Effective last week (January 15, 2014), ENERGY STAR Certification Body (CB) MET Laboratories will no longer certify new products to the Version 5.2 Computer Specification for ENERGY STAR, per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. V5.2 remains effective until June 2, 2014, when Version 6.0 will become effective.
The Computer specification includes the following product types:
- Desktop Computers
- Notebook Computers
- Workstations
- Small-Scale Servers for non-data center use
- Thin Clients
EPA is evaluating the inclusion of portable computers with detachable keyboards or with no keyboards (Slates/Tablets) in the computer specification. These products are excluded from the scope of Version 6.0, but EPA’s goal is to develop acceptable definitions to allow them to be included in a Version 6.1 specification.
The V6.0 specification updates the long-standing ENERGY STAR program for computers in several ways, including:
- Incorporating long and short idle state power in TEC (Typical Energy Consumption) calculation
- Revising the category system, and treatment of integrated displays and graphics for notebooks, desktops, integrated desktops, and thin clients to better reflect the characteristics that influence energy consumption
- Adding new incentives for energy-saving features such as Energy Efficient Ethernet, Switchable graphics, and power supplies that retain high efficiency at low load
Note to previously-certified manufacturers: When a specification is revised, manufacturers need to have existing models certified to the new specification. Due to the changes in test methods and TEC calculations in the new specification, CBs will not be able to use existing test data to re-certify existing models. All previously certified models to version 5.2 will have to be retested and certified to the new specification by June 2, 2014 in order remain on the Qualified Product List (QPL). To avoid delays and administrative burdens associated with retesting and certification, EPA encourages manufacturers to work with CBs to have their products certified to the new specification during the early certification period.
MET Labs is an EPA-approved lab and certification body for 15 product categories. Get a quote now to evaluate your product to Version 6.0.