On January 4^th, 2023, the U.S. EPA announced the first Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS) to receive ENERGY STAR certification. Samsung SmartThings is the first platform to earn

Image: Samsung

ENERGY STAR certification for a SHEMS. SmartThings creates smart home IoT control, integrated across any phone, any device, and any brand. With ENERGY STAR certification of the new Samsung SmartThings Home Energy service, home energy management is now available nationwide, and with integrations that span thousands of partner brands, this platform allows consumers to customize their own smart homes.

The ENERGY STAR SHEMS specification defines a home energy management system promising to enhance the consumer “smart home” experience by delivering meaningful energy savings in addition to the comfort and convenience associated with smart home devices.

The SHEMS program is designed to facilitate untapped residential energy savings associated with occupancy-based optimization control of key devices and the introduction of additional energy-saving products into the home. Key features of the SHEMS performance criteria include:

• ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostat, ENERGY STAR certified lighting, and plug load control.
• Standby limits on all required devices.
• Ability to receive and utilize occupancy information to produce energy-saving actions (e.g. schedules, suggested actions, service-initiated actions like adjusting the heat when no one is home).
• User access to energy use information to facilitate energy-saving behavior.
• A daily kWh budget for operating lights while away.
• Grid communication to enable demand response functionality.
• Integration with utility dynamic (time of use) pricing schedules.

The ENERGY STAR SHEMS program has taken a long time to get industry participation. The first SHEMS specification was finalized on September 3^rd, 2019. It took more than 3 years for a first SHEMS platform to receive ENERGY STAR certification. SHEMS may also be the only ENERGY STAR program to address lighting if EPA implements its proposed sunset of Lamps, Luminaires, Ceiling Fan Light Kits, and Vent Fan lighting requirements.

More information on ENERGY STAR SHEMS can be found here. More information about Samsung SmartThings can be found here.

Partial list of device brands compatible with the Samsung SmartThings platform.

Check out our other stories about IoT here. 

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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