Hi all
Let us have a quick look at the EuP (Energy using Products) Directive which, it has been said by some commentators, may have an even more profound effect on industry than the RoHS Directive.
The objective of the EuP Directive is to bring about improvements in efficiency of energy using products throughout their life cycle. Its focus is on the design phase since it is considered that this is the determining stage affecting the resources used in a product.
The Directive does not apply to means of transport (aircraft, cars etc.) but, apart from this, the scope is deliberately broad, covering, in principle, any product which when in use depends on, generates, transfers or measures energy (electricity, fossil fuel or renewable).

Products that may well fall within scope include, for example:
Boilers and combi-boilers
Water heaters
PC's
Imaging equipment
Consumer electronics, such as televisions
Lighting (office and street)
Water pumps
Ventilation fans (non residential buildings)
Refrigerators and freezers
Dishwashers and washing machines

Certain criteria will have to be met to ensure that there is a real need and a benefit for each category to fall within scope.
A product must:
Sell more than 200,000 units per year in the EU
Have a significant environmental impact
Present significant potential for improvement

I will go into greater detail on how this will potentially work during the coming weeks. However, as far as component suppliers and distributors are concerned, EuP is going to mean a continuing pressure to remove restricted substances, and to reduce power consumption and weight. There will also be a growing demand for more comprehensive data on energy use, composition and compatibility of materials, weight, disassembley, recyclability, identification and in some cases a move towards modular designs which can be upgraded more easily.

Since EuP requires consideration of the whole life cycle in the context of price, performance and competitiveness, it is to be hoped that this will make for better design changes that are demonstrably beneficial in reducing environmental impact in ways that are not detrimental to commercial considerations. It remains to be seen if this optimistic prospect is realised.

If this directive has a potential impact on your business, please drop me a line.

Well, enough of EuP and, if that was a bit heavy for you, next stop on our tour is something we can all relate to.....The Battery Directive.

Directive Decoder

The Energy-Using Products Directive establishes a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements in energy-using products. It aims to improve the environmental performance of products throughout their life cycle, by systematic integration of environmental considerations at an early stage in the product design. The clear objective is to cut energy use.

The Directive was finalised in July 2005 with detailed “implementing measures” to follow after studies, led by the European Commission, have been completed. Reporting is expected later in 2007 / 2008.

Of all the recently adopted EU legislation, the Ecodesign of Energy using Products (EuP) Directive (2005/32/EC) is likely to have the most significant impact on the design engineer. This is a framework directive which means that it does not impose requirements on manufacturers (or their designers) but sets up a mechanism for introducing “implementing measures” that will impose specified design requirements. EuP has a very broad scope including any product that consumes, generates or controls energy (excludes transport).

The Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) aims to improve the environmental performance of products throughout their life-cycle.
Mini directives known as “Implementing Measures” will follow a series of studies lead by the European Commission.
Products will have to meet power consumption guidelines and most manufacturers will have to carry out lifecycle assessments on their products so as to determine the potential environmental impact.
This will include the energy used to extract the raw material, produce, transport, sell, use and dispose of its products.

The Eco-design of Energy using Products (EuP) Directive will require manufacturers to consider eco-design when building new products. Currently studies are underway to define what measures are required, but the European Commission (EC) has yet to make decisions on new legislation that will impose eco-design criteria.
Typical examples of products that could be affected:

• Any mains powered product that has a standby mode – e.g. printers, scanners, etc.
• Any mains powered product that does not have an off-switch that disconnects the mains power.
• Lighting equipment – office, domestic and street (ballasts, bulbs, etc)
• Electric motors 1 – 150 KW
• Some external power supplies and battery chargers
• Printers
• Air compressors
• Vacuum cleaners

Article 16 of the Eco-design of Energy using Products (EuP) Directive calls on the European Commission to establish a working plan which will set out a list of indicative products that will be considered as priority candidates for implementing measures over a 3 year period.

At the outset there were more than 600 EuPs that fell within the scope of the Directive. After several iterations a list of 57 EuPs was defined, including sub groups that were excluded from the first 19 preparatory studies. This was further broken down into a priority list of 34 - 25 priority A and 9 priority B products.

When designing with the Energy using Products Directive in mind consider switch mode power supplies. Switch mode is more efficient - uses less power. Also switch mode can operate with a wide range of voltage whereas linear power supplies require one specific voltage. A laptop is switch mode and can be used in the UK at 240 VAC and in the USA at 110VAC.

Directive Decoder

As the European Commission (EC) announce details of their seventh consultation forum around the ECO design of Energy using Products (EuP) Directive (May 28th in Brussels) we take a look at their overview of this important directive. The emphasis is very much on the design stage of a product and, estimates a couple of years ago, anticipate potential energy savings of around 10% once Implementing Measures are in place.

The European Commission has published details of eco-design requirements in respect of the standby and off mode power consumption of electrical and electronic household and office equipment.

A preparatory study showed that products with standby and off mode are placed on the EU market in large volumes. It was estimated that 3.7 billion products had standby / off mode in 2005 corresponding to costs in electricity usage of €6.4 billion while actually in standby / off mode, or 47 TWh (Terra-Watt hours). By 2020 it is anticipated there will be 4.6 billion products. Clearly the environmental impact of electricity consumption in standby / off mode is significant.

Busy times at the minute as customers request detailed information around REACH Substances of Very High Concern.

Those of you who were involved in RoHS back in 2005 / 2006 may well remember the challenge of obtaining timely information around compliance from manufacturers.

Well, it will be no different with REACH.

How long will it take the manufacturer or importer to start the information flow down the supply chain?

Who knows but I suspect that there will be a great deal of managing expectations!

The European Commission (EC) has published draft proposals for a regulation covering ac induction motors and drives.

Key elements of the proposals are as follows:

With many studies well underway or completed during phase one of the Energy using Products (EuP) Directive up to 34 more were listed for possible future consideration. Based on the work by Epta, the Environmental Consultants based in Athens, a "working plan" has been agreed and the European Commission has announced that 17 more studies will be carried out in a similar way to the existing 20 followed by an impact assessment, discussion in the EcoDesign Forum and possible drafting of implementing measures.

Latest EuP Guide.

The 17 studies that have been announced and contracts awarded for 11:

RoHS2 and REACH have been the focus of attention for the last few months. However, 2009 will see momentum building around the Energy using Products Directive (EuP).

Six categories falling under phase one of the Energy using Products Directive now have regulations in force.

These are standby and off-mode losses, simple converter boxes for digital television, external power supplies and office, domestic and street lighting.

For details on the remaining 14 categories in phase one and the 17 under phase two refer to the recently updated attachment.

Latest EuP Guide

Directive Decoder

According to the excellent RE4view magazine produced by ERA Technology - Cobham Technical Services (click here for further details) the European Parliament has adopted the European Commission (EC) proposal to widen the scope of the Eco-design Directive 2005/32/EC to include energy related products. Until now the Directive has been limited to Energy using Products (EuPs) defined as products that consume energy during their use phase.

However, it is clear that many products have an indirect impact on the energy in use even though they do not consume energy themselves.

The EC mentions some examples including taps, showerheads, and double glazing where improvements in design could result in major energy savings.

Directive Decoder

The European Parliament has adopted the European Commission's (EC) proposal to widen the scope of the Eco-design Directive 2005/32/EC to include energy related products. Until now the directive was referred to as the Energy using Products Directive (EuP) that was limited to products that consume energy during use such as boilers, computers, televisions, industrial fans and light bulbs. The scope monitored energy efficiency of a product from the mining of the raw material right through to recycling at end-of-life.

However, many products have an indirect impact on the energy in use such as water using devices, taps and showerheads for example, and double glazing windows or insulating material.

Background

Light emitting diodes or LEDs are increasingly used for lighting applications and in displays. This trend is due to research into brighter and more energy efficient devices that are able to compete with fluorescent lamps that contain small amounts of mercury. LED lighting is often used in homes, offices and also in vehicles. Several computer manufacturers now offer laptops with LED displays instead of the standard liquid crystal displays (LCDs). A few LED televisions have also been launched recently. LED displays are more energy efficient than LCDs in laptop PCs because they do not require the conversion of the standard laptop battery voltages to the high voltages required by LCD backlights. LED lighting is still not as energy efficient as fluorescent lighting but researchers expect to be able to attain higher efficiency in the near future.

The development of LED lighting will affect EU legislation in the future in a variety of ways:

Thought for the day:

"We should push for further development of and rapid agreement on existing EU energy efficiency proposals over the next 5 years,

including improvements to the energy and environmental performance of products and buildings. The EU needs to provide its industry with clear, long term targets that take account of product development cycles and industry's ability to invest in the required technology"

Endorsed by Peter Mandelson

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

This article talks about the implementation of the requirements of European Union regulation 640/2009

Here are the regulation dates for motors (0.75-375 kW) put on the market in the EU:

16 Jun 2011: IE2 min. efficiency.
1 Jan 2015: for motors with rated output 7.5-375 kW - IE3 min. OR IE2+VSD.
1 Jan 2017: for motors with rated output 0.75-375 kW - IE3 min. OR IE2+VSD.

VSD = variable speed drive which greatly increases overall efficiency.