ENERGY STAR(Registered Trademark) is a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products, buildings and practices. Operated jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), ENERGY STAR labels exist for more than thirty products, spanning office equipment, residential heating and cooling equipment, commercial and residential lighting, home electronics, and major appliances. This report presents savings estimates for a subset of ENERGY STAR program activities, focused primarily on labeled products. We present estimates of the energy, dollar and carbon savings achieved by the program in the year 2000, what we expect in 2001, and provide savings forecasts for two market penetration scenarios for the period 2001 to 2020. The target market penetration forecast represents our best estimate of future ENERGY STAR savings. It is based on realistic market penetration goals for each of the products. We also provide a forecast under the assumption of 100 percent market penetration; that is, we assume that all purchasers buy ENERGY STAR-compliant products instead of standard efficiency products throughout the analysis period.

In 1992 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced ENERGY STAR (registered trademark), a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Since then EPA, now in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has expanded the program to cover nearly the entire buildings sector, spanning new homes, commercial buildings, residential heating and cooling equipment, major appliances, office equipment, commercial and residential lighting, and home electronics. This paper provides a snapshot of the ENERGY STAR program in the year 2000, including a general overview of the program, its accomplishments, and the possibilities for future development. First, we describe the products that are currently eligible for the ENERGY STAR label and the program mechanisms that EPA and DOE are using to promote these products. Second, we illustrate selected milestones achieved in some markets, and ways that EPA and DOE are responding to challenges or changes in certain markets. Third, we discuss the evolving ENERGY STAR brand strategy. Next, we explore ways in which ENERGY STAR interacts with and enhances other policies, such as appliance standards and regional market transformation collaboratives. We then discuss evaluation studies that EPA and DOE are undertaking to quantify the impact of the ENERGY STAR program. Finally, we discuss future areas of expansion for the ENERGY STAR program, including labeling of new products and integrated programs for commercial and existing residential buildings.

A recent (1996-2000) acceleration of declines in energy and carbon intensity in the U.S. remains largely unexplained. This study uses Divisia decomposition and regression to test two candidate explanations - fuel mix and weather. The Divisia method demonstrates that fuel mix does not explain the declines in carbon intensity. The fuel mix, both overall and for electricity generation, became slightly more carbon intensive over the study period (though the slight trend reversed before the end of the period). A regression-based correction to the Divisia indices, accounting for variation in heating- and cooling-degree-days, indicates that warmer weather accounts for about 30 percent of the total declines. This leaves declines of more than 2 percent per year (and an acceleration of more than 1 percent over previous decade) remaining to be explained.