Advocacy groups work to boost efficiency standards for appliances, cutting energy bills and greenhouse gases

Improved performance in big-screen TVs will save $1 billion a year in just one year.July 26, 2011 TROY, Mich. – Steve Nadel typically starts his morning by heading for the kitchen of his two-story house in Takoma Park, Md., to fix breakfast. As he swings open the refrigerator door, he thinks less about the calories he will consume that day – and more about the energy. “My current refrigerator uses 75 percent less energy than the average 1973 refrigerator,” said Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy  in Washington. “I’m