“As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said Michael S. Regan, the EPA administrator. “I applaud this year’s Energy Star award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”

The Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence award is the program’s highest honor and recognizes Energy Star partners that have demonstrated a continued commitment to energy efficiency, according to an EPA press release.

Bradford White, which makes products for water and space heating and hot-water storage, won a Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence award for several 2022 accomplishments. Those included public awareness efforts around Energy Star products and decarbonization, the training Bradford White provided on its heat-pump water heaters, and the donation of eight heat-pump water heaters to the Philadelphia Water Heater Emergency Fund, which was to distribute them to qualified families.

“This recognition reflects our commitment to energy efficiency and continuing efforts to educate professionals and invest in disadvantaged communities,” said Carl Pinto Jr., Bradford White’s senior director of marketing communications.

Delta Electronics Inc., whose portfolio includes building automation and data-center cooling products, also was named a Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence. Its 2022 Energy Star accomplishments included participating in marketing programs that promoted certified products to 119 wholesale locations and training all employees on the benefits of Energy Star products.

“Delta commonly invests 8-9% of its annual revenues into innovation and employs more than 10,000 R&D engineers in 73 R&D centers worldwide to enhance its core competence in high-efficiency power electronics and develop solutions that are contributing to the creation of smarter, healthier sustainable cities,” said Kelvin Huang, president of Delta Electronics (Americas). “Our growing capabilities in the U.S. are also a testament to Delta’s commitment to America’s sustainable future.”

Rheem, a major manufacturer of HVAC products, also won a Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence award. It was recognized for projects that included Energy Star-related marketing efforts, training contractors on its Energy Star-certified heat-pump water heaters, and introducing an Energy Star-certified 120-volt heat-pump water heater, a drop-in replacement that can offer significant energy savings over gas-fired water heaters.

“Innovating energy efficiency into our products’ DNA is a top priority for improving our global environmental impact,” said Mike Branson, president of Rheem Global Air. “Today and every day, we are proud to be an Energy Star partner.”

The other companies in the HVACR industry that won 2023 Energy Star awards are: LG Electronics Inc. (HVAC equipment), Panasonic Eco Systems North America (ventilation and IAQ), Hoshizaki America Inc. (commercial ice machines), Air King America (ventilation and IAQ), Schneider Electric (energy management and automation), Ideal Air Conditioning and Insulation (energy efficiency and HVAC contracting), Wise Home Energy LLC (home performance, HVAC), A.O. Smith (boilers and water heaters), Broan-NuTone LLC (IAQ, fans, and energy recovery ventilators), Emerson Sensi (smart thermostats), Howe Corp. (commercial ice machines), ecobee (smart home devices), Google Nest (smart thermostats), Emerson (technology and software), Beverage-Air (commercial refrigeration equipment), Minus Forty QBD Corp. (commercial refrigeration equipment), and True Manufacturing (commercial refrigeration and ice machines).