Ecodesign rules for air conditioners published
New EU roles for the ecodesign requirements for air conditioners and comfort fans that could reduce CO2 emissions by 24 Mt a year have been welcomed by the European Partnership for Energy & the Environment. Andrea Voigt, director general of EPEE, says, ‘Given the importance of ecodesign for energy savings, we call on the commission to swiftly conclude and adopt other ecodesign rules for critical products such as boilers and water heaters. This would benefit the environment, consumers and give the industry the legal and technical certainty needed for innovation.’
These rules for air conditioners, and in particular heat pumps, have a total savings potential of 46 TWh a year in the EU if there is full compliance on the market.
Andrea Voigt elaborates, ‘Ecodesign requirements can only be fully beneficial in terms of energy savings and for EU citizens if there is proper and efficient market surveillance. Non-compliance comes at the expense of consumers who purchase equipment that turns out to be more costly to operate than expected, undermines the EU’s and national governments’ goals of climate change and energy efficiency, and is unfair for companies which make the effort to comply.’
Since 2005, when the Ecodesign Directive on Energy-using Products was agreed, the European Commission has adopted 17 implementing measures (12 ecodesign and five energy labelling), representing in total estimated energy savings of 380 TWh, the equivalent of the annual output of about 20 nuclear power stations.
