ecoENERGY EFFICIENCY – ENERGY STAR^® Market Transformation Award Winners 2008

ENERGY STAR^® Manufacturer of the Year:

Globe Electric Company Inc.

Just one year after being recognized as a promising ENERGY STAR newcomer, Globe Electric Company Inc. has been awarded the prestigious Manufacturer of the Year Award for 2008.

Over the past year, Globe has expanded its line of ENERGY STAR qualified offerings from one product category to nine and increased the number of individual ENERGY STAR products it offers from 40 to more than 350, including compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.

In addition to its own Enersaver^® product line, Globe manufactures many major private label brands for retailers including Canadian Tire, Rona and Wal-Mart.

Globe highlighted its commitment to energy efficiency in 2006, when it created a special Energy Division within the company. Among other activities, the division is responsible for overseeing the ENERGY STAR certification of Globe products and ensuring that ENERGY STAR qualified products are available in the company's product offerings.

Globe continues to partner with One Change, a not-for-profit organization that runs the Project Porchlight campaign, which aims to deliver one free CFL bulb to every household in Canada.

The company is further reducing its environmental footprint by replacing the traditional packaging of its Enersaver line with uncoated cardboard boxes printed with soy-based inks. This initiative involved a major investment of time and capital, but the resulting savings in materials and resource use have surpassed expectations.

ENERGY STAR^® Retailer of the Year:

Sears Canada Inc.

As one of the largest and most diverse retailers in the country and an early supporter of the ENERGY STAR program in Canada, Sears Canada Inc. has a strong track record in helping to transform the market toward increased energy efficiency. The company's stellar performance continued in 2007, earning Sears this year's award for Retailer of the Year.

Sears sells a wide range of ENERGY STAR qualified products, from household appliances to home electronics. Especially notable in the past year has been the continued strength in the sales of the company's ENERGY STAR qualified heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.

Sears HVAC salespeople promote the benefits of purchasing ENERGY STAR qualified equipment as part of their in-home consultation with customers. They provide consumers with a detailed explanation of the purchase and installation costs of ENERGY STAR qualified equipment; the potential for energy cost savings; and the anticipated payback period. This effort has generated outstanding response from customers.

During HVAC sales events, Sears reserves the largest promotional discounts for ENERGY STAR qualified products. Its advertising flyers often focus on ENERGY STAR qualified products, which are also featured prominently in HVAC brochures and on in-store signage.

Sears continues to be a regular participant in national, regional and local ENERGY STAR rebate programs – efforts that have earned the company recognition as ENERGY STAR Participant of the Year in 2005 and ENERGY STAR Retailer of the Year in 2003.

ENERGY STAR^® Utility of the Year – Provincial:

Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec's ongoing and increasing commitment to promote the use of energy-efficient products and the ENERGY STAR high-efficiency logo has earned the corporation the ENERGY STAR Utility of the Year award for the second year in a row.

The corporation launched its Energy Wise program in 2003 to help ensure that everything the utility does for energy efficiency contributes to the collective good. Since then, Hydro-Québec has developed a number of residential energy-efficiency programs covering home diagnostics, electronic thermostats, pool timers, geothermal energy, grants from Novoclimat and Rénoclimat (Québec Energy Efficiency Agency programs) and the recovery and recycling of older, high-consumption refrigerators and freezers.

In 2007 alone, Hydro-Québec distributed over $12.5 million in financial incentives for the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified products. The utility has developed a network of more than 80 business partners, who promote ENERGY STAR in more than 1,500 sales outlets throughout Quebec.

In addition to this second Utility of the Year award, Hydro-Québec also received the ENERGY STAR Promotional Campaign of the Year award in 2007 and the 2005 Collaborative Initiative of the Year award.

ENERGY STAR^® Utility of the Year – Regional:

Thunder Bay Hydro

Thunder Bay Hydro has set an aggressive target of reducing electricity consumption in its service area by 8.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) by the end of 2008. Leaning heavily on the recognition factor of the ENERGY STAR symbol in its outreach and education programs, the Northern Ontario utility is well on its way to achieving this goal.

Among other activities during 2007, Thunder Bay Hydro partnered with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) in the province-wide Great Refrigerator Roundup – a program that offers free pickup and proper disposal of old, inefficient appliances. Thunder Bay Hydro removed 603 older refrigerators, 154 freezers and two air conditioners from the grid in just six months, reducing demand load by more than 800,000 kWh. The utility also joined the province-wide 10/10 Summer Savings program, offering customers a ten percent credit on their electricity bill if they reduced their power consumption by ten percent during July and August 2007. Almost 11,000 of its customers qualified for credits of more than $147,000.

Along with the innovative Learn, Earn and Win campaign conceived to promote the initiatives, Thunder Bay Hydro also sponsored Project Porchlight in its service area, delivering ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs to 40,000 households in the region during 2007. The utility also operates a rebate program to encourage the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators and clothes washers.

ENERGY STAR^® Promotional Campaign of the Year – Multiple Products:

Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec created its Energy Wise program in 2003, reflecting its corporate philosophy that everything it does for energy efficiency should contribute to the collective good.

In 2007, in addition to making innovative improvements to its residential energy efficiency program, Hydro-Québec launched three new promotional campaigns, covering home appliances, lighting and windows and patio doors.

These campaigns promoted the sale of ENERGY STAR qualified products through TV, radio, newspaper and magazine ads; posters; rebate coupons; home appliance brochures; partnerships with other organizations; a training manual for sellers of ENERGY STAR products; and much more.

A follow-up survey conducted after the home-appliance promotional campaign found that more than 80,000 rebate coupons for washers and 60,000 for refrigerators were distributed. That was more than double the utility's objective for the entire year and represented a Hydro-Québec investment of more than $11 million in supporting the purchase of ENERGY STAR qualified home appliances.

Hydro-Québec was also the recipient of the ENERGY STAR Promotional Campaign of the Year award in 2007.

ENERGY STAR^® Promotional Campaign of the Year – Specific Product:

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro)

It is difficult to argue with British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority's claim that it “put seasonal LED light strings on the map in Canada.”

In 2002, seasonal light-emitting diodes (LEDs) – which use 95 percent less energy than traditional decorative lights – were essentially unavailable in Canada. Then BC Hydro went to work. With a series of promotional campaigns, including exchange and coupon programs, BC Hydro has transformed the market. In 2006, nearly half the shelf space allocated to seasonal lights in the province was occupied by LEDs, and nearly 80 percent of B.C. households that purchased seasonal lights that year bought LEDs, compared to only 31 percent in 2003.

BC Hydro also worked behind the scenes to have seasonal LEDs added to the list of products that can qualify for the ENERGY STAR symbol. That happened just in time for the 2007 holiday season and marked the first time a lighting product was approved for sale as ENERGY STAR qualified in Canada before the United States.

BC Hydro's efforts have advanced the market for seasonal LEDs in British Columbia by as much as five years, and thanks to BC Hydro's market transformation work, national retail outlets are bringing seasonal LEDs to more Canadian markets than ever before.

BC Hydro has been a leading advocate of ENERGY STAR since the program's inception in Canada, and this is the utility's sixth ENERGY STAR Recognition Award in six years.

ENERGY STAR^® Participant of the Year:

Whirlpool Canada Inc.

Whirlpool Canada Inc. continues to be at the forefront of the ENERGY STAR movement in Canada: of all ENERGY STAR qualified residential clothes washers, dishwashers and refrigerators (excluding compacts) sold in Canada in 2007, 42 percent were manufactured or marketed by Whirlpool. Over the years, the company has developed more than 550 ENERGY STAR qualified appliances for the Canadian and U.S. markets.

Whirlpool continually seeks out new ways to integrate energy efficiency into its business. In 2007, for example, the company partnered with market leaders in energy-efficient housing to offer new-home buyers upgrade incentive programs that included at least two ENERGY STAR qualified products.

Whirlpool's commitment to conservation and the environment extends across all facets of the organization. Among other efforts, the company recently upgraded its desktop and laptop computers to ENERGY STAR qualified models and eliminated 50 personal printers to save power and minimize cartridge waste.

In November 2007, Whirlpool announced a commitment to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 6.6 percent by 2012 and was a founding sponsor of the Energy Efficiency Global Forum and Exposition in Washington D.C. Also in 2007, the company partnered with Habitat for Humanity to provide a new ENERGY STAR qualified home for a family in Guelph, Ontario. In addition to donating ENERGY STAR qualified appliances, 140 Whirlpool employees helped build the home.

Whirlpool has been the ENERGY STAR Manufacturer of the Year three times and also won the 2006 ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence.

ENERGY STAR^® Advocate of the Year:

Ontario Power Authority (OPA)

In only two years, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) has emerged as a staunch advocate of ENERGY STAR. A not-for-profit corporation with a mandate to ensure an adequate, long-term supply of electricity in the province, the OPA is committed to creating a culture of electricity conservation in Ontario. And it has turned to ENERGY STAR to help get the job done.

Since joining the ENERGY STAR program in 2006, the OPA has launched a variety of programs to educate the public and promote the use of energy-efficient technologies, including offering financial incentives to help Ontarians reduce their energy consumption.

In 2007 for example, under the Every Kilowatt Counts program, OPA mailed a coupon booklet to every household in Ontario offering rebates on a variety of ENERGY STAR qualified products. More than 2.7 million coupons were redeemed – some 3.4 million ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), were purchased from the 45 retail chains participating in the program.

The second initiative, the Hot/Cool Savings Rebate program, aimed to maximize the number of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors in Ontario who actively sell ENERGY STAR qualified HVAC equipment. The program offered contractors rebates for qualified products.

To date, the program has registered 1,250 contractors and delivered more than 29,000 rebates to consumers.

These two OPA initiatives have increased awareness of the ENERGY STAR program in Ontario; increased the availability and affordability of ENERGY STAR qualified products; and contributed to making products such as ENERGY STAR qualified CFL bulbs and seasonal LEDs mainstream products of choice.

ENERGY STAR^®; Sustained Excellence:

Centennial Windows Ltd.

The manufacturing philosophy at Centennial Windows Ltd. is simple: to develop products that “we would proudly install in our own family homes.”

The company maintains a constant focus on making sure its windows and doors are among the most energy-efficient in the world. Its commitment to excellence and uncompromising support for ENERGY STAR has earned Centennial the 2008 Award for Sustained Excellence.

Centennial has advocated third-party labelling of energy-efficient products for decades and was the first window company in Canada to promote and sell ENERGY STAR qualified windows. Year after year, the company's products achieve consistently high ratings in ENERGY STAR certification tests.

Centennial's marketing initiatives have helped create a strong demand for energy-efficient replacement windows and influenced other manufacturers to have their products tested and certified under ENERGY STAR. Centennial has also expanded awareness of ENERGY STAR in general, including educating Canadian consumers about the importance of choosing the right window for their particular climate zone.

The ENERGY STAR symbol is displayed prominently on Centennial's lawn signs and installation vehicles, as well as in company showrooms, television commercials, brochures and direct mail pieces.

Centennial has often partnered with utilities to offer rebates on heating bills when customers install ENERGY STAR qualified windows. It has offered consumers various financial incentives to purchase ENERGY STAR qualified windows, including a commitment to pay a portion of the customer's heating bill when ENERGY STAR qualified windows are installed.

Centennial was named ENERGY STAR Manufacturer of the Year in 2004 and Retailer of the Year in 2005. With the 2008 Award for Sustained Excellence, the company is being recognized as a truly dedicated market leader in the cause of energy efficiency and conservation.