Although supported by the scientific community and increasingly widespread in industry, the transition from a linear to a circular economy will be hampered if it is not accelerated through adequate policy measures. Therefore, integrating circularity into existing policies becomes imperative. Within the European Union (EU), the Ecodesign framework has been identified as one of the key legislative tools to foster products' circularity, as it makes it legally possible to transform circularity principles into requirements, e.g. resource use, reparability, durability and recyclability. For the definition of requirements and their level of stringency, an assessment of economic and environmental impacts needs to be conducted. So far, this assessment has been supported by the EcoReport tool, to perform a simplified Life Cycle Assessment. The aim of this paper is to present how the EU is integrating circularity in the assessments that support product policymaking and to describe how the EcoReport tool is being adapted. Using an oven as a case study, the differences compared to the previous version of the tool are identified and discussed. The implications in terms of data requirements and results are presented. A more detailed and time-consuming process for data collection allows for more robust results of the impacts all over the life cycle. Moreover, guidance on how to further integrate circularity strategies, specifically on closing and slowing resource loops, is proposed in order to fill the gaps in the current assessment. However, a balance needs to be maintained, as adding complexity to the assessments could delay the policymaking, hindering the timely development of measures. The paper aims not only to draw lessons from the EU's transition experience but also to advocate their applicability and adaptability to shape policy frameworks across other regions and countries. Life cycle assessment (LCA) • Simplified LCA • Circularity • Ecodesign • EcoReport tool • Methodology for Ecodesign of Energy-related Products (MEErP)

Air source heat pumps (HPs) are a highly efficient space heating technology that have been used for decades; however, there is a scarcity of published field data characterizing their performance. This research utilizes data collected from pre-commercial residential cold climate HPs developed for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge. This research investigates defrost mode specifically, which is necessary for optimal heating functionality when frost forms on the outdoor unit. This paper presents findings from 22 residential sites concerning the characteristics of defrost operation, its impact to performance, and a categorization of various strategies employed by the units. The results suggest that defrost mode becomes more prevalent at higher humidities and at outdoor air temperatures from 10 °F to 30 °F (-12.2 °C to -1.1 °C). None of the strategies for defrost were observed to have significant impacts to average room temperature throughout the homes (median impact all less than 1 °F [0.6 °C]). However, the units that ran the indoor supply fan during defrost (except the ones that simultaneously supplied 10 kW or more of auxiliary heat) were associated with low supply air temperatures during defrost mode (median values less than 60 °F [15.5 °C]), which could have comfort impacts during winter to occupants especially near supply vents. It was observed that many of the units were initiating defrost cycles at times where there did not appear to be a need for it, either due to a fixed interval feature or control settings that did not consider frost formation or impact to performance. Although these units are pre-commercial and may undergo modifications before entering the market, the findings underscore the importance of developing a deeper understanding of the energy and comfort impacts of defrost mode strategies for improving HP performance.