Energy Labelling Review - Options for Improvements of Labels

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Summary

This report was commissioned by NAEEEC and was prepared by R.A. Brown & Associates. This public comment draft was released in January 1998. A brief summary of the report is provided below.

Household appliance energy labels provide purchasers with information on energy consumption in use. The purposes of labelling are:

to encourage purchasers to choose appliances that meet their requirements with the least energy consumption,
to afford an incentive for manufacturers and importers to supply more efficient products.

Labels best achieve those purposes when they provide pertinent and accurate information in a way that is effective in influencing purchasers' choices.

This consultancy is commissioned to develop a set of options that would improve the pertinence and accuracy of information provided on labels. The terms of reference are presented in Attachment A. It is complementary to a consultancy by Neil Patterson. He addresses labelling from a consumer perspective.

Options for improvement are presented together with the reasons these were developed and an analysis of the advantages and limitations of each. They were identified after consultation with persons and organisations listed in Attachment B. An attempt has been made to address all relevant issues raised during those consultations.

After a description of current labels, the paper contains a discussion of alternative energy labelling concepts, a discussion of some broad information quality issues and finally a set of specific: options for improvement of information on the labels of each type of appliance.

This page last modified 02 February 2009