Samsung Electronics Achieves World’s First Verification of Carbon Reduction Effect Based on DUCD Specification

Samsung Electronics today announced that it has had the carbon reduction impact of AI Energy Mode¹ in its select washing machines verified by the Carbon Trust Assurance, based on the Decarbonizing the Use-Phase of Connected Devices (DUCD) specification. This marks the first time that a product or feature has been validated using the DUCD specification. It is especially significant as it demonstrates the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction effect achieved through the AI Energy Mode during the use phase, verified by a third party.

“At Samsung, we continue to design our products and services with environmental factors in mind,” said Jeong Seung Moon, Executive Vice President and Head of the R&D Team for Digital Appliances (DA) Business at Samsung Electronics. “AI Energy Mode is a key example of such efforts, and with this verification recognizing its effectiveness, we will strive to further improve our products, features and services during their actual use.”

Samsung’s Longstanding Efforts

Samsung has long worked to establish objective and systematic indicators to assess and manage carbon emissions generated from home appliances. As part of these efforts, the company joined the DUCD initiative as a Secretariat member in September 2022.

The DUCD initiative is led by the Carbon Trust, a global climate consultancy, which partners with businesses, governments and financial institutions to drive positive climate action. Through collaboration with other industry leaders, it aims to standardize how energy use and savings from connected devices are measured and contribute to building global methodologies for calculating the carbon savings of Wi-Fi–connected devices.

In November 2024, the initiative published a global specification establishing unified measurement criteria and reduction methodologies for connected devices. This approach measures the reduction in carbon emissions that occur during the consumer’s actual usage phase, distinguishing it from the measurement or reduction of carbon emissions during the production process conventionally used.

Verified Carbon Reduction With AI Energy Mode

Using this guidance, the Carbon Trust’s independent assurance arm, the Carbon Trust Assurance Ltd, tested a pilot assessment on Samsung’s global washing machine lineup.² It verified the reduction effect of AI Energy Mode by comparing the amount of carbon emitted between July 2024 and June 2025 when using the AI Energy Mode with the amount emitted when not using this mode.

For Samsung’s select energy-efficient washing machines, the total energy consumption using the SmartThings Platform³ has been verified at 12.28 GWh during this time period,⁴ resulting in 5,266 tCO₂e, by Carbon Trust Assurance Ltd according to the DUCD Part 1: Specification and Guidance. The verified total energy savings of 5.02 GWh in energy consumption, and 2,084 tCO₂e in GHG emissions savings can be attributed to switched-on AI Energy Mode.⁵

This level of energy savings corresponds to the amount of electricity that approximately 169,000 households can use in a single day, given that an average U.S. residential electric-utility customer purchases about 29.54 kWh of energy daily.⁶

Meanwhile, the company will participate in the upcoming CES 2026, where it will showcase both its energy-saving solutions and innovative new products.

1. Must activate AI Energy Mode via SmartThings Energy on the SmartThings app, available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. ↩︎
2. A list of all applicable washing machine models and a lifecycle product carbon footprints can be found at https://www.samsung.com/global/sustainability/digital-library/policy-document/. ↩︎
3. The verification is based on Samsung washing machines with the highest energy efficiency grade or equivalent in their respective countries where applicable, such as (but not limited to) Energy Star (U.S.), Grade 1 (Korea), and A (EU). ↩︎
4. The verification is based on Samsung washing that have been connected to AI Energy Mode at least once during the period from July 2024 to June 2025 globally. ↩︎
5. AI Energy Mode switched on versus AI Energy Mode switched off across all active devices globally during the same time period (July 2024-June 2025) ↩︎
6. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)) ↩︎