Executive Order 13221: Energy Efficient Standby Power Devices

Requires all agencies to purchase devices that “use no more than one watt in their standby power consuming mode. If such products are not available, agencies shall purchase products with the lowest standby wattage while in their standby power consuming mode.”

No drinking fountains or water coolers that are currently on the market use less than one watt in the standby power consuming mode. Due to the inherent inefficiencies in their cooling methods, most use hundreds of watts in standby mode. Our units consume (less than) one fifth of a watt in standby mode.

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58)

“Requires all agencies to purchase ENERGY STAR(r)- qualified or FEMP-designated products when procuring energy-consuming products. The requirement applies to products and equipment purchased through any agency procurement action, including those products purchased:

•    Directly by agencies from federal supply agencies and commercial sources;
•    Indirectly through acquisitions carried out under construction, renovation, or services contracts; and
•    Individually through any purchases using government credit cards.

Exceptions to these requirements are allowed only if the head of an agency finds in writing that an ENERGY STAR(R) or FEMP-designated product is not cost-effective over the life of the product, or that no ENERGY STAR(r) or FEMP qualified product is reasonably available that meets the agency’s functional requirements.”

Currently, the Green Cooling Group makes the only Point-of-Use drinking fountains capable of obtaining ENERGY STAR(r) qualification. Our product exceeds all standards outlined for ES and FEMP approval. Ten companies produce ES qualified water coolers, but these products are only able to sustain extremely low-volume usage and thus do not meet the “functional requirements” of most agencies. Our water coolers use the same technology as our drinking fountains and will exceed any   functional requirements an agency may have.

Federal Acquisition Regulations (48 CFR Part 23)

Requires “that federal agencies purchase, where life-cycle cost-effective and available, energy-using products that are ES labelled to meet the requirements of FEMP product energy efficiency recommendations or FEMP low standby power recommendations.”

The life-cycle cost-effectiveness of our products is significantly greater than our competition given our product’s greater savings, lower pricing and longer life-cycle.

Executive Order 12123: Greening the Government through Efficient Energy Management

Requires “Federal agencies to select ES labelled products or, for product groups where ES programs do not yet exist, products that are in the upper 25% of energy efficiency as designated by FEMP.”

Working for ENERGY STAR, the consulting firm ICF International was unable to recommend any heavy-volume water coolers on the market for certification. They stipulated that manufacturers would have to reduce their products’ energy consumption by approximately 35% before they could be approved. Furthermore, because water coolers can waste as much as 90% of their total energy usage on standby operation, ICF International recommended that water coolers be pursued as a high-priority ES program.