OTTAWA – The Government of Canada contributed to the celebration of Clean Air Day yesterday by awarding eight Canadian organizations with the 2008 ENERGY STAR® Market Transformation Awards for exceptional work in marketing energy-efficient products.
"I congratulate the winners. Using energy more efficiently is the easiest and most affordable way to control energy costs and reduce emissions," said David Anderson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. "When a product carries the ENERGY STAR symbol, Canadians know it's going to be a great energy performer – and with the improvements to the Energy Efficiency Act introduced yesterday, Canadians will have even greater confidence in the efficiency of the products they buy."
The ENERGY STAR symbol can be found on most major electrical household appliances; consumer electronics; office equipment; heating, cooling and ventilation equipment; lighting products such as decorative light strings, compact fluorescent lights and fixtures; windows and skylights; and doors.
To qualify for ENERGY STAR, products must meet stringent specifications for energy efficiency and, depending on the product, be 10-to-50 percent more efficient than conventional products. In Canada, the ENERGY STAR program is administered by Natural Resources Canada.
The annual ENERGY STAR Market Transformation Awards are part of a group of ecoENERGY Efficiency awards supported by the Government of Canada to celebrate best practices and innovation in energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
Proposed amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act build on the Government of Canada's Turning the Corner plan to fight climate change, which sets a course to achieve an absolute reduction of 20 percent in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The amendments will make it possible to prescribe standards not only for more products that use energy but also products, such as thermostats, that affect energy consumption.
For more information on ENERGY STAR and products that qualify, visit www.energystar.gc.ca.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
The Government of Canada contributed to the celebration of Clean Air Day yesterday by honouring the outstanding energy-efficiency efforts of eight businesses and utilities from across Canada with the 2008 ENERGY STAR Market Transformation Awards. The ENERGY STAR symbol is applied to only the most energy-efficient products, including major household appliances and consumer electronics.
Media may contact:
Bernadette Murphy
A/Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-996-2007
The general public may contact:
Mon-Fri, 8:30-4:30 EDT
Telephone: 613-995-0947
TTY: 613-996-4397
(teletype for the hearing-impaired)
E-mail: questions@nrcan.gc.ca
The following media backgrounder is available at www.nrcan.gc.ca/media:
- ecoENERGY EFFICIENCY – ENERGY STAR® Market Transformation Awards 2008 Winners
NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.nrcan.gc.ca/media.
