ENERGY STAR: Changing the Energy Conservation Conversation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mission for more than four decades has been to protect the environment and communities from harmful pollution. So far, great advances have been made in cleaning up our air, water and land. Pollution controls for vehicle and factory emissions have created cleaner operating conditions. But more can be done. All of us can prevent pollution through simple actions we can take every day. After all, the simplest way to remove pollution is to prevent it in the first place!

EPA’s ENERGY STAR is the simple choice for energy efficiency. It is also a great way to protect the climate and the environment. With nearly 90 percent awareness among American consumers, the blue ENERGY STAR label is empowering people to make informed decisions about the environmental performance of the products they buy and the places where they live and work. 

Last year, ALL OF US, by taking a little time to make good decisions in our daily lives and with the help of ENERGY STAR, prevented more than 300 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. We did this ourselves and provided more than $12 billion in benefits to society by reducing potential damage from climate change.

Here are some interesting facts on what we did in 2014. We purchased more than 320 million ENERGY STAR certified products. Over 86,000 of our new homes earned the ENERGY STAR – now more than 1.6 million of our homes are certified!  And, more than 25,000 buildings and industrial plants earned the ENERGY STAR – proving that it is possible, cost-effective, and smart to operate businesses energy efficiently.

ENERGY STAR has changed the conversation about energy use in the U.S., making energy efficiency a very cool practice. If you haven’t convinced yourself of the opportunity that ENERGY STAR provides to save money and protect the environment, do yourself a favor and look up www.energystar.gov to see what you have been missing!