3M's Optical Systems Division today announced that it has received the Alliance to Save Energy's "Innovative Star of Energy Efficiency" Award for its Vikuiti dual brightness enhancement films for LCD TVs and monitors. Since 1993, the Alliance to Save Energy, a non-profit coalition of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders, has recognized the efforts of those working to save energy, money and the planet. The Innovative Star award, which is one of seven award categories, recognizes an emerging technology or service that has the potential to transform a sector of the energy efficiency market but which, given the early stage of the innovation, has yet to generate proven savings.
"With an ever-increasing global demand for energy, there has never been a greater time to pause and recognize the efforts of those working to advance energy efficiency. We were very impressed with the work that 3M is doing to reduce power consumption in electronic devices such as LCD TVs and desktop monitors," noted Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy. "The company's hard work and commitment to energy efficiency is evident in its DBEF Film and serves as an important model for the electronics industry."
"Power consumption has become an increasingly important issue in today's electronic devices. We are honored to receive this award from the Alliance to Save Energy and feel it is indicative of our efforts to enable energy efficient electronic devices without sacrificing performance," noted Mike Kelly, 3M's executive vice president of Display and Graphics. "We remain committed to innovation and a diversified focus in energy efficiency. In fact, 3M has created a division to solely focus on this effort-our 3M Renewable Energy Division."
3M's Vikuiti Dual Brightness Enhancement Film (DBEF), a reflective polarizer, is a revolutionary, multi-layer film that recycles light normally absorbed by the polarizer inside LCD TVs and monitors. Recycling this light maximizes the brightness of LCDs and reduces the number of watts required to operate TVs and monitors.
Using the Vikuiti DBEF film allows manufacturers to eliminate two or more bulbs in the backlight assembly of LCD monitors and TVs, increasing overall energy efficiency of the devices as much as 32 percent. Vikuiti DBEF has the potential to save as much as 101.7 billion kWh of energy in LCD TV's sold between 2006 and 2011.
The Alliance to save energy presented the "Innovative Star of Energy Efficiency" Award to 3M during its Evening with the Stars of Energy Efficiency awards dinner on September 17 in Washington D.C. George Buckley, 3M's CEO, was present to receive the award.