Distributed at 1:24 p.m. April 14, 2010



LEARN MORE AT
energystar.gov

ENERGY STAR® is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
program helping businesses and individuals fight global
warming through superior energy efficiency.



Dear ENERGY STAR® Manufacturing Partner or Other Interested Stakeholder:

On March 30, 2010, EPA informed you about the acceleration of new ENERGY STAR
qualification requirements and temporarily suspended product qualification for most product
categories until EPA could revise online and other product qualification systems to meet these
new requirements. While EPA regrets inconvenience experienced by some partners, this
action was required to preserve the integrity of the brand you have all contributed to
building.

This week, EPA will resume product qualification for all product categories with the
expectation that the qualifications systems will be fully up and running by Friday, April 16,
2010. This letter reiterates new qualification requirements announced initially on March 30,
relays steps partners must take to meet these requirements, and explains what partners can
expect from EPA regarding product review and posting.

Qualification requirements announced:

•	Products (including product packaging, product literature, Web sites, etc.) may no
longer be labeled by manufacturers until qualifying product information, including a lab
report, is submitted to and approved by EPA. This policy, which has been in place for
certain product categories, such as residential light fixtures and CFLs, is now extended
to other product categories. While no labels need be removed from products or
product literature, for any product manufactured on or after March 30, 2010, lab reports
with other qualification information must be submitted to EPA for qualification approval.

•	New ENERGY STAR partners will no longer be granted access to the ENERGY STAR
mark upon joining the program. Going forward, the ENERGY STAR mark will be made
available to partners only after a qualifying product is submitted and approved.

Resuming qualification systems - Steps partners must take to qualify products:

•	When submitting products for qualification using a Qualified Product Information (QPI)
form or Online Product Submittal (OPS) system, partners must provide the lab report
that demonstrates that their product meets the ENERGY STAR requirements. To
expedite review and ensure basic information is included with these lab reports, EPA is
also distributing a lab report cover sheet that requires declaration of status of lab,
testing conditions, and a signature of the lab technician completing the test and a
witness.

•	Lab reports do not need to come from accredited or third party labs at this time (unless
the specification in place already sets this requirement). In the short term, partners are
still able to provide a self-tested lab report.


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Distributed at 1:24 p.m. April 14, 2010

•	Partners will attach these completed materials to their QPI submissions or will upload
them to OPS if their product category makes use of this online submission tool.

•	Revised QPI forms have been made available to partners at www.enerqvstar.gov. For
applicable product categories, partners must use the new QPI forms for product
submissions as of March 30, 2010. Qualification information for products that were
submitted to EPA prior to March 30 and are on hold pending a qualification review
does not need to be resubmitted with new QPI forms. However, partners do need to
submit appropriate lab reports and cover sheet to initiate the EPA review process.

EPA review and posting of qualified products:

•	EPA representatives will review all submissions. We will contact you with any
questions regarding your submission. We will notify partners through email that
products have been approved. Partners may NOT label products until receiving
notification of qualification.

•	EPA and its representatives will make every effort to promptly review all information
submitted. The Agency is committed to devoting all needed resources to the review of
product qualifications.

•	Upon a successful review, EPA will post your product on its appropriate ENERGY
STAR qualified product list the next time it is updated. During the coming month, EPA
will refresh qualified product lists weekly.

While EPA feels swift action was warranted to protect the value and integrity of the ENERGY
STAR label, we remain committed to engaging stakeholders to ensure our implementation of
these changes is as effective as possible, with minimal delay and burden. To that end, we
encourage you to inform EPA of problems you encounter by sending a note to
ENERGYSTARVerificationProqram@enerqvstar.gov. We are committed to considering all
issues and addressing them as we are able.

These pre-qualification procedures are an interim step intended to raise confidence in
ENERGY STAR'S credibility until further enhancements to testing and verification systems are
in place. By the end of the year, all products will be subject to qualification testing in EPA-
approved, accredited labs. We encourage your participation in the design of further
enhancements through EPA's stakeholder process underway now. For presentation materials
from discussions hosted to date and a list of product-specific calls regarding these
enhancements and other next steps, please see

http://www.energystar.gov/testingandverification. EPA is committed to a transparent,
collaborative process that leads to effective improvements to the program as quickly as
possible.

For more information, visit:

www.enersvstar. gov


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