September 11, 2015
1. On 5/5, the EPA shared that planning is well underway for the 2014 ENERGY STAR Products Partner Meeting, which will be held October 27-29, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. UL will be present during this important meeting.
2. On 5/13, the EPA announced that they will lead an in-person stakeholder meeting on June 24 – 25, 2014 in Washington, DC to discuss topics related to the recently effective Version 2.0 as well as the upcoming development of Version 3.0. Specifically, discussion will be focused on:
a. Analysis of SERT data
b. Potential SERT tool updates
c. More sophisticated approaches to characterizing the thermal aspects of energy performance
d. Minimization of data entry errors
e. Power management developments
f. Redundant power supplies
g. Expanded approach in dealing with APAs in V3.0
UL will be attending this meeting in-person. Any significant and pertinent information will be reported following the meeting.
3. On 5/16, the EPA shared that both the EPA and ITI will be conducting a workshop exploring the role ENERGY STAR can play in pushing energy savings in networked devices and networking equipment. Goals for the workshop include:
a. Deepening systems perspective, rather than device only perspective
b. Expanding understanding of metrics for measuring system efficiency
c. Identifying areas of shared interest in educating a wide range of users
d. Identify the next steps required to continue this work.
The EPA-ITI Workshop will be held following the Computer Servers meeting on Thursday, June 26, 2014, 9 am–4 pm.
UL will be attending this meeting in-person. Any significant and pertinent information will be reported following the meeting.
4. On 5/17, the EPA reminded CBs and stakeholders that as of May 31, 2014, organizations must cease certification to the Version 1.1 ENERGY STAR® Battery Charging Systems specification due to the upcoming specification sunset date of December 31, 2014. Administrative modifications to existing battery charger certifications to the Version 1.1 specification may continue until December 31, 2014
5. On 5/22, the EPA notified data center storage stakeholders of an upcoming Emerald Specification Training/Demo Session to be held by SNIA. This training session will include an interactive, hands-on instruction in the SNIA data center lab. The training will be conducted on July 14-17, 2014.
For more information, refer to the SNIA Emerald site (http://snia.org/emerald/training)
Several UL staff will be attending this training. Any significant and pertinent information will be reported following the meeting.
6. On 5/23, the EPA released the Computers Version 6.1 Draft Test Method. This is to be paired with the draft specification released on March 12th. This draft serves the purpose of adding Two-in-one computers and Slates/Tablets to the scope. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) welcomes input on the Draft Version 6.1 ENERGY STAR Computers Test Method. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments to EPA no later than June 13, 2014.
For more information, refer to the specification development page (https://www.energystar.gov/products/specs/computers_specification_version_6_1_pd).