diff --git a/wgpu/README.md b/wgpu/README.md
index d78efc1b00..b68e6b1a8d 100644
--- a/wgpu/README.md
+++ b/wgpu/README.md
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 <img align="right" width="25%" src="logo.png">
 
 # wgpu-rs
+
 [![Build Status](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-rs/workflows/CI/badge.svg?branch=master)](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu-rs/actions)
 [![Crates.io](https://img.shields.io/crates/v/wgpu.svg)](https://crates.io/crates/wgpu)
 [![Docs.rs](https://docs.rs/wgpu/badge.svg)](https://docs.rs/wgpu)
 
-[![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/badge/Dev_Matrix-%23wgpu%3Amatrix.org-blueviolet.svg)](https://matrix.to/#/#wgpu:matrix.org) 
+[![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/badge/Dev_Matrix-%23wgpu%3Amatrix.org-blueviolet.svg)](https://matrix.to/#/#wgpu:matrix.org)
 [![Matrix](https://img.shields.io/badge/User_Matrix-%23wgpu--users%3Amatrix.org-blueviolet.svg)](https://matrix.to/#/#wgpu-users:matrix.org)
 
 wgpu-rs is an idiomatic Rust wrapper over [wgpu-core](https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu). It's designed to be suitable for general purpose graphics and computation needs of Rust community.
@@ -32,6 +33,21 @@ The `hello*` examples show bare-bones setup without any helper code. For `hello-
 cargo run --example hello-compute 1 2 3 4
 ```
 
+The following environment variables can be used to configure how the framework examples run:
+
+- `WGPU_BACKEND`
+
+  Options: `vulkan`, `metal`, `dx11`, `dx12`, `gl`, `webgpu`
+
+  If unset a default backend is chosen based on what is supported
+  by your system.
+
+- `WGPU_POWER_PREF`
+
+  Options: `low`, `high`
+
+  If unset a low power adapter is preferred.
+
 #### Run Examples on the Web (`wasm32-unknown-unknown`)
 
 Running on the web is still work-in-progress. You may need to enable experimental flags on your browser. Check browser implementation status on [webgpu.io](https://webgpu.io). Notably, `wgpu-rs` is often ahead in catching up with upstream WebGPU API changes. We keep the `gecko` branch pointing to the code that should work on latest Firefox.
@@ -54,8 +70,8 @@ Create an `index.html` file into `target/generated` directory and add the follow
 ```html
 <html>
   <head>
-    <meta charset="UTF-8">
-    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
   </head>
   <body>
     <script type="module">
@@ -78,11 +94,11 @@ For now, the shaders can be compiled to SPIR-V by running `make`, which requires
 
 ## Logging
 
-`wgpu-core` uses `tracing` for logging and `wgpu-rs` uses `log` for logging. 
+`wgpu-core` uses `tracing` for logging and `wgpu-rs` uses `log` for logging.
 
 ### Simple Setup
 
-If you just want log messages to show up and to use the chrome tracing infrastructure, 
+If you just want log messages to show up and to use the chrome tracing infrastructure,
 take a dependency on the `wgpu-subscriber` crate then call `initialize_default_subscriber`. It will
 set up logging to stdout/stderr based on the `RUST_LOG` environment variable.
 
@@ -96,7 +112,7 @@ The `tracing_log` crate has a `log` logger to translate all events into `tracing
 
 ```rust
 tracing_log::LogTracer::init().unwrap()
-``` 
+```
 
 #### `tracing` events -> `log` events
 
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/framework.rs b/wgpu/examples/framework.rs
index b25664a603..412e946cd4 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/framework.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/framework.rs
@@ -121,6 +121,15 @@ async fn setup<E: Example>(title: &str) -> Setup {
     } else {
         wgpu::BackendBit::PRIMARY
     };
+    let power_preference = if let Ok(power_preference) = std::env::var("WGPU_POWER_PREF") {
+        match power_preference.to_lowercase().as_str() {
+            "low" => wgpu::PowerPreference::LowPower,
+            "high" => wgpu::PowerPreference::HighPerformance,
+            other => panic!("Unknown power preference: {}", other),
+        }
+    } else {
+        wgpu::PowerPreference::default()
+    };
     let instance = wgpu::Instance::new(backend);
     let (size, surface) = unsafe {
         let size = window.inner_size();
@@ -129,11 +138,18 @@ async fn setup<E: Example>(title: &str) -> Setup {
     };
     let adapter = instance
         .request_adapter(&wgpu::RequestAdapterOptions {
-            power_preference: wgpu::PowerPreference::default(),
+            power_preference,
             compatible_surface: Some(&surface),
         })
         .await
         .unwrap();
+
+    #[cfg(not(target_arch = "wasm32"))]
+    {
+        let adapter_info = adapter.get_info();
+        println!("Using {} ({:?})", adapter_info.name, adapter_info.backend);
+    }
+
     let optional_features = E::optional_features();
     let required_features = E::required_features();
     let adapter_features = adapter.features();
