Home appliance manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates have agreed to improved efficiency standards and tax policies for refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers and room air conditioners. This agreement could save enough energy to meet the total energy needs of 40% of American homes for one year and the amount of water necessary to meet the current water needs of every customer in the city of Los Angeles for 25 years.

Carbon emissions will be reduced by 550 million metric tons over the same time period, without considering the emissions reductions from smart appliances. Major home appliance manufacturers, their trade organization and a nationwide coalition of energy and water efficiency supporters have called for new national minimum efficiency standards, production tax credits for super-efficient appliances and inclusion of smart grid readiness as a feature of future Energy Star qualified appliances.

Based on Department of Energy analysis, the recommended standards and tax credits will save more than nine quads of energy over 30 years, or roughly enough to meet the total energy needs of 40% of American homes for one year. The recommended water efficiency standards and tax credits for clothes washers and dishwashers will save about five trillion gallons over 30 years, or approximately the amount of water necessary to meet the current water needs of every customer in the city of Los Angeles for 25 years.

The recommended new standards will reduce new refrigerator and freezer energy use by up to 30% by January 2014. For top loading clothes washers, 26% energy savings and 16% water savings would kick in for 2015 relative to current standards, increasing to 37% energy and water savings in 2018. For front loading clothes washers, the savings will be 43% for energy and 52% for water in 2015 compared to today’s standards. Clothes dryers will increase in efficiency by 5% in 2015. In addition, changes to the dryer test procedure will reduce over-drying, saving additional energy and extending the life of clothes.

Room air conditioners will see a 10 to 15% increase in efficiency effective June 2014 and dishwashers will see 14% energy savings and 23% water savings beginning in January 2013. Many of the new standards are based on levels of efficiency that previously earned federal tax credits, illustrating how these tax credits can contribute towards transforming markets towards higher efficiency products.