Developed by the US Department of Energy with input from various industry stakeholders, the Energy Star Solid-State Lighting program came into effect on September 30. 

The Energy Star Solid-State Lighting program developed by the U.S. Department of Energy is now effective, according to an email circulated by DOE Energy Star products manager Richard Karney.
Last week, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) formally adopted LM-80-2008, "Approved Method for Measuring Lumen Depreciation of LED Light Sources." This testing methodology is a crucial component of the DOE's Energy Star criteria (and a delay in the finalization of LM-80 would have caused a delay in the launch of Energy Star).

With the approval of LM-80, the DOE has in place all of the industry recognized test procedures needed for qualifying products as Energy Star. IESNA will publish the final version of LM-80 in the coming days.

The next step for DOE is to help manufacturers get Energy Star qualified products to market. To help manufacturers navigate the qualification process, DOE has created a documented entitled Manufacturer's Guide for Qualifying Solid-State Lighting Luminaires.

This document outlines the performance benchmarks that Energy Star qualified products must meet, identifies testing facilities approved to conduct Energy Star testing, and establishes the protocols manufacturers must follow to submit this information for approval.

This document is designed to complement the Energy Star SSL Criteria version 1.0. In the future, the Manufacturer's Guide will be updated to reflect the expansion and evolution of the Energy Star SSL program.