior is causing global warming and that immediate action is needed.
EPA and DOE protect the integrity of ENERGY STAR in several ways. Even though it’s a self-certification process, active consumer groups such as Consumers Union and a competitive marketplace, combined with FTC penalties for misrepresenting performance, ensure that branded products achieve the specification requirements. EPA conducts its own quality control with advertising monitors, calling customers, and randomly pulling products twice a year from store shelves and testing performance.
Expanding ENERGY STAR to Address New Opportunities
Influenced by the work CEE has done to create efficiency levels greater than the level branded as ENERGY STAR, the business plan presented by Vargas includes additional logos for ENERGY STAR. For example, new opportunities arise for ENERGY STAR to serve as a trusted source of information, either through Web site tips (such as the Whole-House work) or through a specific program, such as Seal and Insulate with ENERGY STAR. Save More, when linked to CEE specifications to ensure national consistency, allows ENERGY STAR to target early adopters and those willing to pay more for proven super efficient products, but may have higher initial costs.
Vargas announced that CEE members in Vermont and California are currently piloting the Save More concept for appliance programs to offer larger incentives for products meeting CEE’s higher tiers. Save More has great potential value for CEE members because it provides a brand for promoting products that achieve greater energy savings, can help seed the market for increases to ENERGY STAR in the future, and promotes the most efficient products available while minimizing confusion for consumers.
Extending ENERGY STAR to New Products and Services
EPA asked the international branding company Interbrand to review ENERGY STAR to make suggestions about its current state and protecting it for the future. Vargas presented the findings. Interbrand defines a brand as a complex relationship of function, benefits, and emotion about a product or service. According to Interbrand, core tenets of ENERGY STAR that should not be compromised are: products use proven, reliable, technology; they reduce carbon emissions; and benefits are reasonably immediate and measurable. Interbrand concluded that EPA and DOE have been effective at managing the brand, but cautioned that the brand cannot be applied to products or services that don’t meet these criteria without weakening it. The full report, Building a Powerful and Enduring Brand: the Past, Present and Future of the ENERGY STAR Brand, is available online.
Interbrand recommended that EPA continue carefully managing the brand by meeting these criteria, but also find out customer’s ideas about energy efficient products and services and continue innovation in those areas. Vargas explained that devising new specifications is where CEE, its members, and manufacturers can play a particularly important role at this time. EPA currently plans to establish or finalize a brand specification for imaging equipment, computers, digital TV adapters, lighting, and commercial dishwashers and icemakers. New areas of exploration include nonducted AC, heat recovery ventilators, microwaves, hand dryers, large commercial clothes washers, soft serve machines, and autoclaves.
Another new area for CEE and ENERGY STAR is commercial computer use (See related article, page 12). Computer data centers and servers currently account for 1.5 percent of all U.S. electricity consumption. In addition, energy use in this area has been growing exponentially since 2000. In order to head off this trend, EPA is recommending ENERGY STAR whole building performance for data centers and ENERGY STAR metrics and labeling of IT equipment, along with best management practices. Utilities can help develop and coordinate energy efficiency programs for these centers.
But creating the products and branding them appropriately is not enough. ENERGY STAR must also motivate people to act. EPA works through a variety of channels to reach people with the ENERGY STAR message. Using the concern of the U.S. and Canadian public for the environment, EPA has a strong emotional basis for encouraging purchase of energy efficient products and services. EPA is currently placing thirty-second public service announcements (PSA) on TV and is developing five print PSAs for distribution. The Web site is another important avenue for educating the public.
Water Efficiency
ENERGY STAR is also taking proactive steps to promote water efficiency within its programs. In addition to ramping up efforts in the water and wastewater sector, EPA added a water use tracking capability in its commercial buildings benchmarking tool, Portfolio Manager (see related story and added water efficiency requirements for ENERGY STAR clothes washers and commercial kitchens products. CEE is also working with EPA to hold a workshop in March 2008 on joint water and energy programs that would achieve direct water and energy savings in areas such as commercial kitchens, appliances, and new homes.
ENERGY STAR Workshop: Taking Advantage of ENERGY STAR
A full day ENERGY STAR workshop will be offered on January 15, immediately preceding the CEE program and board meetings. ENERGY STAR staff from EPA and DOE will present the specific offerings for CEE members to use for residential, commercial, and industrial programs. Brand management, market research, and enhancements to the ENERGY STAR Web site will also be discussed. An agenda is currently being developed. If you are interested in attending, or have suggestions for content, please contact John Taylor.
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