Energy Labelling Research Articles

Power Consumption Assessment of Machine Tool Feed Drive Units

Numerous efforts have been made to assess and model the power consumption of machining process, which has led to many standards for energy labeling of machine tools. However, more investigation is required to improve the applicability of these standards because the energy patterns of machines vary widely with respect to the machine type, size, and configuration. Hence, it is aimed to develop a methodology to determine the power consumption characteristics of a wide variety of machine tools. This research focuses on the power consumption of feed drive units, which are largely varying components with respect to machine tool configurations. Two notable phenomena were observed during our experiments. First, the power consumption of an axis in the gravitational direction exhibited a different pattern from that along those of the other axes. Movement in the gravitational direction was investigated in more detail from the perspective of the machine tool configuration. Second, during multi-axis movement, no power correlation between different axes was confirmed. Regardless of the axis composition, no correlation was detected between the individual power consumption profiles of each axis. Elucidating the power consumption characteristics of feed drive units would contribute toward standardization and simplification of power measurement procedures.

Comparative life cycle assessment of electric and gas ovens in the Italian context: An environmental and technical evaluation

This paper aims to analyse and compare the environmental and technical performances of two domestic oven technologies (one powered by natural gas and one by electric energy) considering the Italian context, such as Italian social and food habits. These household appliances are subject to energy labelling and are the most diffused cooking systems along with hobs. This study was performed in accordance with the international standards ISO 14040/14044 and adopted the attributional LCA approach. The analysis is related to the functional unit “the baking of food, considering the Italian context and a lifetime of 10 years”. The analysis includes all phases of the life cycle except for maintenance and transport, which were considered negligible for this analysis. The materials and manufacturing phases necessary for the production of the two ovens were considered in the analysis, and the data were provided by the ovens' manufacturers. The products’ use phase was considered through the measurement of resources (both natural gas and electric energy) consumed during the cooking simulation by experimental tests that simulated a heating cycle of a standard load represented by a brick. The product end-of-life phase was considered in accordance with the current regulations and statistical data in this sector. The EcoInvent database was used as a reference for background data. The ReCiPe life cycle impact assessment method was used for the assessment of the environmental impact categories.This study shows the dominance, in terms of the environmental impact, of the electric oven with respect to the gas oven in every indicator considered in the analysis. In particular, the electric oven accounts has an approx. 3 times greater impact than the gas oven on the climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity and marine ecotoxicity impact categories, while for the ozone depletion, fossil depletion metal depletion and natural land transformation categories, the results are similar, with a slight dominance of the electric oven (approx. 2–5%). This finding is related to the use phase and results from the different energy carriers used and the time required for cooking in the two cases. Indeed, the nature of the energy carrier for the electric oven and the time required for cooking (based on the energy efficiency test) is longer compared to those of the gas oven. This result, which is clearly in favour of the gas oven in the Italian context, leads to the conclusion that the main contribution to the environmental load of the electric oven is the Italian electricity grid mix, which is mainly based on non-renewable sources. Therefore, this analysis depends on the geographic area of interest, and the results can significantly change if different contexts are analysed.

Producer’s Self-Declared Wind Energy ECO-Labeling Consequences on the Market: A Canadian Case Study

The demand for environmental labels is increasingly becoming important for consumers to differentiate products and to make an informed choice. This study reports the findings of a business case study in Nova Scotia (Canada) that demonstrates how renewable wind energy and wind labeling can extend the competitive advantage of a producer. By using qualitative case study techniques, the study generates evidence which suggests on the firm level that wind energy and labelling influences competitive advantage of firms, can dictate a premium price, can differentiate products, yet achieve a low-cost advantage. Wind labels also have the potential to drive the supply chain’s environmental value to the consumer as the end user by requiring the distribution chain to follow good environmental practices. On the consumer level, in terms of label information, whereby product qualities cannot be evaluated by a search prior to purchase or by experience after purchase, eco-friendliness of the product can take predominance. Not all consumers will buy eco-friendly eggs; instead, there are other factors that drive consumers, such as their opinions towards wind technology, consumer psychographics, personality, and other behavioural determinants and, hence, attract a strong niche market. Finally, for the trust in labels, though the producer does not have third party accreditation, the labels work for them, through the means-end chain analysis where egoistic and altruistic intentions persuade environmental behaviour. As such, this study highlights the probability that in principle, there appears to be an opportunity for wind labelling to be successful; in practice, wind labelling is bound to attract a particular niche market through differentiation strategies.

Energy Efficiency and Insulation Thickness According to the Compactness Index Case of a Studio Apartment Under Saharan Weather Conditions

Financial energetic problems oblige citizens to reduce the energy consumption. Accordingly, the recent research showed that major financial economies can be optimally achieved, by introducing some passive measures. The main objective of the current contribution is to investigate the impact of thermal insulation and compactness on energy efficiency. Following the assessment of the methodology, several input parameters were identified and economic insulation thicknesses were obtained. Finding revealed that the best effectiveness of solar gain has been observed for a better insulation and a good compactness, whereas a reduction of about 12.51% of energy needs can be achieved. Similar to the previous case, compactness has an attractive effect, provided that the building was well insulated. Furthermore, any variance cannot be occurred in economic insulation thickness by varying the building compactness. Unlike this remark, for a better compactness, a slight increase in the investment-return time has been noticed, following the energy bill reduction, which becomes more interesting. Hence, the comparative study averred that the previous passive concepts provide reduction in energy needs nearest 73.64%. Thus, reduction was nexus 82.17%, during cold season, and around 59.87%, in overheating period. As consequence, the studied structure type can be integrated in the buildings that have an energy label of “type C.”

Thermal comfort and energy related occupancy behavior in Dutch residential dwellings

Residential buildings account for a significant amount of the national energy consumption of all OECD countries and consequently the EU and the Netherlands. Therefore, the national targets for CO2 reduction should include provisions for a more energy efficient building stock for all EU member states. National and European level policies the past decades have improved the quality of the building stock by setting stricter standards on the external envelope of newly made buildings, the efficiency of the mechanical and heating components, the renovation practices and by establishing an energy labelling system. Energy related occupancy behavior is a significant part, and relatively unchartered, of buildings’ energy consumption. This thesis tried to contribute to the understanding of the role of the occupant related to the energy consumption of residential buildings by means of simulations and experimental data obtained by an extensive measurement campaign.

The impact of EU's energy labeling policy: An econometric analysis of increased transparency in the market for cold appliances in Denmark

In 2010 the EU decided to change the energy efficiency label for electrical appliances, so that the most effective appliances became more visible to consumers. We apply a Cointegrated Vector-Auto-Regressive (CVAR) model to assess the quantitative impact of this change on monthly sales (2005–2017) in the Danish markets for cold appliances of high and low efficiencies. The data support large effects with the expected signs. In particular, we find that the change increased sales of high-efficiency appliances by 55%, at the announcement, and by a further 42% when implemented. Sales of low-efficiency appliances were not affected by the announcement, but decreased, as a result of the implementation for online sales by 45%. These conclusions derive from the analysis of a well-specified VAR within which we take into account sample dependence, outliers and exogenous level shifts.

Analysis of the impact of energy efficiency labelling and potential changes on electricity demand reduction of white goods using a stock model: The case of Switzerland

This paper presents the development and application of a dynamic model which allows to quantify the changes in the number of white goods in stock, the related evolution of energy efficiency as well as the changes/projections of electricity consumption in the next 20 years using data from Switzerland. According to the “reference scenario” based on observed market trends the electricity demand of white goods is expected to decrease by 8% between 2015 and 2035. The analysis shows that this is the combined result of having more energy efficient appliances in the stock, a higher appliance ownership level, and an increased number of dwellings. The “maximum efficiency” scenario based on new technologies shows an electricity saving potential of white goods of 25%. These findings confirm that energy efficiency standards and labelling can be effective instruments for achieving energy and CO2 emissions reduction targets. The assessment for cost effectiveness indicates the current limited scope for economically viable energy efficiency improvements of white goods, while novel technological solutions are likely to expand the economic energy efficiency potential. Since white goods and their components are mass-produced and traded internationally, similar findings can be expected for other countries with comparable legislation (e.g. EU member states) but country-specific analyses are nevertheless recommended.

A design methodology for the virtual energy labelling of cooking ovens

Nowadays, the increasing of global climate change and warming is leading governments, consumers, and firms towards a low-carbon economy. A lot of research shows that about 75% of the environmental impacts related to energy-related products is due to the use phase. Therefore, energy-related products, such as household appliances, are responsible for the consumption and depletion of natural resources. The eco-design of household appliances is a necessary approach to analyze and reduce the environmental impacts related to these products, considering materials, efficiency, and energy consumptions. In Europe, as well in China and America, the eco-design is becoming an Integrated Product Policy to support the Energy Labelling of several energy-related and consuming products. This paper deals with a design methodology to support the eco-design of cooking ovens by the simulation of the product performance. Two simulation cases have been analyzed: the energy consumption, which is provided by EU regulations No 66/2014 and No 65/2014 and the baking test. Even if regulations only provide the energy consumption test, the baking test is necessary to analyze the functional quality of the product. Therefore, two levels of simulations are necessary to complete the eco-design approach of cooking ovens. The results show that the proposed methodological approach can reduce the time-to-market and enhance the design optimization from the early design phases.

Analysing the Energy Efficiency Renovation Rates in the Dutch Residential Sector

The housing stock has a major share in energy consumption and CO2emissions in the Netherlands. CO2emissions increased 2.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018. Higher CO2emissions were principally due to raised gas consumption for heating in the residential and service sector1. Energy efficiency renovations can contribute considerably in reducing energy consumption and achieving the EU and national energy efficiency targets. However, based on recent research2, the renovation rates in the Dutch social housing sector are not adequate to achieve the energy efficiency targets. Moreover, the deep renovation rates are almost negligible in this sector. The Dutch housing stock consists of the owner-occupied sector and rental sector (social housing and private rental houses) with shares equal to 69.4% and 30.6%, respectively. Considering the major share of the housing sector in energy consumption, the aim of the current study is to evaluate and compare the renovation rates in these sectors and the potential contribution of each one in achieving the energy efficiency targets. By renovation rate, we mean the percentage changes in the number of the identical houses moving from one energy label to the more efficient energy labels. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) databases are used to conduct the statistical analysis. The results show that the renovation rates are almost the same in these three sectors, despite the expectation of much higher renovation rates in the social housing sector.

Energy Consumption Evaluation of ZBLE, AOMDV and AODV Routing Protocols in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

Background / Objective: Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) creates a transient network that does not depend on any infrastructure or central administration mechanism. Such networks are made up of wireless mobile nodes. These nodes have to rely on batteries due to lack of stable power supply, so energy consumption is considered one of the main difficulties of this type of network. These nodes change their positions immediately, so the battery is depleted very suddenly, which affects network life. The best routing can be achieved by improving network quality, keeping high energy in mind by multipath routing in ad hoc networks using zone-based technology. The main objective of this research is to evaluate some popular performance metrics with energy efficiency. In this research, the zone-based leader Election Energy-Constructed AOMDV Routing Protocol (ZBLE) has been compared to the traditional routing protocols AODV and AOMDV, suggesting that the ZBLE protocol exhibits better results. Methods / Statistical analysis: In this paper, the routing protocol ZBLE based on zone-based technique is used. In this, the leader node is selected using the node's energy label, power analysis, and node position tracking function. The best route has been achieved by the leader node selection algorithm and power analysis. Conclusion: Most energy-related protocols are based on single-route routing, which has not been able to pay much attention to the accumulation of energy, and there have been attempts to make multi-way routing protocols also energy-based protocols, but also these protocols have been unable to make good use of energy. Through the NS2 simulator, network life is extended by reducing energy consumption by using a new energy-based multi-way routing protocol ZBLE. The results of this routing protocol performance evaluation suggest that the ZBLE protocol is superior to the AOMDV and AODV protocols. It is a zone-based technique that works by concentrating on the highest energy of nodes. Simulation results reported that the performance of ZBLE outperformed that of AOMDV and AODV. Applications / improvements: Zone-based technology can be easily used for extremely large networks. Ad-hoc network performance has been improved by improving network quality using this protocol.

Trends in the circular economy development in the European Union

The article examines current trends in the circular economy development in the European Union, which is justly considered to be the leader in this area. The author enlists priority sectors, which are targeted by the Circular Economy Action Plan adopted in 2015. The paper examines a European strategy for plastics, which has ambitious targets till 2030, and a Critical Raw Materials initiative that is important for the EU as for an importer of many commodities. The latter leads to such benefits as supply risks mitigation and savings in energy and water. European Union’s key instruments aimed at making products more sustainable are discussed. Specifically, Ecodesign and energy labelling, Green Public Procurement, Ecolabel, and Enhanced Producer Responsibility scheme are presented. The author touches upon financing of circular economy innovations and adaptation of the industrial base in the EU. Over the 2016–2020 period, more than 10 billion euro in public funding has been provided. Half of this amount is designated for the purpose of the waste legislation support. Horizon 2020, Europe’s largest research and innovation programme, is one of the circular economy financing tools. 257 circular economy related projects were selected as a result of three calls for projects proposals amounting to 1,45 bln. The author’s review shows the large scale of changes in the European Union driven by implementation of the circular economy principles, which is important for the region’s trade partners.

Indoor environmental quality evaluation in NZEB

The European Commission in 2010 accepted Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) are the main energy conservation legislative instruments for to reduce the energy consumption of new built and renovated buildings in Europe. The national regulation based on EPBD states that after the year 2016 only so called ultra-low energy buildings can be built. The next tightening in energy saving will come after 2021 (for commercial buildings after 2019), when only nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB) would be allowed to build. It means that these buildings must fulfil A0 category requirements by energy labelling. But what about the indoor environmental quality in objects like this? This article shows results of indoor environmental quality measurement in NZEB building. Indoor air temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration and air exchange rate had been measured. Except these parameters energy consumption from the grid and from the photovoltaic panel had been evaluated.

Impact of Implementation Energy Efficient Appliances in Palestinian Market

Recently, Palestine has been willing to improve its energy efficiency action plan and policies. As the Electrical demand for energy is increasing in Palestine, improving energy efficiency can be considered as an efficient way to achieve reductions in energy consumptions. In this respect, energy efficiency action plan and its strategies must be designed to overcome existing market barriers against using energy efficient appliances in residential and commercial sectors in Palestine. This study provides background on the benefits of stakeholders and steps needed to support energy efficiency standards and labeling in Palestine. Furthermore, this study attempts to predict the techno-economic impact of implementing high efficient electrical appliances in Palestine. Survey-based analyses from 300 households were conducted in 2019 to estimate residential sector electrical appliances usage, behavior and their knowledge in electrical appliances labels and standards, the study aims also to estimate the perception and willingness of Palestinian householders to shift towards more energy efficient choices. The study will focus on 8 electrical appliances that constitute a major share of the electricity used within households and commercial sectors in Palestinian market.

Energy performance of single family houses in Serbia: Analysis of calculation procedures

Energy certification of buildings in Serbia was introduced in 2011 and energy label depends on energy need for heating per unit floor area of heated space, calculated by the fully prescribed monthly quasi-steady-state method defined by ISO 13790. In the Republic of Serbia, most of families live in single-family houses built before the energy certification of buildings was introduced. Therefore, the estimation of energy performance of the existing buildings is important for labeling, and evaluation of energy saving measures and energy strategies to be implemented. This paper examines the applicability of monthly method defined by National legislation on the existing buildings stock in Serbia, by comparing it to the more accurate dynamic simulation method. Typical single-family houses are taken as a test case, since they are responsible for about 76% of energy consumption for heating. The results show that the dynamic simulation method estimates 21% to 54% higher energy need for heating, compared to the monthly method. Also, the monthly method estimates up to 13% higher savings by typical building envelope energy saving measures, compared to the dynamic simulation. This paper recommends improvement in procedures for calculation of building energy performance index to better assess energy consumption, effects of energy saving measures, and create solid background for developing and implementing of energy saving strategies.

True power consumption labeling and mapping of the health system of the Castilla y León region in Spain by clustering techniques

The latest revisions in April 2018 of the 2010/31/UE and 2012/27/UE Directives on Energy Efficiency and Energy Savings respectively, point out the need of the development of smart energy indexes for buildings with the aim to (i) supervise the energy consumption on the building sector -that currently represents up to one third of the total final energy consumption- and (ii) lead the appropriate actions to transform the current buildings stock to nearly Zero Energy Buildings and Positive Energy Buildings. From public managed buildings, the Health System is the first energy consumer with great difference with other government administration sectors, such as Education or General Administration. Moreover, the energy bill has great impact on the sustainability of the public health care system. However, very few real data were available to characterize the energy demand on public buildings, which are usually the most intensive energy consumers, and efficiency indexes were usually obtained from simulation results. Nevertheless, thanks to the deployment of Smart Metering systems in the last years, it is possible to access to the true energy demand profiles of hundreds of these buildings.In this paper, with three years historical monthly electrical energy consumption data from the health system of the region of Castilla y León in Spain -including hospitals, outpatient facilities, clinics and other medical institutions- and the application of data mining techniques, an end-use electrical energy analysis was conducted to cluster the building housing according to the energy consumption into several energy use intensity clusters and, then, an average value and a Reference Building Energy Index for each cluster is proposed. Thus, a true energy labeling of these buildings based on their distance to the Reference Building Energy Index is done and presented in georeferenced maps.

창호의 프레임 재질 및 개폐방식에 따른 창호 에너지소비효율등급제품 현황

창호의 프레임 재질 및 개폐방식에 따른 창호 에너지소비효율등급제품 현황

Are we moving fast enough? The energy renovation rate of the Dutch non-profit housing using the national energy labelling database

The existing housing stock plays a major role in meeting the energy saving targets set in the Netherlands as well as in the EU. Existing buildings account for 38% of the final energy consumption in the European Union (EU), and they are responsible for 36% of the CO2 emissions. Energy renovations in dwellings offer unique opportunities to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In this article, the renovation rates for the non-profit housing stock of the Netherlands are presented, based on the changes in the energy performance of 856,252 dwellings for the period of 2010 to 2014. The data necessary are drawn from a monitoring system that contains information about the energy performance of approximately 60% of all dwellings in the sector. The method used follows the changes of the dwellings’ physical properties and reported energy performance. The results show that although many energy improvements have been realized, they result in small changes of the energy efficiency of the dwellings. Deep energy renovation rates are very low. If this pace continues, the progress is too little to reach national and international policy targets. The renovation rates are not high enough and the trends seem difficult to reach.

Energy renovation rates in the Netherlands – comparing long and short term prediction methods

Energy renovation rates in the Netherlands – comparing long and short term prediction methods

The impact of policy on residential energy consumption

Due to the growing concerns about global climate change and energy dependence, many countries have introduced regulations targeting the energy efficiency of the residential sector. However, whether these policies have been effective in reducing the total residential consumption of energy is still unclear. In this paper, we analyze the impact of residential energy efficiency policies on household energy consumption across Europe for the period 1980–2016. We examine the electricity and non-electricity energy consumption separately, as these are generally used for different purposes (appliances and heating) by households and are subject to different energy efficiency policies. We focus on two distinct types of regulations – mandatory energy efficiency labels for household appliances and building standards. After controlling for county-specific effects and changes in income, energy prices, demography and climate conditions over our sample period, our results offer compelling evidence that both the energy labeling requirements for appliances and the stricter building codes lead up to lower residential energy consumption. According to our estimation results, we should expect a 0.24% reduction in residential electricity use after governments introduce a mandatory disclosure of energy labels for an appliance group that represent ten percent of households' electricity use. Similarly, given that U-values proxy the thermal quality of the new dwellings, we find that a 0.1 unit decrease in the U-value requirement triggers a lasting 0.28% annual decrease in residential non-electricity energy consumption. These results can help policymakers to shape future regulations targeted on reducing our energy use in the years to come.

Development of energy labels based on consumer perspective: Room air conditioners as a case study in Brunei Darussalam

For the past years, Brunei Darussalam has seen an increase in its electricity consumption with an average annual rate of increase of 3% per annum from the year 2011 to 2015. Like other developing countries with tropical climates, electricity consumption from air conditioning systems contributes a big part to this electricity consumption. The Energy Department of the Prime Minister’s Office is considering the implementation of energy label for air-conditioning system; to provide guideline for consumers to compare efficiencies of their systems, encourage manufacturers to improve the energy efficiency of their systems and ultimately, to reduce the overall energy consumption of the country. This paper proposes a suitable energy label for air conditioning system in this country based on an online survey. Data from the survey shall be analysed to come up with consumers’ preferred energy label with suggestions used for its improvement. This label is also suitable for other electrical systems without major modification.