# Energy STAR Game Consoles Needed

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2014/07/energy-star-game-consoles-needed/
- Published: 2014-07-11T20:33:07-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

NRDC released its report on the state of the game console industry and why we need
Energy STAR game consoles.  So this is shedding light onto the energy consumption
of one of the most popular electronic devices in American homes. This is an issue
that EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has been involved in for the last several years, 
working with game console manufacturers and establishing voluntary efficiency standards.
In fact, all three of the major game console manufacturers have integrated power
management features that were called for in EPA’s efficiency standards. But, there
is still much work to be done in order to make serious gains in energy efficiency.
If you plan to write about this subject, ENERGY STAR’s game console experts are 
on hand to provide you the in-depth details you need about the current state of 
this issue and what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is doing to ensure 
more energy efficient game consoles in the future.

## 100 Million Game Consoles

With over 100 million game consoles in homes across America, they are a big energy
consumer. In the U.S. they consume an estimated 10-11 billion kWh per year—roughly
equal to the annual electricity use of the City of Houston. EPA has been working
with game console manufacturers to lower this energy consumption, establishing voluntary
standards in 2013. But while there has been progress, the game console industry 
still has a long way to go. For example, while the new consoles PS4 and Xbox One
offer a large leap in performance and make use of new approaches to efficiency, 
they consume 2 – 3 times more annual energy than their prior versions.

![Projected video game console energy large](https://i0.wp.com/greenlivingguy.com/
wp-content/uploads/2014/07/projected-video-game-console-energy-large.jpg?resize=
420%2C244&ssl=1 "Projected Video Game Console Energy large - The Green Living Guy")

 

 

## Further Improvements Needed for Game Consoles

Opportunities for further improvement exist and most gamers do not realize how much
energy their game consoles use. Recognizing the need to tamp down this energy use
without tamping down the excitement of video game play, EPA has worked with game
console makers and efficiency advocates to develop efficiency standards for game
consoles.  The recently released versions of game consoles from all three major 
manufacturers now feature power management capability as called for in EPA’s voluntary
standards, meaning they will go into a lower power sleep mode when not being used
for game play or streaming videos and are enabling connected consoles already in
consumers’ homes to power manage.   Going forward, EPA echos NRDC’s call to manufacturers
to employ additional power savings tactics highlighted in their new [report](https://web.archive.org/web/20160322232442/http://www.nrdc.org/media/2014/140516.asp).

If all game consoles sold in the United States met EPA’s voluntary efficiency standard,
the energy cost savings would grow to $1.6 billion each year and 22 billion pounds
of annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented, equivalent to the emissions
from more than 2.1 million vehicles. 

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 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
expert, and Editor of the McGraw-Hill, TAB Green Guru Guides. Seth is also an Author,
Radio Host, Reporter, Writer and an Environmental Consultant on green living. The
Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the green guru guides
and more. Seth's books range from: # Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Bob Brant
and Seth Leitman (2nd and 3rd editions) # Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicle by Seth Leitman # Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle by Carl Vogel # Green
Lighting by Seth Leitman, Brian Clark Howard and Bill Brinsky # Solar Power For 
Your Home by David Findley # Renewable Energies For Your Home by Russel Gehrke #
Do-it-Yourself Home Energy Audits by David Findley # Build Your Own Small Wind Power
System by Brian Clark Howard and Kevin Shea # and more green living books to follow.

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