5900-34 Partner of the Year Award

2010 ENERGY STAR® Awards
General Instructions for Retailer Applicants
What you need to submit:
• A 300-word executive summary highlighting the main elements of your application.
• An electronic copy (Word or WordPerfect) of your narrative.
• Supplemental material such as photos, pamphlets, copies of advertisements, videos,
audio files, etc., can be uploaded with your application as PDF files (each file must be
less than 12 MB). It is strongly recommended to consolidate supplemental print files into
one or two PDF files.
• See special instructions for submitting hard copy supplemental material, below.
When you need to submit it:
• A complete electronic application must be uploaded by midnight, EST December 4,
2009. We will not accept any applications or materials uploaded after this date. See
special instructions for hard copy supplemental material, below.
How you need to submit:
• All Partner applications must be electronically submitted through your “My ENERGY
STAR Account” (www.energystar.gov/mesa). The electronic system will be available
November 1, 2009.
• If you do not have an ENERGY STAR account, call the ENERGY STAR Hotline at
1-888-782-7937 to have one created.
What to expect after you submit:
• Confirmation of Receipt: You will get an email within 48 hours confirming receipt of
materials you submitted electronically. It will be sent to the Primary and Communications
contact in the award application. If you do not receive confirmation within this timeframe,
contact ENERGY STAR Awards Coordinator Hewan Tomlinson at (202) 343-9082 or
[email protected].
• Notification: You will be notified no later than February 5, 2010 on the status of your
application.
Special Instructions for Hard Copy Supplemental Material:
Any supplemental material that cannot be submitted electronically should be sent to the address
listed below, via a commercial delivery service. All supplemental materials must be postmarked
by December 4, 2009:
Via Commercial Delivery Service:
Jill Vohr, US EPA
1310 L Street, NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-4113
Phone: (202) 343-9002
EPA will confirm receipt of any hard copy supplemental material by email within one week of
receipt. If you do not receive confirmation within this timeframe, please contact Jill Vohr at
202-343-9002 or [email protected].

Page 1 of 5

Additional information:
• The ENERGY STAR Awards Ceremony will be held on April 13, 2010 in Washington,
DC.
•

Organizations may apply for more than one award if they meet the eligibility
requirements. In such cases, a complete award application package must be submitted
for each award.

•

There are two broad categories of ENERGY STAR awards that you can apply for:
Partner of the Year and Excellence Awards.

•

The Sustained Excellence Award, our highest honor, is selected by EPA to recognize
organizations that have won Partner of the Year for several years and their
achievements continue to surpass those of the previous year. There is no separate
application for Sustained Excellence.

•

Where applicable, quantify your activities and the results (e.g., percent increase in
stocking and sales, and number of customers reached (e.g., circulation, impressions,
store traffic, etc.)), and include electronic copies of documentation that support claims
made (e.g., photos of promotional materials, samples of advertisements with the
ENERGY STAR mark, copies of training materials used, etc.).

•

Due to the volume of material that will be received, we will not be able to return any
supplemental material submitted in hard copy.

Page 2 of 5

2010 ENERGY STAR® Award Application
Partner of the Year – Retailer
Eligibility:

Retailers of ENERGY STAR qualified products. To be eligible for an award, applicant
must be a partner in good standing, having complied with applicable partner
commitments, including the requirement to submit qualified product sales data.

Description: Retailers, both large and small, are making an ever-increasing contribution to the
growing success of ENERGY STAR. And as ENERGY STAR retail partner participation
in the program continues to expand, we are dedicated to recognizing the very best in
terms of a broad commitment to and success with ENERGY STAR.
Each company excels in specific areas and relative to the size of the company.
Applications will be reviewed with this in mind and, depending on the applicant pool, a
separate retail Partner of the Year award may be given to a small or regional retailer.
Narrative:

Criteria:

Your narrative description should be no more than 10 pages, but may be accompanied
by samples of specific hard copy outreach materials representing your 2009 activities,
such as strategies, training materials, signs, brochures, circulars, and other
advertisements.
•

Executive Summary (300 words or less)—-Please provide a brief overview of your
organization and highlights of key accomplishments that make you eligible for this
ENERGY STAR award. In the event that you are chosen to receive an award, this
text will be the basis used in preparing a summary of your organization's
achievements. The Executive Summary will not count toward the 10-page limit.

•

Accomplishments—Organizations applying for the Partner of the Year Award
should highlight their 2009 accomplishments and, if possible, cumulative
accomplishments. When highlighting cumulative accomplishments, please ensure
that you include a timeframe (e.g., saved more than $10 million since 2001).

Criteria for evaluating this award are listed below. In describing your company’s
activities, please organize your submission consistent with the outline below and be as
specific as possible per the below instructions for each criterion.

Award Evaluation Criteria
ENERGY STAR Strategy
• Demonstrate the integration of ENERGY STAR into corporate strategy across all relevant
product categories.
• Include in the application a clearly articulated ENERGY STAR plan developed in
collaboration with EPA/DOE at the beginning of the planning cycle that includes specific
goals, tactics, schedules, and evaluation.∗
• Report progress in implementing plan and achieving goals.

∗

These criteria are most important to the EPA in evaluating your ENERGY STAR partnership.

Page 3 of 5

Product Selection∗
• Provide goals/targets for increasing stock of ENERGY STAR qualified products in all
relevant product categories (e.g. increases in number of SKUs, % of SKUs, and/or % of
products).
• Describe all efforts to work with vendors to increase stock of ENERGY STAR qualified
products.
• Report progress in meeting these goals/targets (e.g. increases in number of SKUs, % of
SKUs, and/or % of products).
Sales Associate Training
• Demonstrate the integration of ENERGY STAR into training strategy across all relevant
product categories and in all existing training vehicles.
• Include in the application a clearly articulated ENERGY STAR training plan developed in
collaboration with EPA/DOE at the beginning of the planning cycle that includes specific
goals, tactics, schedules, and evaluation.
• Include information on how your organization worked with vendors or utility/state/regional
partners to increase ENERGY STAR sales associate training.
• Report progress in implementing plan and achieving goals.
• Please list and include (as available) all training efforts that include ENERGY STAR, e.g.
medium utilized (publication, TV, Web-based, in-person, etc. For each effort, please include
the following information, where applicable:
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾

Scope (national/regional, # stores)
Vendor support (which vendor(s))
Utility support (which utility(ies))
Number of employees reached
EPA/DOE National campaign tie-in (which campaign)
Highlights of environmental messaging

In-Store Marketing
• Describe all efforts to request/require ENERGY STAR labeling of qualified products by
vendors and report progress.*
• Please list and include (as available) all in-store ENERGY STAR marketing efforts, e.g.
displays, signage, in-store radio/Muzak/TV, clinics/events, collateral, etc. For each effort,
please include the following information, where applicable*:
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾

Scope (national/regional, # stores)
Permanent or temporary (if temporary, dates)
Vendor support (which vendor(s))
Utility support (which utility(ies))
Impressions (e.g. store traffic)
EPA/DOE National campaign tie-in (which campaign)
Highlights of environmental messaging

Ex-Store Marketing*
• Please list and include (as available) all ex-store ENERGY STAR marketing efforts, e.g.
advertising (broadcast, radio, print, circulars, etc.), direct mail, Web, public relations, etc.
For each effort, please include the following information, where applicable:
¾ Distribution/markets
¾ Duration
∗

These criteria are most important to the EPA in evaluating your ENERGY STAR partnership.

Page 4 of 5

¾
¾
¾
¾
¾

Vendor support (which vendor(s))
Utility support (which utility(ies))
Impressions/circulation
EPA/DOE National campaign tie-in (which campaign)
Highlights of environmental messaging

Evaluation
• Demonstrate cooperation in supporting ENERGY STAR efforts to evaluate program
success.
• Provide a description of how all the above ENERGY STAR efforts – product selection, instore promotions, sales associate training, consumer education, and cooperative efforts –
were evaluated.
• Provide the results of this evaluation.

Page 5 of 5