EPA believes that postponing the effective date will allow ENERGY STAR manufacturing partners and EPA-Recognized Certification Bodies and Laboratories the necessary time to appropriately apply the technical requirements contained in the new specification, while in the interim maintaining a sufficient selection of ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures for consumers.
Comments or concerns should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, June 6 - or comment on this article below.
The following letter from the EPA explains this decision:
*** Open letter from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ***
Dear ENERGY STAR® Lighting Partner, Stakeholder or Other Interested Party:
The purpose of this letter is to notify you of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) intention to postpone the effective date for the ENERGY STAR Luminaires Version 1.0 specification from October 1, 2011 to April 1, 2012.
For the past several months, EPA has been working hard to help familiarize EPA-Recognized Certification Bodies (CBs) with the new specification and the incorporated testing requirements. While significant progress has been made, the Agency recognizes the challenges associated with transitioning luminaire qualification to a new third-party certification system and the new luminaire technical requirements by October 1, 2011. This challenge is compounded by the fact that the testing of lighting products can be lengthy, a minimum of 9 months in many cases.
Given these circumstances, EPA believes that postponing the effective date will allow manufactures, laboratories and CBs the necessary time to appropriately apply the technical requirements contained in the new ENERGY STAR Luminaires V1.0 specification, while in the interim maintaining a sufficient selection of ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures for consumers.
With the extra time, EPA strongly encourages manufacturers to remain committed to transitioning as quickly as possible to the new V1.0 requirements. Given the amount and duration of testing involved for lighting products, qualifying using the new specification is a much better investment for companies, and is ultimately better for consumers. In light of the new effective date, the new date by which CBs will be asked to stop certifying new product models under the existing ENERGY STAR Residential Light Fixture V4.2 and Solid State Lighting Luminaires V1.3 specifications will be September 15, 2011 (formerly June 15, 2011).
EPA is taking a number of steps to facilitate prompt use of the V1.0 specification.
Recognition
While a number of labs are capable of performing the testing required under the V1.0 specification, most have not yet expanded their scopes of accreditation to include a small number of newly referenced standards. EPA has examined each standard referenced in Luminaires V1.0 and has identified opportunities for streamlining the process for recognizing these labs which will be communicated to the relevant labs over the next few weeks.
Lumen Maintenance Projection
EPA recognizes the important role IES TM-21-11 plays in allowing manufacturers to qualify products under the V1.0 specification. While actual testing of products can go forward, data projection cannot be completed until this standard is published. To address the uncertainty around when this standard will ultimately be finalized, EPA is proposing to allow the use of the existing projection method (i.e. “Lumen Maintenance - LM-80 Thresholds” detailed in section XI of the ENERGY STAR Manufacturer’s Guide for Qualifying Solid State Lighting Luminaires V2.1) until IES TM-21-11 is finalized.
Non-directional SSL Luminaires
The V1.0 specification references a second standard that is not yet published – IES LM-82-11. This standard will apply to solid-state luminaire types categorized as ‘non-directional’ which generally will be eligible for ENERGY STAR qualification for the first time once IES LM-82-11 is published. However, a small set of non-directional luminaires have been eligible to qualify using SSL V1.3. In order to avoid disruption in the eligibility for these product types, (listed below) EPA is proposing to allow these luminaire types continue to be eligible for qualification using the SSL V1.3 specification (i.e. the aforementioned September 15, 2011 date would not apply) until LM-82 is finalized.
a. ceiling-mounted luminaires with diffusers
b. outdoor wall-mounted porch lights
c. residential grade desk task lights
As a reminder, when the new Luminaires V1.0 specification takes effect on April 1, 2012, all products manufactured on or after that date must be certified to meet the Luminaires V1.0 performance levels in order to bear the ENERGY STAR certification mark.
Please provide any comments or concerns to [email protected] by Monday, June 6. If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 343-9272 or [email protected], or Kate Buck at ICF International at (919) 293-1652 or [email protected]. Thank you for your continued support of the ENERGY STAR program.
Sincerely,
Alex Baker
ENERGY STAR Lighting Program Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
