April 23, 2004—The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the new specifications for vending machines to earn the “Energy Star” label. Vending machines that qualify as Energy Star are 35 percent more energy efficient than standard new machine models and will save building and business owners up to $90/year in electricity costs per machine, says EPA.
Nearly 3.4 million refrigerated beverage vending machines are installed across the US, and together they consume more than 15 billion kWh/year. If all vending machines installed by 2012 have earned the Energy Star, building and business owners could save $100 million dollars per year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking more than 200,000 cars off the road.
The specifications will apply to new machine models. EPA is working closely with industry members to develop a refurbished (or retrofit) machine program that will allow older, less efficient machines to be upgraded to qualify as Energy Star before the end of 2004. This will provide the bottler and building owner and manager with even more energy efficient options.
Four manufacturers of vending machines—Royal Vendors, Vendo, Dixie-Narco, and Crane Merchandising Systems—have committed to manufacture and label newly qualified equipment. A number of refrigerated beverage vending machine models already qualify. Newly qualified model listings are available from Energy Star.
