The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has recently published a study about the importance of upgrading the standards used to define energy label of some home appliances. “Close the reality gap – ensuring a fair energy label for consumers” is the title of the publication that presents some guidelines for identifying weaknesses and recommending solutions to improve critical aspects of test standards for televisions, refrigerators and washing machines. The project born to reinforce consumers trust in the energy label that relies on European harmonized test standards (EHTS) for efficiency measurement. These test methods and processes are developed by the European standardization body CENELEC, that received the European Commission mandate. The observation of the current used method has shown, according to EEB, four principal concerns. The first regards the differences in energy consumption between EHTS and ones that reflect real world usage. The second is about the fact that EHTS do not keep pace with technological progress. Then, the European Environmental Bureau adds also, as third and fourth concerns, the ambiguities in EHTS that undermine reproducibility of parameters measured and confusing or non-existent consumer information. All the study can be download on www.eeb.org website.
