EUBAC

Chris Monson on the latest European legislation on labelling for energy efficient products

In 2008 commercial buildings will be legally required to produce energy performance certificates when they are constructed, rented or sold. Behind this new legislation is the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which is targeting energy use in commercial and domestic buildings across the EU.

While energy performance certificates have received a lot of attention in the press, there are also some behind-the-scenes developments taking place as a result of the EPBD. The Directive defines performance requirements for building services equipment such as boilers and air conditioning, to which manufacturers have responded with increasingly energy efficient kit. The EPBD places great emphasis on the overall energy efficiency of a building – how the HVAC systems operate as a whole. As a result of this, good building control performance is increasingly important.

The European Building Automation and Controls Association (eu.bac) was established by a group of European controls manufacturers, partly in response to the EPBD.  Eu.bac recognises how crucial building controls are to meeting the energy performance targets for buildings. The Association estimates that with optimised metering and control technology, energy efficiency of heating, ventilation and hot water systems in commercial buildings can be increased by up to 25%.

The main purpose of eu.bac is the collective representation of European controls manufacturers in quality assurance issues. The Association supports standardisation, testing, auditing, certification and marking.

EU directives on energy require a level of proof of the energy efficiency that can be achieved. This involves testing and certification. Eu.bac therefore set up a programme of certification aimed specifically at the controls sector, to offer assurance to specifiers and end users. Products certified under this programme carry the eu.bac mark.  The Association was very concerned to offer practical solutions to manufacturers seeking certification for their products on their potential to reduce energy consumption.

Eu.bac developed a Europe-wide quality and energy certification process, including a common test procedure which can be carried out by three recognised test laboratories: BSRIA in the UK; CSTB lab in France; and WSPLab in Germany.

As a first step in the certification process, eu.bac identified individual zone controllers as responsible for a high proportion of control of the final energy use in buildings. According to the Association: “The highest potential to save energy comes from the use of demand orientated, electronic single room controllers which monitor radiator/heating, fan coils, ceiling coolers and electric heaters.”

The requirements of these control devices and their accurate functioning are fixed in the European standard EN15500. Based on this standard, eu.bac awards products after they pass the tests at one of the independent testing institutes. Most importantly, eu.bac accreditation requires an inspection of manufacturing facilities, which gives the added assurance of product quality and consistency.

The eu.bac certification programme is open to all providers of building automation products. Interested organisations can apply for eu.bac certification through the Certification Management System which can be found online at www.eubacCert.eu.
At present, further tests for sensors, actuators, outside temperature compensated control equipment for water and electrical heating devices, and optimisers are being prepared. Certification will be available later in 2008.

A number of the eu.bac certified manufacturers are also members of the Building Controls Industry Association, which strongly supports certification which assures end-users of the performance and quality of the products they are using. We believe that the EPBD and other European legislation will encourage specifiers to look for certification as evidence of energy performance, and that building controls can contribute significantly to the drive to save energy in buildings.

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