Environmental Purchasing (EP) Bulletin #43
ENERGY STARŪ requirements

PLEASE NOTE:  These bulletins, published since 1997, are historical.  The content is not updated.

• Introduction
• King County - ENERGY STARŪ language
• For More Information
• Environmental Purchasing Program

Introduction

ENERGY STARŪ is a voluntary partnership among the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, product manufacturers, local utilities, and retailers. Partners help promote energy efficient products by labeling them with the ENERGY STARŪ logo and educating consumers about the benefits of energy efficiency. Choosing ENERGY STARŪ-labeled products, will reduce energy consumption, which saves money and helps the environment at the same time.

Most of the ENERGY STARŪ office equipment, such as computers, monitors, copiers, and printers, power down and go to "sleep" when not in use, resulting in significant energy and money savings and reduced pollution levels. Having this ENERGY STARŪ feature can reduce a copier's annual electricity costs by more than 60%.

Since ENERGY STARŪ is a voluntary program, it is useful when institutions, like King County, require contractors to observe these requirements. This sends a message to industry that we value energy savings and manufacturers that participate in the ENERGY STARŪ program. This is one of the reasons that King County requires it's electronic equipment purchases to be ENERGY STARŪ compliant.

King County now requires in it's bids that several types of electronic equipment comply with the energy conservation guidelines of the ENERGY STARŪ program.

The language inserted into the bid document is:

"Must meet federal ENERGY STARŪ power consumption guidelines and be shipped with the ENERGY STARŪ function enabled."

This language will be applied in all contracts for purchase of:

Computer Systems

Monitors

Printers

Copiers

Fax Machines, and

Scanners

The County will evaluate opportunities for inclusion of additional items as EPA adds new types of equipment to the ENERGY STARŪ guidelines.

We are grateful to the leadership of the State of Massachusetts (and other jurisdictions) for the model upon which King County requirements are based.

More information on the environmental criteria contained in the Requests for Responses (RFR) of the State of Massachusetts, can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat on their website:

Thanks to Kelly Luck, Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, for putting together a list of jurisdictions requiring ENERGY STARŪ standards in their procurements, such as the City of St. Paul/Ramsey County MN, and the States of Arkansas and New Jersey to name a few.

State of Massachusetts

also has Energy Star requirements in their copier contract on their website

 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

"Reducing Office Equipment Energy Use" On-line resource page

Environmental Purchasing Program

The King County Environmental Purchasing Program assists County agencies in implementation of King County Executive Policy CON-7-1-2, which requires agencies to use recycled and other environmentally preferable products wherever practicable.

The program assembles information about these products and makes it available to specific agency users who can evaluate them and develop applications in County projects.

These environmental purchasing bulletins contain information about the results of product evaluations and other accomplishments of County agencies. We hope this information will help you find ways to use recycled materials in the work of your agency and that you will contact us if we can help you with further information or if you have suggestions.

Environmental Purchasing Program

King County Procurement & Contract Services

E-mail

Return to Environmental Purchasing Menu | Bulletin List

Updated: November 23, 1999