Sydney Henderson - AHAM Consumer Blog

Staying Ahead of the Curve with Sustainability

In the November issue of Appliance
Design Magazine, AHAM President Joe McGuire pens a column titled, “Ahead
of the Curve: Sustainability Standard,?? highlighting the first sustainability
standard for refrigeration products (7001/CSA
SPE 7001/UL 7001-2012) that AHAM and its partners, CSA Standards and UL
Environment released in June.

McGuire notes, “The standards are credible and compatible
with government and retailer initiatives. In fact, in September AHAM presented
its Sustainability program to many leading industry retailers at the Retail Industry Leaders
Association (RILA) sustainability conference. The reaction was very
positive and our work is respected; but it is also clear that AHAM is ahead of
the curve with these standards.??

Additionally, he states that AHAM will expand its
sustainability program: “Working with testing agencies as partners, AHAM will
extend its sustainability brand to the marketplace. AHAM’s program will support
companies who wish to have third-party certification to the AHAM/UL/CSA
standards. The common rating scale will ensure all appliances certified under the
AHAM program are rated uniformly and to the same scale and will offer levels of
achievement for those that wish to tout their product’s environmental profile.??

Click
here to read the full column.

Breathing Clean Air Made Easier with a Room Air Cleaner

An article in the Dec. 10^th edition of the New York Times, titled “Want to Live Longer? Breath
Clean Air,?? highlights a new study published in the journal Epidemiology that found a direct correlation between a
decrease in air pollution with an increase in life expectancy.

As the article notes, there are other factors which
contribute to life expectancy, including income, other health facts and whether
or not one smokes.

The article quoted a
Harvard School of Public Health professor who noted that even with declining
levels of particulate pollution, continuing to clean the air is still
important. Fortunately, there is one
great and practical way you can improve the air quality around you and that’s
by using a portable room air cleaner in your home. Room air cleaners help to filter the air and
reduce particulate matter that is circulating in the air. You can find a complete directory of
certified room air cleaners on the AHAM Verifide website. Look
for a room air cleaner that is appropriate for the size of your room and meets
the Clear Air Delivery Rate (CADR) for your needs. All AHAM Verifide room air cleaners will have
the AHAM Verifide logo on the product’s package and the
CADR rating will be clearly labeled. All products that carry the AHAM Verifide
mark are independently tested by a third-party laboratory to ensure that they
meet the manufacturers’ claims for removal of tobacco smoke, dust and pollen. Manufacturers are not required to be a part of
the AHAM Verifide program, but doing so demonstrates a commitment to honest
ratings and keeping customers’ trust.

Holiday Cooking Safety Tips

The holidays are fast approaching and many of us will be cooking
dinner for family and friends. With all of the stress that comes with preparing
large meals, even the most experienced cook can become distracted and within a blink
of an eye a fire can spark. That’s what happened recently in
Indianapolis when a 32-year-old man left his stove unattended.

To ensure your holiday dinner is successful and safe, follow these simple and important tips:

Stay
in the kitchen while food is cooking. Most fires in the kitchen occur because
food is left unattended while cooking. If you must leave the kitchen
briefly, carry an oven mitt with you as a reminder that something is
cooking.

Do not try
to hold your child in one arm while cooking with the other. Holding a
child while cooking is an invitation for a burn. Keep the cooking area clear of
clutter and keep your child out of the kitchen while you’re cooking.

Keep your range top free of clutter. Don’t
overload a range top with too many pots and pans. Trying to cook all
dishes at once could cause grease to accidentally spill onto a range top
and cause a fire. Only cook with as many pots and pans as there are
burners. Also, never use the oven
cavity for storage.

For more
cooking safety tips, download AHAM’s Recipe for Safer Cooking brochure or order several to
distribute within your community by clicking here or
sending an email to info@aham.org. There is no charge for the brochures, but
AHAM does charge a nominal shipping fee if you order more than 250 brochures.
AHAM also has brochures on other safety topics, including portable heater
safety, clothes dryer safety, and range tipping.

New Appliances Result in Substantial Savings on Consumers’ Electricity Bills

The Association
of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) has released the 2011 Energy Efficiency
and Consumption Trends data for major home appliances. This data, based on 2011 shipments of major
appliances, shows the continuing trend of decreased energy consumption. If
consumers were to replace their 10-year-old refrigerator, clothes washer and
dishwasher of average efficiency with more energy efficient models manufactured
in 2011, they would save, on average, $90 per year on their electricity bill. Upgrading to an ENERGY STAR® unit may offer
additional energy savings.

Energy consumption in
refrigerators continued to decline in 2011 with new refrigerators using an
average of 452 kWh per year, over 50% less than units made in 1990. Dishwasher energy consumption is down nearly
51% due to advances in energy efficiency and new technologies such as soil
sensors that use only as much water as needed and more stainless steel
interiors which help dry dishes faster. Clothes
washer tub volume continues to increase while energy consumption decreases,
meaning those who bought new clothes washers in 2011 can fit more clothes in
each load while using less energy. Clothes washers show a 75% decrease in
energy consumption per unit since 1990, while tub capacity increased by more
than 32%.

Complete
historical tables of energy efficiency and consumption trends data are
available through AHAM. Click here for a direct link to purchase
the 2011 Energy Efficiency and Consumption Trends data, or you may visit AHAM’s
website at www.aham.org.

Evolutions in Kitchen and Appliance Design

Kitchen and appliance design and functionality has evolved from
the days of the Frigidaire and Monsanto “kitchens of the future?? as shown in these two films from the 1950s.

In this month’s Interior Design magazine, Jill Notini,
AHAM’s VP of Communications and Marketing talks about kitchen design. Click
here to read the article, and see some exciting new products!

Notini says, “We are seeing a convergence of function,
technology, and aesthetic design. Appliances still cool, cook, or clean food,
but now there is integration of other features framed in modern design.”

Manufacturers are designing appliances that can provide
other functions and make life easier for busy consumers. For example, refrigerators
are now coming equipped with built-in LCD screens so people can download apps
that provide recipes, news and weather.

Additionally, as smart appliances become more widely
available and connected to a smart electrical grid, they will become more
energy efficient.

“Manufacturers have improved efficiency by leaps and bounds,
and are now incorporating advanced technologies that go beyond traditional
energy savings and provide enormous consumer benefit,?? Notini says.

You don’t have to wait too long to experience these new
features and designs. The kitchen of the
future is here now. Let us know what you think about kitchen design. How would you change your current
kitchen? What kind of appliances would
you select?

Back to School Gives Parents Opportunity to Get Kids Involved in the Kitchen, Teach Cooking Safety

It’s back to school time and that means parents will begin
hearing their kids’ cries of “What’s for dinner??? and “When are we eating??? as
soon as they arrive home from work. With everyone in the household busy and
seemingly running on separate calendars, it’s important for parents to be able
to prepare dinner with as little stress as possible and even get the kids
involved in the cooking.

A recent article in U.S. News and World Reports provides
some good tips for parents to make their families healthy meals. Some of the
tips include:

Encourage your kids to get down and dirty in the
cooking process. It’s exciting for them to eat food they prepared themselves.
If you have several children, cook with each of them individually to impart
cooking skills and knowledge about healthy eating.

Have a family cook-off where each member is
challenged to come up with something delicious and healthy using only a limited
number of ingredients. Award prizes for the most creative, most colorful, and
most interesting dishes.

It’s also important to teach your children how to cook safely.
According to the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA), unattended cooking was by far the leading cause of
cooking fires in 2005-2009. Here are a few safety tips from AHAM’s
“Recipe for Safer Cooking?? brochure:

Wear short of close-fitting sleeves. Loose
clothing can catch fire.
Clean cooking surfaces to prevent food and
grease build-up.
Slide a pan lid over flames to smother a grease
or oil fire, then turn off the heat and leave the lid in place until the pan
cools. Never carry the pan outside.
Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. Make
sure you have the right type and training.
Keep a working smoke detector in your home and
test it monthly.

To download a copy of the entire brochure, click here. If
you wish to order 250 or more copies of “Recipe for Safer Cooking?? or “Protect
Against Range Tipping,?? click here. Nominal
shipping charges apply.

News from London… and It’s not about the Olympics

Last week during the Olympics, the news briefly drifted from Michael Phelps and Gabby Douglas, to a less than award-winning incident in Great Britain when the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service was forced to issue the following statement: “The fire safety message here is to never put clothing of any kind in the microwave or an oven to attempt to dry them.?? Why, you might ask? A Dorset resident tried to dry his socks and underwear in his microwave and ended up causing a fire in his apartment.

Thankfully there was little damage to his apartment and no one was injured. However, a humorous incident like this should remind everyone that home appliances must be used for only their intended purpose and always follow the manufacturers’ instructions.

In an effort to promote the safe use of appliances, AHAM is once again distributing free safety brochures (just pay the shipping when ordering more than 250 brochures). National Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 7-13, so order your brochures now and incorporate them into your safety education program! Last year, AHAM distributed over 175,000 brochures to local fire departments, schools and non-profit agencies.

The following brochures are available:

“Protect Against Range Tipping??
“Recipe for Safer Cooking Procedures??
“Clothes Dryer Safety??
“Portable Heater Safety Brochure?? (English)
“Portable Heater Safety Brochure?? (Spanish)

There is no shipping charge if your total order is less than 250 brochures. However, there will be a nominal shipping charge for larger orders. You may order brochures online or click here for an order form. Email AHAM if you have any questions.

AHAM Releases New Refrigerator Sustainability Standard

Appliance manufacturers can now take advantage of a new Sustainability standard that can be used to evaluate the environmental impact of refrigerators. Manufacturers can evaluate their products on a scale offering points for using recycled materials and using blowing agents which have a low contribution to greenhouse gases.

It’s the first sustainability standard for refrigerators and is a giant step forward in ensuring that refrigerators are manufactured with regard for how the product will impact the environment during the manufacturing process, while in use by the owner and when it reaches the end of its lifecycle. The standard identifies the environmental impact that refrigeration products have in five key areas:

Energy
Materials
End-of-life
Performance
Manufacturing

Wayne Morris, AHAM’s Vice President of Technical Operations and Standards, recently spoke with Plastics News about how the new standard and the role of plastics play.

Click here to read the article.

McGuire to Head ASAE Board

Congratulations to AHAM’s president Joe McGuire who has been nominated to lead the American Society of Association Executives Board of Directors. He takes his post as Chairman on August 11^th.

“The Leadership Committee worked hard to ensure there was a balance of representation on the board, and we are thankful for their dedication in adding leaders that will help move the association profession forward as well as help raise awareness about the impact nonprofits have in our society,?? said ASAE Chairman of the Board Peter O’Neil, FASAE, CAE, Executive Director of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

ASAE is a membership organization of more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners representing 10,000 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in nearly 50 countries around the world.

Last year, Joe was also added to the list of Top Association CEO’s for 2011 by CEO Update magazine.

First Sustainability Standard for Household Refrigeration Appliances Developed to Identify Environmentally Responsible Products

WASHINGTON, DC (June 7, 2012) – The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), CSA Group, and UL Environment today announced the release of AHAM 7001-2012/CSA SPE-7001-12/UL 7001, Sustainability Standard for Household Refrigeration Appliances, the first voluntary sustainability standard for home appliances. This new standard is the first in a family of product sustainability standards under development by AHAM, CSA Group, and UL Environment intended for use by manufacturers, governments, retailers, and others to identify environmentally preferable products. The standard is based on a lifecycle approach for identifying the environmental impacts of refrigeration products in five key areas: energy, materials, end-of-life, performance, and manufacturing.

Click here to read the full release.

In Every Home