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Energy consumption during use phase is an important aspect of computers’ and
monitors’ overall environmental performance. For this reason, the IEEE 1680
Standard, which forms the basis of EPEAT, requires that every EPEAT registered
product meet the current version of the applicable ENERGY STAR standard.
ENERGY STAR Grace Period
Stakeholders in the original EPEAT standards development
process were concerned that the supply of EPEAT registered products might drop
precipitously upon adoption of ENERGY STAR 4.0, a much more complex and
challenging standard than the previous ENERGY STAR 3.0 standard. As a
safeguard, they established a 6-month grace period following adoption of a new
ENERGY STAR standard during which products qualified to the previous standard
could remain on the EPEAT registry.
The IEEE Standards Development Workgroup currently revising
the 1680 standard proposes to eliminate this ENERGY STAR grace period to bring
EPEAT and ENERGY STAR effective dates into alignment. From the date that the
1680.1 revised standard goes into effect (likely October 2009) all EPEAT
registered products will have to meet the most recent applicable ENERGY STAR
standard as of its effective date.
ENERGY STAR 5.0
Implementation
July 1, 2009 is the effective date for
a new ENERGY STAR 5.0 standard for
desktops, laptops, workstations, and thin client devices.
This date precedes the expected
adoption of the revised IEEE 1680.1, which leaves the grace period still in
effect. So although EPEAT is encouraging our Subscriber manufacturers to
register only products that meet ENERGY STAR 5.0 going forward, some products
that do not meet 5.0 may remain on the registry.
As soon as the 1680.1 revised standard is adopted, the grace
period will close and all products that do not meet the 5.0 standard must be
removed from the registry. As of that date, and in future, all EPEAT products
will again meet their applicable ENERGY STAR specification.
Until that time, we encourage all purchasers of desktops,
notebooks, workstations and thin client devices to clearly ask suppliers for
products that are both EPEAT registered and ENERGY STAR 5.0 qualified. For your
convenience, we have developed an ENERGY STAR search function on the
Search page to help you identify the products that meet ES 5.0 along
with your other search criteria. There is also a search at the bottom of this
page which
ENERGY STAR and
configurations
Computer manufacturers may build many configurations of a
given product model, some of which meet ENERGY STAR requirements while others
do not. EPEAT requires
manufacturers to report specific configurations of registered products that do
not meet IEEE 1680 requirements in an “exceptions” field. Because computer
products are so highly configurable, and configuration can have a significant
impact on energy use, many ENERGY STAR qualified computers on the EPEAT
registry have a declared exception related to ENERGY STAR.
We encourage purchasers to carefully review the declared
exceptions for products, to ensure that their desired configuration meets the
applicable ENERGY STAR specifications. Where individual users have the ability
to order products under an overall contract agreement, organizations should
train individuals to request ENERGY STAR qualified products when they order,
even where the overall contract already specifies EPEAT (and/or ENERGY STAR).
Additional resources:
ENERGY
STAR 5.0 Information
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