Posted on 26 October
2010
Topten International
Group and WWF today announced the launch
of the popular Topten consumer guides in
the U.S.A. and mainland China, giving people
around the world the opportunity to fight
climate change by making informed decisions
on the energy costs of the appliances they
buy.
Topten is an international
alliance of organizations, including WWF,
which offers localized, consumer-oriented
online search tools for energy efficient
products. Topten’s goal is to address climate
change and energy consumption by driving
demand and encouraging innovation for super-efficient
products in common categories from appliances
to electronics—potentially, any product
with a switch or a motor.
Including its existing
affiliates in 16 European countries, the
areas now covered by Topten organizations
account for roughly 40 percent of the planet’s
greenhouse gas emissions.
“If hundreds of millions
of consumers worldwide make smart choices
for the most efficient products, they will
not only save money from increased energy
bills, they will also substantially cut
global warming and other pollution,” said
Dr. Stephan Singer, Director, Global Energy
Policy for WWF. “Energy conservation alone
is the largest source of all thinkable actions
to curb CO2 emissions by more than one third
in the next few decades.”
Energy-efficient products
offer one of the quickest, least painful
routes to significant greenhouse gas reductions.
The most efficient products in common consumer
categories such as refrigerators and televisions
use up to 50 percent less energy than the
category average. Even a modest consumer
shift—10 percent of current sales—to the
most energy efficient products could have
a considerable impact on climate change
by eliminating the release 100 million metric
tons of carbon-equivalent gases each year.
And there’s no reason
to assume that 10 percent is all a given
market will tolerate. The Swiss market,
for example, has already demonstrated the
success of the Topten model, as the sales
of highly-efficient heat-pump clothes dryers,
first identified as super-efficient by Topten
in 2000, have gone from less than 3 percent
of the Swiss market in 2004 to more than
25 percent of the market today.
Each Topten organization
helps consumers save energy and money by
identifying, ranking, and publicizing the
10 most energy-efficient products available
in a wide range of product categories.
“We are excited not
only to be helping U.S. consumers, but also
to be part of an international consumer
movement toward energy efficiency,” said
Norman L. Dean, President of the non-profit
Topten USA.
Topten USA has already
formed alliances with utilities, retailers,
and additional NGOs including WWF, and the
Natural Resources Defence Council. In ranking
the 10 most energy-efficient products in
a given category, Topten USA offers a valuable
new approach to consumers who have long
looked to the Energy Star program for efficient
products.
“Energy Star has been
a huge success,” says Dean. “But its approach
sets baselines, and any product that clears
the minimum gets the designation. Topten
doesn’t suggest a baseline; we provide a
real-time list of the very best. Often the
products on a Topten list are 20-40 percent
more efficient than a model that just meets
the baseline. American consumers can achieve
very real cost and energy savings by purchasing
the most efficient products.”
In China, encouraged
by increasingly favourable policies and
growing market demand, major Chinese manufactures
are now developing a wide range of low cost
smart energy goods.
“The Chinese market
is booming and many consumers are buying
their first ever car or upgrading their
household electronic appliances. “As an
online portal for best energy-saving products,
Topten has the potential to reach millions
of Internet users in China and help them
make the best choice for consumer products,”
” says Dr Li Lin, Deputy Country Representative
of WWF China.
Topten organizations
offer their product rankings on the Web.
Each site offers simple, current, independently
researched lists of the “best of the best”
products available in that country.
More about Topten
Each Topten organization
helps consumers save energy and money by
identifying, ranking, and publicizing the
ten most energy-efficient products available
in a wide range of product categories.
Founded by the Swiss
Agency for Energy Efficiency and WWF, Topten’s
logic is simple. By naming the ten most
efficient products in each category, the
organizations make it easy for consumers
to cut through the clutter of products on
the market. And growing demand and for efficient
products in turn spurs manufacturers to
innovate, accelerating the introduction
of next-generation efficiency.
Supported by an international
alliance of independent organizations, Topten
was launched in 2000 in Switzerland. Since
then, 15 other national Topten sites have
been established thanks to the European
IEE-projects Euro-Topten (Intelligent Energy
Europe). Each Topten website provides a
selection of best appliances from the energy
point of view. Topten works as an open platform:
new countries can join any time. More information
can be found on www.topten.info.
The product selection
and ranking on the Topten website is up
to date and based on independent research.
Topten is impartial and transparent. And
it helps people save energy and money at
the same time.
Topten member organizations
rank the most energy efficient products
currently available in their countries and
offer the information free through Topten
websites and other communications outlets.
Topten helps consumers, businesses, and
governments to make smart, climate-friendly
choices.
In the U.S.A., go to
www.toptenusa.org ((live at 17:00 US EST
Oct. 26)
In China, www.top10china.cn
In Europe, www.topten.info
