Energy Star mark

A star inside a stylised label outline, marking energy-efficient products.

Also known as: Star label

Packaging & recyclingEveryday & digitalEngineering & technicalStandard profile

Meanings

Energy Star marks a product as meeting an efficiency threshold set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Unlike a graded label it is pass or fail: a product either qualifies or does not, and the mark says nothing about how far above the threshold it sits.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks a product as meeting the energy-efficiency criteria of the Energy Star programme, run by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
United States, with recognition in several other jurisdictions · Contexts: Packaging
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is a threshold rather than a grade: a qualifying product carries the mark and a non-qualifying one does not, with no indication of the margin either way.
Contexts: Packaging

Visual description

A rounded rectangular panel with a stylised five-pointed star at its left, the star drawn partly overlapping the panel edge, with the programme's wordmark beside it.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright
Colours: blue, white

Commonly confused with: EU energy label
A pass mark against a graded scale, for the same property.

Compare: Energy Star vs the EU energy label →

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Energy Star
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark depicts, who owns it and whether a scheme or regulation stands behind it. Where a regulation is named, it is reported by this source rather than read directly, so no meaning is typed `official` on that basis alone.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01

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Environmental and ethical product marks

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Meanings

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks a product as meeting the energy-efficiency criteria of the Energy Star programme, run by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

United States, with recognition in several other jurisdictions · Contexts: Packaging

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is a threshold rather than a grade: a qualifying product carries the mark and a non-qualifying one does not, with no indication of the margin either way.

Contexts: Packaging

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Energy Star
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark depicts, who owns it and whether a scheme or regulation stands behind it. Where a regulation is named, it is reported by this source rather than read directly, so no meaning is typed `official` on that basis alone.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols