ENERGY STAR® Manufacturer of the Year:
Whirlpool Canada Inc.
Whirlpool Canada manages all aspects of its business to effectively use and preserve natural resources – a corporate philosophy that has made the company a perennial leader in the design and manufacture of ENERGY STAR qualified products. In 2008 – a year that saw a downturn in overall appliance sales in Canada – Whirlpool actually reported significant increases in shipments of ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers, dishwashers and refrigerators.
As the manufacturer of Kitchen Aid, Whirlpool, Maytag, Inglis, Amana, Roper, Estate and JENN-AIR appliances, Whirlpool Canada is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to a wide range of ENERGY STAR qualified equipment. In 2008, 66 percent of Whirlpool Canada products were ENERGY STAR qualified, an increase of 7.4 percent over the previous year. Whirlpool owned brands accounted for 57 percent of industry growth in shipments of ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers, 43 percent of growth in shipments of ENERGY STAR qualified washers, and 25 percent of growth in shipments of ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators.
Whirlpool continues to design products that have minimal impact on the environment while making life easier for consumers. Among new entries to the market, the company has introduced two lines of ENERGY STAR qualified front-loading washers that meet the Consortium for Energy Efficiency’s (CEE) stringent Tier 3 requirements for energy efficiency, as well as the first CEE Tier 3 ENERGY STAR qualified top-loading washers in the industry. Whirlpool has also developed new ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators and dishwashers for the Canadian market.
As a member of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association’s Manufacturers’ Council, Whirlpool Canada promotes ENERGY STAR qualified products to builders.
It advertises ENERGY STAR qualified products across a wide range of media. Always sensitive to their Canadian audience, Whirlpool used hockey equipment over baseball uniforms in a TV campaign for ENERGY STAR front loading clothes washers. Whirlpool also made unprecedented investments in educating retail sales associates about ENERGY STAR qualified products in 2008.
This is Whirlpool Canada’s fourth award as ENERGY STAR Manufacturer of the Year. The company was also named ENERGY STAR Participant of the Year in 2008 and received the ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence in 2006.
ENERGY STAR® Retailer of the Year:
Sears Canada Inc.
Sears Canada strives to be a leader in making energy-efficient products available to Canadians – and few companies are better situated for the job. With its network of 198 corporate stores, 187 dealer stores, 44 home improvement showrooms, more than 1 850 catalogue merchandise pick-up locations, online shopping and a nationwide home maintenance, repair and installation network, Sears Canada reaches all corners of the country. And it proudly advertises, displays, sells, installs and maintains ENERGY STAR qualified products across all of these channels.
Sears carries an impressive range of ENERGY STAR qualified products, from windows and doors to major household appliances, room and central air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, thermostats, dehumidifiers, water heaters and home electronics. More than 60 percent of all major appliances sold by Sears Canada are ENERGY STAR qualified, including the entire dishwasher line--up, all front-loading washers and more than 60 percent of refrigeration products.
ENERGY STAR qualified products often figure prominently in weekly Sears flyers distributed to households across Canada. The company also collaborates with utilities and other partners to ensure that consumers know about and take advantage of rebate offers. For example, in 2008 Sears collaborated with BC Hydro to promote ENERGY STAR qualified products during Power Smart Month. Sears Canada also supports the Ontario Power Authority’s "Every Kilowatt Counts" campaign, which promotes the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified products.
The company’s sales associates regularly receive training from manufacturers of ENERGY STAR qualified products. Sears Canada offers its largest dollar discounts on these products and, during in-home consultations, emphasizes the return on investment consumers can expect from buying ENERGY STAR. As a partner in the ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes initiative, Sears Canada will rebate $150 of the cost of a home energy evaluation in the form of a credit toward the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified products.
Sears Canada is now a three-time winner of the ENERGY STAR Retailer of the Year award, having previously taken home this honour in 2008 and 2003. The company was also recognized as ENERGY STAR Participant of the Year in 2005.
ENERGY STAR® Utility of the Year – Provincial:
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro)
BC Hydro is working hard to bring ENERGY STAR recognition to new levels in the province of British Columbia. Increasing customer awareness, acceptance and adoption of ENERGY STAR qualified products was a central theme in five major programs delivered by the utility’s Power Smart initiative in 2008, all designed to continue to transform the market toward increased energy efficiency.
- The ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program offered residential customers a mail-in rebate worth from $25 to $100 when they purchased an ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washer, freezer or refrigerator. With the tag line "It's Power Smart to buy ENERGY STAR," the 2008 campaign resulted in more than 46 000 rebates.
- The ENERGY STAR Lighting Program encouraged retail and manufacturing partners to discount the price of ENERGY STAR qualified lights and fixtures through buy-downs and incentives. As a result of this program, over 200 000 ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and 55 000 ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures were purchased by consumers.
- The ENERGY STAR Windows Program engaged manufacturers in promoting sales of ENERGY STAR qualified windows. The program had a tremendous impact – more than 45 000 square metres of ENERGY STAR qualified windows were sold in B.C. in 2008.
- The Holiday LED Lighting Program encouraged consumers to recycle incandescent seasonal lights – and replace them with energy-efficient seasonal LEDs – by donating $2 per recycled string to the BC Professional Fire Fighters Burn Fund. More than 1 700 incandescent light strings were collected in 2008.
- The Power Smart New Home Program offered builders and developers incentives for including ENERGY STAR qualified appliances and lighting products in their new homes. More than 60 developers participated in 2008, resulting in the installation of over 2 200 ENERGY STAR appliance and lighting packages.
BC Hydro has long been a North American leader in demand-side management, and its commitment to and participation in the ENERGY STAR program is second to none. This is the utility’s seventh consecutive ENERGY STAR Recognition Award, making BC Hydro a winner each year since the awards’ inception in 2003.
ENERGY STAR® Utility of the Year – Regional:
London Hydro Inc.
A set of comprehensive and highly successful programs designed to improve the energy efficiency of lighting among both residential and commercial customers has earned London Hydro its second ENERGY STAR Utility of the Year – Regional award in three years.
With funding support from the provincial Electricity Retrofit Incentive Program (ERIP), London Hydro developed an incentive program to improve market penetration of ENERGY STAR qualified GU-24 base lighting fixtures in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs). Combined with the utility’s CFL for Incandescent Exchange Program, this initiative made ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs available to more than 66 000 MURB residents. An estimated 14 000 GU-24 base fixtures were installed.
To support the lighting programs, London Hydro trained wholesale suppliers on how to sell energy-saving equipment to MURB owners and managers. The two initiatives also combined to reduce the cost of ENERGY STAR qualified lighting products, as property managers tended to purchase large quantities at one time.
Commercial clients were also targeted in 2008. London Hydro was particularly successful in encouraging lighting upgrades in the hospitality sector, including a shift to ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs and energy-efficient exit signs.
The utility also developed a curriculum-based energy conservation program for Grade 5 students, including teacher training and associated classroom materials.
London Hydro’s ERIP goal for 2008 was to reduce demand for electricity by 570 kW. The measures implemented far exceeded expectations, resulting in a reduction of 11,300 kW – almost 20 times the target. London Hydro has shared energy conservation materials and services with other local utilities.
London Hydro never runs any program in isolation: each initiative is tied to another in some fashion. The utility’s programs to promote ENERGY STAR qualified lighting, for example, build on the success of the Chill Out – London appliance retirement and recycling program, which earned the utility its first ENERGY STAR award in 2007.
ENERGY STAR® Promotional Campaign of the Year
Modern Windows
On Vancouver Island and BC’s Sunshine Coast Modern is one of the most recognizable names in the home improvement industry– and the company has wasted no time in using that position to make its mark as an ENERGY STAR leader.
Based in Powell River, B.C., Modern offers a range of home improvement services but specializes in window manufacturing and supply. After becoming certified as a manufacturer of ENERGY STAR qualified windows in 2007, Modern quickly set about promoting this achievement and the benefits of its ENERGY STAR qualified products.
Modern regularly undertakes marketing campaigns to promote the company and its products. The two 2008 campaigns – "Great Taste in Windows" and "Put Cold on Hold" – reached an audience of more than 150 000 people on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Both campaigns were structured to showcase Modern’s ENERGY STAR certification and qualified products, and included direct mail, billboards and newspaper, magazine and radio advertising, as well as information on the company’s Web site.
A third campaign was delivered in 2008 in conjunction with the opening of Modern’s new factory. Titled "New Class" and falling between the regular spring and fall campaigns, this marketing effort consisted of print advertisements designed specifically to educate consumers about the benefits of choosing ENERGY STAR qualified windows.
Modern backs up its marketing campaigns with a top-down approach to ensuring that sales staff are kept up to date on the latest ENERGY STAR developments and qualified products coming out of its factory, allowing them to be knowledgeable and confident when speaking to customers.
From price reductions for ENERGY STAR qualified windows to campaign themes and colours built around the ENERGY STAR logo, Modern’s promotional efforts have been instrumental in introducing ENERGY STAR to purchasers of locally produced windows on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. The promotional campaigns are paying off: in just one year, Modern increased its production of ENERGY STAR qualified windows from 28 percent of factory output in 2007 to almost 60 percent in 2008.
ENERGY STAR® Participant of the Year:
JELD-WEN Windows & Doors
JELD-WEN Windows & Doors is one of the largest manufacturers of windows and doors in the world, and proudly counts itself among the most innovative. The company continuously invests in research and development of new technologies to meet the needs of Canadian consumers. No wonder JELD-WEN has become such an active supporter of the ENERGY STAR concept, earning the company the 2008 award for ENERGY STAR Participant of the Year.
In addition to its commitment to constant innovation, JELD-WEN strives to provide customers with the information they need to make choices that save energy and money, and are good for the environment. The benefits of ENERGY STAR qualified fenestration products are promoted through point-of-sale information in retail outlets, as well as through product brochures that are made available to builders, distributors and individual homeowners.
Information about ENERGY STAR is also featured prominently on a number of JELD-WEN Web sites. These include www.eco-reno.ca, which helps consumers identify and access energy efficiency grants available from government, including the ecoENERGY grants and incentives administered by Natural Resources Canada.
The Web site for the JELD-WEN SMART Program, which is available exclusively to registered company representatives and employees, identifies ENERGY STAR as unique sales and marketing tool. Yet another company Web site – www.fiabilitepourlavie.ca – provides visitors with a wealth of information about JELD-WEN products and trumpets the company’s ENERGY STAR certification.
In May 2008, JELD-WEN’s "Tips & Tech" information bulletin, which is distributed to sales representatives and other employees, was devoted exclusively to the ENERGY STAR program for fenestration products. Another marketing tool – JELD-WEN Express – is used to keep architects, distributors and employees up-to-date on ENERGY STAR qualified products and other company news.
All JELD-WEN products are currently available in ENERGY STAR qualified versions, including the 1 600 new products introduced in 2008. Last year, ENERGY STAR qualified products accounted for more than 80 percent of JELD-WEN’s production.
JELD-WEN also won an ENERGY STAR award in 2006, for Promotional Campaign of the Year – Specific Product.
ENERGY STAR® Advocate of the Year:
One Change
In the fall of 2005, One Change – a registered not-for-profit organization headquartered in Ottawa – began delivering a simple message to Canadians: saving energy and money is as easy as changing a light bulb. Simple actions matter, and change is within reach.
Since that time, the organization’s flagship program – Project Porchlight – has helped light up communities across Canada. In doing so, it has helped raise awareness of ENERGY STAR as the international symbol of energy efficiency and a great tool for selecting products that are good for the environment.
Project Porchlight aims to deliver one free ENERGY STAR qualified CFL to every household in Canada. Recipients are asked to install the CFL in their porchlight or other high-use fixture, thereby taking action on climate change while also reducing their electricity bill.
In 2008, more than 6 000 Project Porchlight volunteers and staff distributed ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs to over a million households across Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. These three campaigns alone will save Canadians more than $44 million in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulbs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 500 723 tonnes.
But the program has a far bigger impact than changing a single light bulb in each targeted household. The ENERGY STAR logo is featured prominently on campaign boxes, and Project Porchlight volunteers advise homeowners to look for the logo when shopping for everything from additional CFLs to major household appliances, home electronics and heating and cooling equipment.
Third-party evaluations of Project Porchlight campaigns have shown that, after their initial experience with One Change, individuals are more likely to make other environmentally sound choices. One change often leads to another.
Through its social marketing efforts, One Change brings together volunteers, businesses, non-profit organizations, service clubs, community groups, neighbourhood associations and municipal governments to build lasting and diverse community networks for energy conservation. It has become an advocate not just for CFLs, but for all ENERGY STAR qualified products.
This is One Change’s second ENERGY STAR award. The organization was named ENERGY STAR Recruit of the Year in 2006.
ENERGY STAR® Recruit of the Year:
BAZZ Inc.
BAZZ Inc.’s mission has always been to create a range of affordable lighting designs. The Montreal-headquartered company is committed to setting new standards for different types of lighting, from recessed fixtures to pendant and wall lamps, track and spot lights.
The company’s history of innovation is impressive. In 1988, BAZZ became the first to manufacture halogen lighting in Canada. The company later developed the first recessed light fixtures designed specifically for the consumer market. Now, BAZZ can lay claim to being the first company in North America to introduce recessed fixtures that comply with the new ENERGY STAR Version 4.2 specification for residential light fixtures.
Designed to accommodate GU-24 based CFLs, the two new ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures designed and manufactured by BAZZ are now being sold at approximately 350 RONA outlets across Canada. More than 23 000 units are scheduled to be shipped by the end of 2009.
The company has adopted a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy for the new products. Training sessions have been held across Canada for RONA managers and staff. A poster was designed to inform consumers about the fixtures, which are being demonstrated through in-store displays. Promotional materials have also been developed specifically for RONA’s commercial clientele, and the fixtures are highlighted on the BAZZ Web site.
The new products are also being promoted through Hydro-Québec’s Energy Wise program, which offers a rebate for the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified light fixtures. An information bulletin has been sent to other lighting retailers to advise them of the availability of new BAZZ fixtures. Attention has also been drawn to BAZZ’s latest achievement through a targeted media relations strategy.
The company is now in the process of developing an additional 25 ENERGY STAR qualified products, including table and floor lamps and ceiling lights. Over the past 30 years, BAZZ has emerged as a leader in the North American lighting industry. It seems destined to become an ENERGY STAR leader as well.
ENERGY STAR® Collaborative Initiative of the Year:
British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
Collaboration is key to successful market transformation. Just ask the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (MEMPR), which has engaged an impressive range of partners to help make ENERGY STAR the provincial standard for residential heating equipment.
Launched in 2004, the MEMPR’s market transformation strategy featured several components, all of which involved a high degree of collaboration. For example, the MEMPR:
- worked with utilities such as Terasen Gas, Terasen Gas Vancouver Island, BC Hydro, FortisBC and Pacific Northern Gas to provide incentives for the installation of ENERGY STAR qualified residential furnaces and boilers
- engaged the Thermal Energy Comfort Association and the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute to train tradespeople and promote best practices for retrofitting existing homes with ENERGY STAR qualified furnaces
- joined forces with municipalities, the Building Officials Association of BC, utilities and NRCan in a program to provide consumers and developers with information on energy efficiency
- partnered with BC Housing, FortisBC, NRCan, Terasen Gas and BC Hydro to implement an energy efficiency program for subsidized housing in B.C. that included procurement of ENERGY STAR qualified boilers and furnaces
- collaborated with building developers, NRCan, the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, utilities, BC Housing, the Condominium Home Owners Association, Homeworks and delivery agents to expand home energy audits and develop an "EnerGuide Plus" rating system that incorporates information on appliances and lighting
- developed a regulation adopting the ENERGY STAR criteria as the provincial minimum energy performance standard for furnaces
As a result of these initiatives, the market share of ENERGY STAR qualified furnaces in British Columbia increased from 27 percent in 2004 to 64 percent in 2008. During the same period, the incremental cost of an ENERGY STAR qualified furnace declined from $600 to $200.
The future looks even brighter. The installation of ENERGY STAR qualified furnaces is expected to result in annual energy savings of 2 475 terajoules and greenhouse gas reductions of 123 000 tonnes per year in 2020. This is MEMPR’s second ENERGY STAR Collaborative Initiative of the Year award: the Ministry shared the award with BC Hydro in 2007 for a similar program to transform the provincial window market.
ENERGY STAR® Award for Sustained Excellence:
Hydro-Québec
The ENERGY STAR award for Sustained Excellence is reserved for the very best – the most consistent, committed and successful participants in the ENERGY STAR program in Canada. Hydro-Québec certainly fits the bill.
Since the program’s outset, Hydro-Québec has been at the forefront of efforts to use the ENERGY STAR logo to achieve market transformation. Its success in doing so has already been recognized through five previous ENERGY STAR awards – two for Utility of the Year – Provincial (2007 and 2008), two for Promotional Campaign of the Year (also in 2007 and 2008), and one for Collaborative Initiative of the Year (2005).
Hydro-Québec’s Energy Wise program has been at the heart of its market transformation activities. The program has made excellent use of the ENERGY STAR logo in information campaigns to increase awareness, recognition and adoption of ENERGY STAR qualified products. Energy Wise also regularly offers financial incentives for purchasing ENERGY STAR qualified products ranging from major household appliances and thermostats to lighting as well as promoting qualified windows.
The Energy Wise Home Diagnostic program, a free service that provides customers with a breakdown of their home energy costs and identifies potential energy-saving measures. After completing the Home Diagnostics questionnaire, customers can use the Web-based "What If?" tool to explore how changing their habits and equipment would impact their electricity bill. Since 2003, ENERGY STAR has been mentioned in more than 1.4 million recommendations made by the Home Diagnostics program.
The utility does not work alone – large and broad-based networks of manufacturers, retailers, distributors and interest groups collaborate with Hydro-Québec to promote Energy Wise and ENERGY STAR. Utility staff are also key to success. Exhibit representatives, call centre employees and in-store demonstrators all receive training on the benefits of energy efficiency and how to advise and encourage customers to look for the ENERGY STAR logo when purchasing household products.
Hydro-Québec advocates a philosophy by which consumers are encouraged to take actions – even small ones – to improve energy efficiency and contribute to the collective well-being. It’s an approach that mirrors the ENERGY STAR message that all Canadians can make a difference by taking action on climate change.