The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes U.S. EPA) is an agency of the United States federal government. Among others, the agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws. U.S. EPA prepares and publishes a number of useful publications and guidelines on industrial resource use efficiency and environmental protection.

The ENERGY STAR program of U.S. EPA is of particular importance and is a valuable source of information. The ENERGY STAR program is an U.S EPA voluntary partnership, founded in 1992 to promote sound energy-efficient practices and products. The ENERGY STAR Industrial Sector Partnership, comprised of leading U.S. industrial manufacturing corporations, small and medium industrial enterprises, trade associations, academia, and more, come together to identify barriers in managing energy efficiency in a corporate setting and finding strategic solutions to overcome those barriers. Through the partnership, a number of tool and resources are developed and made available to industry, such as energy guides, benchmarking tools (energy performance indicators), and much more. More information about this program is available at www.energystar.gov/industry.