This week CLASP, the international not-for-profit organisation that globally promotes energy efficiency standards and labels (S&L) for appliances, lighting, and equipment has just published a discussion paper on standardisation, Ecodesign and Energy Labelling policy in Europe. Developing standards to measure the energy performance of products is fundamental to delivering the energy saving potential from setting Ecodesign and Energy Labelling requirements. And yet such standards are not always sufficiently well aligned with the policy requirement they are intended to support, in time and in substance. In this paper the effectiveness of the EU approach to developing standards is assessed and a portfolio of options for improving the alignment between standards and Ecodesign and Energy Labelling requirements are outlined. The intention of the paper is to help inform the discussion of standardisation for example in the context of the review of the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Directives during 2014 and 2015.
The report was written by Edouard Toulouse, an independent consultant, who was Policy Officer at ECOS (European Environmental Citizens’ Organisation for Standardisation) where he was responsible for monitoring both the development of EU Ecodesign and Energy Label requirements as well as that of harmonised standards for the European environmental NGO community.
The report provides an important passage to reflect on:
However, given the likely increasing complexity of product groups to be covered in the future, the interest in including a more systemic perspective and a wider range of environmental impacts under the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling framework, it will be important to continue to pay attention to the capacity of the EU standardisation process to adequately support policy. In particular, account should be taken of the implications for the effectiveness of standardisation of any changes proposed to the regulatory framework. It is also worth considering whether the review of the regulatory framework now going on affords any opportunities for improving the relationship between the policy and standardisation processes.
This relationship between the policy and standardisation processes is important to ensure is robust and effective. The EU has had labelling requirements since 1992 and the Ecodesign Directive has been in effect since 2005. They have been mainstays in EU energy efficiency policy and their continuing effectiveness and impact are essential. Let’s hope the discussion begins.
The report is available here.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 