February 11, 2008—The EPEAT green computer procurement system has became more challenging for manufacturers now, as the deadline arrived for all registered products to meet ENERGY STAR’s 4.0 standard for computers. As of January 22, the Green Electronics Council, the nonprofit group that manages the EPEAT registry, has removed all products that do not comply with ENERGY STAR 4.0 from the EPEAT registry, leaving only the top performing computer products in the system
ENERGY STAR 4.0 establishes efficiency requirements for all modes of a computer’s operation, which ensures energy savings when a computer is active and running basic applications, as well as in low power modes. Qualifying computers must also include an internal power supply that is at least 80 percent efficient. Only the most energy-efficient products qualify for the new specification.
ENERGY STAR estimates that these new requirements can save $1.8 billion in energy costs over the next 5 years and prevent greenhouse gas releases equal to the annual emissions of 2.7 million vehicles.
The EPEAT standard addresses multiple environmental performance criteria for computer desktops, laptops, and monitors, including energy efficiency, and requires ENERGY STAR as one of its mandatory criteria.
As a result of the new standard, the Green Electronics Council has removed close to 300 products from the EPEAT registry, leaving only the highest performers–more than 200 desktops and laptops, and over 250 monitors. More than 450 products remained in the system as of January 22.
The GEC anticipates that the number of registered products will begin to climb again very soon as companies compete for the many contracts requiring EPEAT-registered products, including all US Federal contracts, many state and city specifications, and a growing number of enterprise and higher education contracts.
