LOUISVILLE, Ky. — March 1, 2012 — (NYSE:GE) —  GE Appliances & Lighting has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® Sustained Excellence Award for the seventh consecutive year.

GE Appliances & Lighting supports the ENERGY STAR® program through a variety of initiatives, including training sales employees, retailers and distributors; promoting ENERGY STAR®-qualified products; and recycling at company locations. For example, in 2011, GE Appliance Park in Louisville recycled 10,000 gross tons of factory and office materials.

GE representatives will receive the award at a March 15 ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“As we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the ENERGY STAR program, EPA is proud to recognize GE Appliances & Lighting with the 2012 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “GE Appliances & Lighting and all our ENERGY STAR award winners are helping Americans find cost-effective ways to save energy in everything we do, which is good for our climate, our health, and our future.”

GE Lighting offered a total of 501 ENERGY STAR®-qualified LED (light-emitting diode) and CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) products in 2011 — more than at any point in its history and 29 percent more than in 2010. Approximately three-fourths of all GE Lighting CFL and LED products sold in the United States in 2011 were ENERGY STAR® qualified.

GE was the first lighting manufacturer in the U.S. to receive ENERGY STAR® qualification for an omnidirectional LED bulb  designed to replace a standard incandescent bulb.

GE Lighting facilities reached 478,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas / CO2 reduction in 2011.

The National Christmas Tree donned GE branded lighting for the 49^th straight year; it sparkled in 2011 with a newfound theatrical effect enabled by thousands of GE branded Color Effects® programmable, color-changing, ENERGY STAR®-qualified LED lights .

In 2011, almost 70 percent of GE’s total dollar sales from appliances came from ENERGY STAR®-qualified models. The company introduced 140 new ENERGY STAR® appliances in 2011, for a total of more than 490 ENERGY STAR®-qualified base models.

GE invested $50 million in 2011 ENERGY STAR®-qualified products, and developed, introduced or launched many design innovations for energy efficiency. For example, GE is using cyclopentane foam in top-freezer refrigerators, resulting in a 99 percent reduction in greenhouse gases over the material previously used.

GE’s Nucleus™ home energy management system uses Brillion ™ technology to communicate with smart appliances, and enable consumers to monitor and manage their home energy consumption. In pilots across the country, such asWarner Robins, Ga. , GE and its utility partners are using the Nucleus in experiments to reduce and save energy.

Other innovative products include the newly redesigned GeoSpring  hybrid water heater that uses 62 percent less electricity than a standard electric water heater and GE’s first ENERGY STAR®-qualified range hood that uses GE CFL lights and quiet design venting to minimize noise levels.