Lights Out

for Energy

Star? It Could

Happen ...

B Y T R E Y B A R R I N E A U

arch 2016. During a televised

“While we may not agree with every aspect of

debate with other Republican the Energy Star program, we believe that it does

presidential

hopefuls

in a great job in supporting the American consum-

Detroit, then-candidate Donald er,” said Phil Wengerd, vice president of market

Trump vows to dismantle the strategies for ProVia. “The key is that there has to

M

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

We’re going to get rid of it in almost every form,” toward—a plumb line, if you will. Consumer edu-

he said. “We’re going to have little tidbits left, but cation must be the top priority—making sure that

be some known criteria that everyone is working

“

we’re going to take a tremendous amount out.”

May 2017. Newly elected President Trump

when I buy something, I know what I’m getting.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who has teamed

releases his ﬁrst comprehensive budget plan. The with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to introduce

highlight? A massive 31-percent reduction in fund- energy-efﬁciency legislation in recent years, sug-

ing for the EPA, from $8.2 billion in 2017 to $5.6 gested that many of the Trump administration’s

billion in 2018.

proposed reductions to the EPA would face strong

One little tidbit that isn’t left—the agency’s pop- opposition across the political spectrum.

ular, voluntary Energy Star program, which rates

the efﬁciency of thousands of products, from air

conditioners to dryers to doors and windows.

That includes cutting Energy Star.

“The fact is there is bipartisan support for pro-

grams like Energy Star,” she said during the EE

The administration’s budget completely Global Forum in Washington, D.C., in May. “We

defunds the program for 2018, though the EPA understand that these programs bring beneﬁts to

says it will explore options for the transfer of the American people.”

Energy Star and other climate protection partner-

ship programs to “non-governmental entities.”

While there’s a good chance that many of

Shaheen added that energy efﬁciency is now

widely accepted.

“Despite what may happen at the federal level,

Trump’s proposed cuts won’t make it past Congress what we have seen at the state and municipal level

this year, the possible loss of Energy Star has gen- and from the private sector is that the effort to

erated intense interest in the fenestration industry, support energy efﬁciency will continue,” she said.

and with good reason. More than 300 door and “There is a revolution in how we think about and

window companies are partners in the program, use energy, and it will not be derailed.”

and Energy Star-rated windows represent about 80

percent of the U.S. market, according to the EPA.

Despite that, there are those in the industry

who question the usefulness of a government pro-

Recently, several industry companies, including gram that many say is ﬂawed.

Andersen, Plastpro, ProVia, Steves & Sons, Velux

“In the early days of Energy Star, when it was

America, Vitro, ViWinTech Windows & Doors and still a marketing program of the Department of

others, joined about 1,000 other businesses across Energy, there was some perceived value to hav-

many sectors to sign a letter urging Congress and ing it,” said Bob Maynes, director of marketing

the White House to preserve Energy Star.

and international sales with Mathews Brothers

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Delving Into Energy Star’s Costs

The EPA never responded to DWM’s request for

speciﬁc annual budget ﬁgures for Energy Star’s win-

dows, doors and skylights program. (The total budget

for all of Energy Star in 2017 is $66 million.)

“

Should Pay For

It and Run It”

I Think You

Assisting the windows, doors and skylights pro-

gram doesn’t seem to be terribly expensive, though.

For example, a search of federal procurement data-

bases shows that in 2015, ICF Inc. was awarded a

one-year contract of $212,589 for “support services

for Energy Star windows, doors & skylights products.”

However, promoting the entire Energy Star pro-

gram appears to carry a relatively hefty price tag.

In 2016, the EPA sought to award a one-year

contract for $14 million to market Energy Star. That’s

about a quarter of the total budget for the program.

Myron Ebell

A search of the American Presidency Project website

at the University of California, Santa Barbara, shows that

Donald Trump never mentioned Energy Star in any speech-

es, press releases or other documents from the date he

announced his candidacy (June 15, 2015) to his election

in November 2016. His campaign website didn’t mention it

either, and the GOP’s platform was silent on the program

as well.

So whose idea was it to send Energy Star packing?

We’ll probably never know for sure, but a lot of evidence

points to Myron Ebell, who leads the Center for Energy

and Environment at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise

Institute.

After the election, Ebell headed up Trump’s transition

team for the EPA. When DWM asked him in April if it was

his idea to axe Energy Star, he said “transition work is con-

ﬁdential.” But he then added: “I can say that it is public

knowledge that the agency transition teams were primarily

charged with developing plans to implement the president’s

campaign commitments. Defunding Energy Star was not a

campaign commitment.”

Company. “But eventually, it became so incredibly

easy to achieve the designation, it evolved into

just another sticker on the window, instead of a

differentiator. To me, the solution is, ultimately, a

single code-enforcement body run by the industry,

incorporating both structural and thermal per-

formance, and reporting those numbers on the

window label.”

The Upside

According to former EPA ofﬁcial Daniel Fiorino,

the Energy Star program was designed to be a

more collaborative and transparent alternative to

top-down, one-size-ﬁts-all government directives.

“I do see Energy Star as a model for other kinds

of public-private programs,” he said. “I would not

call it a partnership exactly but a kind of third-par-

ty certiﬁcation program in which government

plays a central role. There are private ones as well.

An example is the Forest Stewardship Council.”

Maria T. Vargas, director of the Department of

Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, said the vol-

untary nature of Energy Star means stakeholders

work together to achieve efﬁciency goals.

Ebell told DWM that he thinks privatizing Energy Star is

a small step on the path toward getting the government’s

ﬁnancial house back in order.

“Our view is that Energy Star is good insofar as it’s volun-

tary and not so good that taxpayer dollars are used to run

it,” he said in an e-mail. “One of the reasons that the federal

government is so disastrously in debt is that hundreds of

special interests have been able to commandeer tax dollars

for programs that beneﬁt them. If your industry and others

that participate in Energy Star think it’s a good program,

then I think you should pay for it and run it. There are good

examples in other industries of programs (that were started

before everyone decided that Congress could be persuaded

to pay for every good idea) that are self-funded and admin-

istered by the industries involved. The lumber grading stan-

dards are a good example and do for lumber what Energy

Star does for energy efﬁciency. They were self-funded, and

as far as I know, still are self-funded.”

“I think voluntary programs are an important

part of solving the problem of energy efﬁciency,”

said Vargas, who also was the brand manager

for the Energy Star program for almost 20 years.

“

When you have a voluntary program, you know

the problem you’re trying to solve.”

Carolyn Snyder, director of EPA’s Climate

Protection Partnership Division, which includes

Energy Star, said the public-private nature of vol-

untary efﬁciency programs makes them especially

receptive to what’s happening in the marketplace.

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June-July 2017

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L_c_o_ni_t_i_ng_u_eh_d_f_rt_o_ms_p_aO_g_e₃u₁ t?

“

We make sure the tools and pro-

grams meet the needs of the market,”

she said. “It’s important to continue to

evolve with the marketplace.”

Many door and window companies

are on the same page. They see a gov-

ernment-run Energy Star as a collab-

orative, impartial body that sets uni-

form standards that are clear to both

manufacturers and consumers. That’s

why so many take part in it, trumpet-

ing their participation in advertising

and marketing materials.

“

From my perspective, Energy

Energy Star Energy Efﬁciency Requirements for Windows

Star has really challenged our indus-

try—and many other industries—to

become better and more energy efﬁ-

cient,” said Tyson Schwartz, Soft-

Lite’s executive vice president and

chief sales and marketing ofﬁcer.

Climate Zone

U-Factor

SHGC

Northern

≤ 0.27

Any

North-Central

South-Central

Southern

≤ 0.30

≤ 0.40

≤ 0.25

≤ 0.30

“

Energy Star is almost like a seal of

≤ 0.40

approval. Consumers look for Energy

Star on most electronics and appli-

ances. The logo and brand is recog-

nized internationally.”

Energy Star Requirement Test Method Reference

U-Factor

NFRC 100

SHGC

NFRC 200

That seal-of-approval aspect is a

big part of its appeal to the industry.

Air Leakage

ASTM E283 in accordance with NFRC 400 or

AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S.2/A440-11

“By having a third-party organi-

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

zation that is verifying the accuracy

of the reports and testing methods, it

gives the consumer conﬁdence that house gases are backing Energy Star’s gy manager with 3M, said Energy Star

they can trust the numbers they are survival in a big way. has beneﬁts for companies that go

seeing,” said Brian K. Zimmerman, “We strongly support the beyond energy-efﬁciency initiatives.

the owner of Zen Windows Carolina Energy Star program,” said Lowell “The ability to network, meet peo-

in Charlotte, N.C. “If you remem- Ungar, senior policy adviser at the ple, share problems and share suc-

ber back to the days before Energy American Council for an Energy- cesses really helped,” he said. “And

Star certiﬁed windows, you had Efﬁcient Economy (ACEEE). “This is the recognition we received with

many companies using center- a voluntary government program that Energy Star was certainly fantastic.”

of-glass U-value numbers to make works—indeed, it’s the leading volun-

The National Fenestration Rating

their windows look superior to oth- tary energy-efﬁciency program in the Council (NFRC), which plays a major

ers, as opposed to overall window world. Bottom line: it helps consum- role in Energy Star by providing the

U-values.” U-factor and solar heat gain coefﬁ-

The other important function of

Energy Star is to push the industry to who bought Energy Star products and skylights, also hopes it survives.

ers save money.”

According to Ungar, consumers cient ratings for doors, windows and

advance its technology, said Schwartz. participated in its programs saved $34

“As a government-backed program,

It has challenged us to become billion in 2015, and a cumulative total Energy Star has signiﬁcant credibility

with U.S. consumers,” said NFRC CEO

“

better and strive for more energy-efﬁ- of $430 billion through 2015.

cient products,” he said.

“It is a remarkably successful brand Deb Callahan. “It helps them make

Of course, reducing energy bills was recognized by almost 90 percent of sound decisions when purchasing

a key reason the Energy Star program Americans,” he said. “And it helps windows, doors and skylights intend-

was founded in 1992 (the windows businesses market better products. ed to reduce their energy bills, and we

program began in 1997). Because We don’t see why anyone would want encourage its ongoing operation.”

of that, organizations that support to take that away.”

energy efﬁciency and reducing green-

Steven Schultz, the corporate ener-

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Big Market Share

Energy Star windows

made up about 80 percent

of the U.S. market in 2010.

The Downside

understand all the window technolo-

gies that manufacturers have certiﬁed

and which combinations can achieve

certain performance levels.

While many door and window

companies say they love the little blue

label, the industry’s relationship with

Energy Star hasn’t always been posi-

tive. For example, testing and veriﬁca-

tion have long been issues.

“EPA is working to improve how

they calculate which windows and

doors are available to consumers, and

this should help,” said Ray Garries,

vice president of engineering and

innovation at MI Windows and Doors

and a blogger for DWM. “The NFRC

CPD has millions of products list-

ed, but a large percentage are not

available for consumers to buy. These

unavailable listed options are mostly

glazing combinations that the system

2

0%

Non-Energy Energy

Star Star

In 2012, the agency launched a test-

ing program for fenestration products

that’s administered by the NFRC. The

goal was to test 10 percent of Energy

Star product lines each year.

However, Doug Anderson, the proj-

ect manager for Energy Star’s win-

dows, doors and skylights program,

told an industry gathering in February

8

0%

Source: EPA

that NFRC is testing just 5 percent of turers found that they could lower the requires, but the manufacturers may

product lines in 2017. And at an earli- U-factor to achieve Energy Star cer- not sell for a variety of reasons.”

er meeting, he noted inconsistencies tiﬁcation by placing additional low-E

within the veriﬁcation program. on the fourth or room-side surface of eﬁcial to manufacturers. By working

We have found issues of concern, a window, they missed an important in the database and selecting combi-

The change could be hugely ben-

“

and we have found failures,” Anderson —and potentially costly—side effect.

nations that match existing products,

said during a December 2014 stake-

holders meeting in Washington, D.C.

“The fact that it also lowers the window makers could see how they

condensation resistance factor was stack up against the best and worst

Members of the industry said lost on them,” Maynes said. “So, this for that combination. It could also

those problems damage Energy Star’s spring and summer and fall, a whole save the time and expense of testing

credibility.

lot of windows with fourth-surface different conﬁgurations, and it could

“

There have been labeling incon- low-E glazing are going to be installed turn up the lowest-cost combinations

sistencies that cause you to question in the Northeast, and next fall, a whole that hit efﬁciency targets.

the program,” said Steve Strawn, the lot of window dealers’, distributors’

product compliance manager at Jeld- and window manufacturers’ phones Speciﬁcation Vexation

Another issue that bothers manu-

Wen, during that meeting.

are going to be ringing off the hook

Maynes points out speciﬁc prob- with people complaining about the facturers is the additional costs that

lems with the current Energy Star incredibly massive amounts of con- arise from changes to the speciﬁcation

Version 6.0 speciﬁcation, which took densation that will be with them all that some feel come too fast.

effect on January 1, 2015 in the U.S. winter long, which will lead to sheet-

“Obviously as the EPA raises the bar

except in the Northern Zone, where rock damage and mold growth. And on performance in order to achieve

the criteria for windows went into what comes shortly after that? Class- the Energy Star rating, it requires man-

effect on January 1, 2016.

What did the EPA do here? They

eschewed responsibility and simply Steps to Improve

pointed to one value (U-factor of 0.27

action lawsuits.”

ufacturers to pour more and more

money into the window to achieve

smaller and smaller improvements,”

“

To its credit, the EPA is trying to said Maynes. “It’s a business decision:

or better) or two values (a sliding ﬁx problems like this. For example, do we want to inventory speciﬁc pro-

scale of U-factor and solar heat gain in January the agency began work ﬁles, speciﬁc types of glass, speciﬁc

coefﬁcient) from the array of NFRC on a new methodology for analyzing glazing systems, speciﬁc anything, in

testing we all perform, and used those NFRC’s Certiﬁed Product Directory order to address this niche?”

as its pass/fail criteria for whether or (CPD), the massive database of win-

Maynes’ company, Mathews

not the window passed (for the North dows, doors, skylights and other Brothers, is the type of smaller manu-

and North/Central climate zones),” products that have been approved by facturer that might be especially sen-

he said. “In reality, it’s the single cri- the organization. The analysis could sitive to ﬂuctuations in production

terion that the market looks at: the be used in future Energy Star speciﬁ- costs, but even major players in the

U-factor. All we have to do is achieve cation revisions.

industry have expressed concern.

a 0.27 U-factor, and we’re in.”

In a statement, the EPA said it’s

And while many window manufac- proposing the new approach to better

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