The EPA's Energy Star program is an example of an initiative to create more energy efficient consumer products.
Energy efficiency is swiftly becoming a national priority in the United States with both government and private enterprise. Now, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is investigating the need for national energy standards.
On Thursday, ANSI announced that it would be holding an exploratory meeting on whether to form an energy efficiency standards panel to coordinate the U.S. business community’s approach to energy efficiency. ANSI is known for standardizing everything from hot tubs to computer programming languages.
“Energy efficiency is a cross-cutting issue that applies to all industry sectors, and I encourage all stakeholders to participate in the April 25 exploratory meeting,” said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. ANSI has already launched pilot programs focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy certification programs.
Outside of the U.S., the International Organization for Standardization has taken up the issue of energy efficiency standards in the broader context of climate change and sustainability. Some existing ISO standards include guidelines for assessing the energy efficiency of new buildings. ANSI typically coordinates its standards with international standards bodies like ISO.
It wouldn’t hurt for everyone to be using the same dictionary and to broaden commitments to save energy. The question is, which interest would influence these standards most?
