The industry’s most energy-efficient, environmentally friendly whole home audio system becomes the first product in its category to achieve this distinction.
Hebron, KY — December 7, 2007 — ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that helps Americans save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices, informed NuVo Technologies this week that its Essentia E6G whole home audio system is officially ENERGY STAR qualified. NuVo’s Essentia E6G is the first whole home audio product to receive this honor, and the manufacturer expects it will be just the first of numerous NuVo products to earn the ENERGY STAR over time.
NuVo’s drive for ENERGY STAR qualification was inspired by an ENERGY STAR report that found that use of consumer electronics products is responsible for more than 25 percent of household electricity consumption–a number only expected to rise. ENERGY STAR products, the agency advises consumers, help prevent global warming and promote cleaner air without sacrificing quality and performance. To illustrate the potential of the program, ENERGY STAR says that if the roughly two TVs, VCR, DVD player and three telephones in the average home were replaced with ENERGY STAR models, over 25 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions would be saved–the equivalent of taking over three million cars off the road.
Many end users would be surprised to know, however, that home electronics products use significant amounts of energy even when they’re “off” in standby mode to power features like clock displays and remote controls. Electronics products that have earned the ENERGY STAR, such as the NuVo Essentia E6G, meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and DOE by using as much as 60 percent less energy to perform standby functions, while providing the same performance at the same price as less-efficient models, says the government agency.
NuVo’s Essentia E6G delivers a major breakthrough in standby mode energy consumption for the whole home audio category. To become ENERGY STAR qualified, electronics must consume less than one watt of power in standby mode. For NuVo’s complex multi-zone audio system to earn the ENERGY STAR, its amplifier and up to 12 keypads shut down when not in use, while keeping “one eye open” to snap back into action when a button is pushed. As a result of this engineering feat, the Essentia E6G has tested at 0.856 watts consumption in standby mode.
NuVo now is evaluating all of its products as they come to revision for their ability to likewise become ENERGY STAR qualified. Already, NuVo anticipates the new version of its T2 SIRIUS-ready tuner, slated to ship next spring, will boast the ENERGY STAR.
“The Essentia E6G’s ENERGY STAR qualification is the result of the hard work and innovation of our engineers, who not only set out to help homeowners save energy but also to make life easier for installers,” said NuVo Technologies Chief Technology Officer Rick Kukulies, who spearheaded the Essentia ENERGY STAR effort. “The main Essentia E6G unit only takes up one slot in a rack, and runs cooler and less noisy than previous and competing models do because of its digital amplification and power supply. Because it generates less heat, the system won’t be as prone to failures as previous models were. With the Essentia E6G, installers save rack space and don’t need to concern themselves with ventilation fans, and homeowners enjoy a top-performing system that leaves much less of an environmental footprint than any whole home audio system that has come before.”
NuVo’s Essentia E6G whole home audio system delivers startlingly clear sound from up to six different sources to up to six different listening zones in a house. Users interact with the system through a stunning, water-resistant wall-mounted control pad interface that provides full metadata feedback on its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display–another category first from NuVo. OLED is more energy efficient than LCD and other traditional displays; it does not require a backlight to function, so it draws far less power.
Another energy-efficient aspect of the Essentia E6G system is NuVo’s Class D amplification, used across its entire product line. It consumes on average 68.4 kilowatt-hours per year; NuVo has found that its competitors’ systems consume almost three times as much power.
The Essentia E6G is environmentally friendly from more than an energy consumption standpoint. The addition of a pure digital power supply reduces its environmental footprint in many ways. The main unit’s 1U rack height (most competing products are 2U and 3U) is enabled by the removal of its predecessor’s larger eight-pound transformer, which helps reduce not only Essentia’s overall weight from 22.03 pounds to 7.93 pounds, but also the presence of numerous heavy metal compounds–aluminum is reduced from 1.5 pounds to 0.58 pounds, copper from 2.07 pounds to 0.11 pounds, and steel from 9.58 pounds to 4.0 pounds. This not only reduces environmental impact by removing fewer of these minerals from the earth, but also Essentia’s end-of-life recovery when breaking the system back down. It also substantially reduces aggregate shipping costs and energy consumption from the plant in China to NuVo’s warehouse to distributors/dealers.
The Essentia E6G meets all RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) requirements, which restrict use of six major harmful substances–lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium (chromium xxx or Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), all of which are deemed toxic to the earth and humans.
NuVo’s new packaging policy dictates removal of all non-compliant materials from its packaging configurations, thus reducing its use of non-environmentally friendly materials. Execution of this policy will start with packaging of the Essentia E6G, and will migrate to the rest of NuVo’s lines as each product’s packaging is replenished.
“We are extremely honored to receive ENERGY STAR qualification for the Essentia E6G, but by no means does our commitment to energy efficiency and environmental responsibility stop there,” said David Rodarte, President and Chief Operating Officer of NuVo Technologies. “Supporting programs like ENERGY STAR, as well as green thinking in general, makes good business sense, but more importantly, it is just the right thing to do.”
The MSRP of the Essentia E6G is $2,499. It will ship in limited quantities in December 2007, followed by full distribution in the first quarter of 2008.
For more information about NuVo Technologies, please visit www.nuvotechnologies.com.
About NuVo Technologies
Based in Hebron, Ky., just outside of Cincinnati, NuVo Technologies is an innovator in the engineering, manufacture and distribution of multi-room digital audio distribution systems. NuVo focuses just as much energy on its products’ value and ease of use as it does on their quality, design, energy efficiency and engineering, striving for the highest levels in all aspects. NuVo believes the music-enabled home is something that all consumers can achieve and enjoy. Its products can make it happen. Visit NuVo’s comprehensive website at www.nuvotechnologies.com.
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