LG Electronics said Thursday it is aggressively moving to gain a bigger share in the U.S. home appliance market with refrigerators that have been deemed environmentally sustainable.

The company said that it has become the first major Korean appliance manufacturer to be certified by the CSA Group to meet the industry’s Sustainability Standard for Household Refrigeration Appliances.

A total of nine of its refrigerators, including the well-known French Door models and LG ThinQ “smart” models, have met the new environmental standard set by the organization.

LG is the second company globally to earn the certification, following U.S.-based Whirlpool.

According to LG, the 2012 sustainability standard is based on a life-cycle approach for identifying the environmental impacts of refrigerators in five key sectors: materials; manufacturing and operations; energy consumption; product performance; and completion of life.

The CSA Group’s certification mark for safety and performance will be attached to LG’s certified refrigerators. This mark will tell retailers, regulators and consumers that the product has fulfilled the environmental performance requirements for product sustainability, its officials said.

LG has been increasing its presence in the U.S. home appliance market with its French Door refrigerators over the recent years.

Data released by the Stevenson Company said that LG has taken up 20.4 percent of the U.S. French Door refrigerator market in terms of total sales in 2011, a jump from 18.6 percent in 2010 and 17.1 percent in 2009.

LG’s French Door bottom-freezer refrigerator, model LFX28991, was ranked No. 1 in consumer preference by U.S. Consumer Reports in November. Its Door-in-Door refrigerator, model LFX31945ST, was also labeled as an innovative industrial item by Consumer Reports.

LG’s biggest competitor and local rival Samsung Electronics, on the other hand, garnered 25.6 percent in 2011 in accumulated sales, a drop from 28.5 percent in 2010, it said.

Rival firms Kenmore, GE, Maytag and Whirlpool recorded U.S. market shares of 14.8 percent, 9.3 percent, 8.8 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively, in total sales last year, the data said.

“Even though the global sluggish economy is continuing, products that have been dubbed environmentally friendly and energy-efficient are getting wide attention from the U.S. consumers,” said Wayne Park, chief executive of LG Electronics USA. “We will further make moves to get certifications around the world that recognize our environmentally friendly technologies to meet the upcoming changes.”

In a related effort, more than 750,000 units of LG products sold, such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners, were labeled “Energy Star Most Efficient” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through September.

The figure is a 75 percent increase from last year when about 400,000 units of LG products sold got the same recognition.

The EPA said that consumers would save a total of more than $150 million in utility costs and cutting down greenhouse gas emissions by about 422 million kilograms over the product’s life cycle if they purchase the Energy Star-designated items.

“Energy efficiency is a core consideration across the board when LG designs new products, from washing machines and refrigerators to high-definition TVs and air conditioners,” said Park.

“LG believes it has an obligation to help consumers indentify the most efficient products. We broke ranks with others in the industry to support this program last year and we’re proud to lead the way on energy efficient products again in 2012.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)