The Global Efficiency Medal competition, a cornerstone activity of the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, is an awards programme that encourages the production and sale of super-efficient products. SEAD is a voluntary multinational government collaboration of the Clean Energy Ministerial. This competition recognises high-quality super-efficient products, enabling early adopters to identify the most efficient products and demonstrating levels of efficiency in commercially available and emerging technologies. The fourth Global Efficiency Medal competition recognises super-efficient lighting products in four regions around the world. This competition complements existing labelling programmes and advances comparable and transparent international test methods that support market transformation programmes.

For an emerging technology like LEDs, this competition enables manufacturers to distinguish themselves and informs policymakers about what is possible for this product group.To establish the Efficient Lighting competition, experts and policymakers in participating regions provided input on lamps and luminaires that are either popular, high-volume products in each regional market or are niches for which inefficient products are currently used. Eight categories allowed manufacturers to nominate products in a range of sizes, colour temperatures, and lumen outputs.
In addition, to ensure the nominated products were of high quality and had the potential to influence the lighting market, the competition required nominated products to meet 19 quality criteria and to be sold below a cost threshold specified by product and region. These 20 criteria are part of an ongoing conversation about what makes a quality LED product that will satisfy consumer preferences for reasonable cost and high quality. The competition’s criteria were based on similar requirements developed and published by the IEA 4E Solid State Lighting Annex.

Authors: 

Chad Gallinat, US Department of Energy
Debbie Karpay Weyl, CLASP
Peter Bennich, Swedish Energy Agency and Chair of IEA 4E SSL Annex
Michael Scholand, Operating Agent Support, IEA 4E SSL Annex
Nils Borg, Operating Agent, IEA 4E SSL Annex
Mike Walker, Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK
David Boughey, Department of Industry and Science, Australia
Christofer Silfvenius, Swedish Energy Agency
Jonas Pettersson, Swedish Energy Agency