UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYWASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

OFFICE OF
AIR AND RADIATION

November 14, 2008
Dear ENERGY STAR® Computer Partner or Other Industry Stakeholder:This version of the cover memo reflects a correction to and replaces the version distributed
November 14.
I am pleased to inform you that the Version 5.0 ENERGY STAR Specification for Computers
has been finalized and will take effect on July 1, 2009, pending adoption by the European
Union. Stakeholder feedback throughout the development process has been appreciated andhas been closely considered in development of the Final V5.0 requirements. Stakeholder
feedback, all drafts, and related materials are available on the ENERGY STAR Revisions toExisting Product Specifications in Development page at
www.ENERGYSTAR.gov/productdevelopment.
Enclosed with this cover memorandum is the Version 5.0 ENERGY STAR Specification for
Computers and associated information, which includes the final V5.0 Dataset used to createlevels for Desktops, Notebooks, and Thin Clients, as well as a summary of comments
received.
Below is a list of changes reflected in the Final Specification, based on Stakeholder feedback:•••Qualification Laboratory Requirements: ENERGY STAR remains committed to ensuring
testing for ENERGY STAR qualification takes place in competent labs. EPA believes itis essential to the viability of ENERGY STAR as a self-certification program and toensure a level playing field among partners to establish reasonable requirements forlabs completing qualification testing. However, EPA also recognizes that this concept
and how it is achieved in the field would benefit from further discussion withstakeholders. Thus, EPA has removed the proposed requirement for accreditation fortest labs completing qualification testing from the Final Version 5.0 ComputerSpecification. EPA will refine program options for ensuring the competence ofqualification labs during discussion with stakeholders involved in the Display
Specification revision and will apply concepts to other specifications, such as thecomputer specification, in the future;
Full Network Connectivity/Proxying: The Full Network Connectivity definition wasclarified in response to stakeholders’ comments;
Desktops: Categories for Desktops were maintained from the Draft Final, with aclarification to the core count requirement for Category B to avoid overlap with Category
C. A sliding scale for graphics capability was included to provide a more even and•••technology-appropriate application of allowances for Discrete GPUs and associatedcapability. The TEC Category B level in this Final Specification is 175kWh as submitted
data indicated was warranted. The attached version corrects an error in thegraphics capability adjustments reflected on page 11, and thus replaces the final
specification distributed on November 14;
Notebooks: Categories for Notebooks were not changed from the Draft Final. EPA
closely reviewed TEC requirements with respect to the dataset, impacts of test voltages,
effect of gigabit Ethernet on results, and other factors. Final requirements reference abalance of these factors. For Category C, the 3.0 kWh graphics adder, which applied toall systems in C by definition, was removed and applied to the overall TEC limit,
simplifying the requirements without an effect on the mix of systems meeting Category
C requirements;
Test Procedure: Minor clarifications based on stakeholder comments have been added
to the test procedure, including guidance on wireless radio and hard drive power
management status during idle testing, result reporting format, and clarification tosection references for IEC 62301; andSample Calculations: In response to industry requests, the calculation of Desktop andNotebook TEC has been modified to apply capability adjustments to the TEC
requirement rather than the computer’s measured TEC, improving clarity of qualification
lists when the specification is final.

After many iterations of this specification, including supporting update documents, and active
discussions with stakeholders, EPA considers the Final Draft specification language to be wellvetted. The Comment Response document contains a summary of comments received inresponse to the Draft Final Computer Specification and an explanation of EPA’s rationale ineach case.
Of additional interest to stakeholders are the topics of Verification Testing and GameConsoles:
 Verification Testing: Verification testing will be required as indicated in the partnercommitments. The specific requirements for verification testing will be finalized before
the end of the year. EPA is now reviewing comments received on the current draft of theComputer Verification Testing Guidelines and Procedures Manual V1.0 and will soon
communicate with stakeholders regarding next steps.
 Game Consoles: As forecasted in the Draft Final, development of the Game Console
requirements will continue through the remainder of the year refining the proposal
presented in Draft 3. EPA will also strive to engage game publishers to ensure games
do not hinder game console power management. EPA will continue to engage withstakeholders on the development of these game console requirements including
seeking comment on additional drafts through the end of the year. Final Game Console
requirements, once vetted with interested stakeholders and finalized, will be included inthis Final Version 5.0 Specification.
In the coming months, EPA will provide all stakeholders with separate instructions that explain
how to become, or continue, as an ENERGY STAR partner for Computers. The instructions
that will be provided at that time will include appropriate partnership and/or commitment forms

for stakeholder use and a forecast of product data submittal requirements in advance of theeffective date of the specification. Once this specification is in effect on July 1, 2009, theprocess to qualify computers will be generally consistent with what was in place for Version
4.0, with an active manufacturer partnership being required and data again collected throughthe Online Product Submittal (OPS) tool at www.energystar.gov/ops. In early 2009, EPA will
work to revise the OPS system to accept data for the product categories in the specification.
EPA wishes to express its sincere gratitude to all stakeholders in North America, Europe, Asia,and other parts of the world who provided feedback during the computer specification revision
process. On behalf of EPA, I truly appreciate your participation in the development of thisspecification and look forward to working with each of you as you qualify and market yourenergy-efficient computer equipment. If you have any questions or concerns about thespecification or partnership process, please feel free to contact me at +1 (202) 343-9120 orkaplan.katharine@epa.gov.
Thank you for your continued support of ENERGY STAR.
Best Regards,Katharine Kaplan, U.S. EPA
ENERGY STAR for Office Equipment
Enclosed:• Final Version 5.0 ENERGY STAR Computer Specification;• Masked Dataset; and• Comment Summary.