U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                  Office of Inspector General

                  At   a  Glance
                                                           09-P-0061
                                                    December 17, 2008
                                                               Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review

We initiated this review to
examine the validity and
accuracy of the reported
energy savings for the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY
STAR program. This was part
of our agenda to assess new
approaches to environmental
protection. We specifically
sought to determine whether
the savings reported were
valid and fully supportable.

Background

ENERGY STAR is a
voluntary program designed to
help businesses and
individuals enhance their
energy efficiency. In 2006,
the ENERGY STAR
program reported avoiding a
total of 37.6 million metric
tons of carbon equivalent. It
further reported that ENERGY
STAR helped prevent
greenhouse gas emissions
equivalent to those from
25 million vehicles while
savings Americans $14 billion
on their energy bills.
Improvements Needed to Validate Reported
ENERGY STAR Benefits

For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional, Public Affairs,
and Management at
(202)566-2391.

To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2009/
20081217-09-P-0061.pdf

 What We Found
Reported ENERGY STAR benefits represented one-half of EPA's total
greenhouse gas emissions avoided in 2006.  ENERGY STAR benefits are a major
component of efforts reducing such emissions.  The accuracy of the program's
reported energy savings is important in monitoring the United States' efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We found the ENERGY STAR program's reported savings claims were inaccurate
and the reported annual savings unreliable. We identified several deficiencies
with the shipment data and the process used in calculating benefits. Deficiencies
included the lack of a quality review of the data collected; reliance on estimates,
forecasting, and unverified third party reporting; and the potential inclusion of
exported items. Also, EPA included savings for one Department of Energy (DOE)
product that DOE also claimed.

Additionally, sales of formerly qualified products are used to determine ENERGY
STAR's market transformation benefits, but we found that this benefit was
computed inconsistently. Also, the methodology used to compute the ENERGY
STAR commercial sector benefits uses unverified assumptions.
 What We Recommend
 We recommended that EPA:

    •  Establish and implement improved quality controls.
    •  Develop and consistently apply a data-driven methodology to compute
       market transformation effects.
    •  Validate the model for calculating the benefits of the ENERGY STAR
       commercial sector to ensure it accurately reflects the sector's impacts.

 EPA disagreed with many of our conclusions, but stated it had implemented some
 of the recommendations. However, some of EPA's planned actions do not meet
 the intent of our recommendations, and we consider these recommendations open
 and unresolved.

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