For the eighth straight year – a longer run than any other lighting manufacturer – GE Lighting has been recognized with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award . This award acknowledges outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency.

GE Lighting’s Steve Briggs, global product general manager, accepted the award Tuesday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“Energy efficiency is what drives our innovation and development at GE, and the ENERGY STAR program is one that we continue to embrace in the evolution of lighting,” says Briggs. “To have been recognized eight years in a row and achieve a run of wins other manufacturers haven’t been able to record speaks volumes to our commitment to advance energy-efficient light bulbs consumers will embrace.”

GE Lighting was recognized for its support of the ENERGY STAR program through a variety of initiatives, including an extensive ENERGY STAR®-qualified product portfolio and continuous support of the ENERGY STAR brand and the GE ecomagination℠ program, the company’s commitment to solving energy challenges.

GE Lighting offered ENERGY STAR-qualified bulbs in a total of 607 consumer packaged options in 2012, including 198 ENERGY STAR-qualified LED packages.

In the more than 50 years since LED diodes were invented by GE scientist Nick Holonyak, GE has been a leader in LED innovation and has been dedicated to creating the most energy-efficient and sustainable products on the market. This commitment led GE to be the first U.S. lighting manufacturer to receive ENERGY STAR qualification for an omnidirectional LED bulb designed to replace a standard incandescent bulb.

Other noteworthy energy-savings initiatives included illuminating the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., for the 50th year. The tree sparkled in 2012 with thousands of GE ENERGY STAR-qualified LED lights.