Commercial refrigeration: get ready for the energy label!

Appliances indicated as Lot 12 in the European Commission's Energy Directorate.

EuroShop is the largest trade fair world-wide for the retail industry and its partners. This year, it will take place from 16 to 20 February 2020 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Eurovent association and its certifying body Eurovent Certita Certification are attending the event and will be available for enquiries regarding legislation, standardization, certification and the overall development in the sector.

The seminar organized by Eurovent and entitled “European Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulations for commercial refrigeration equipment” is particularly relevant. It will be held on February 17 from 14:00 to 16:30 in a meeting room at the CCD / Ost entrance; and it will introduce the new eco-friendly design and energy labelling requirements that will come into force next year. Some of the topics on the agenda are hot issue in the present days, due to their contingency:

  • the product requirements under the new regulations;
  • the standardised test methods;
  • the EPREL database, the prospects for market surveillance and subsequent stages for the sector of commercial refrigeration.

As the Eurovent association points out, the seminar – attended by Veerle Beelaerts, policy officer at the European Commission and Pierluigi Schiesaro, director of research and development of Arneg and Chairman of the Eurovent Product Group “Commercial Refrigeration Equipment” – targets manufacturers as well as retailers and consultants, and aims at helping the sector understand the expected impact of the new regulations and what criteria one should consider while developing new projects. This is a point that Francesco Scuderi, deputy secretary of Eurovent, emphasizes: “The introduction of the energy label and the minimum Ecodesign requirements for the commercial refrigeration product group will have an impact not only on the producers, but also, and not to a lesser degree, on those who will purchase. This is why we believe it is crucial that consultants, resellers and eventually end-users of this category of products attend the seminar”.

March 2021: energy label on appliances for commercial refrigeration

On March 1st, 2021 the Ecodesign and Energy labelling Regulations will come into force for all appliances indicated as Lot 12 in the European Commission’s Energy Directorate, i.e. appliances for commercial refrigeration and intended for display and sale of fresh and frozen products. For this category of products, the need to comply with Ecodesign obligations and to affix a label is totally new.

For the manufacturers, this will translate in subjecting the appliances they put on the market to energy efficiency tests that will form the basis on which a) compliance with the minimum Ecodesign requirements will be verified and b) energy class for labelling will be determined.

What will this regulation mean to the buyers? First, each appliance will come with an

Francesco Scuderi

energy label (paper and/or digital) that will enable them to decide in an informed manner the purchase of one or the other appliance. “Be careful though! – explains Scuderi – The label is designed to push manufacturers to bring ever more efficient models to the market. It is therefore expected that the first two energy classes of the label – A and B – are initially empty, because there are no technologies at the moment on the market as efficient as to respect the parameters required by these two classes. Over time, they too will be occupied by new products“. Concretely then? “More specifically, a change of perspective is necessary. Those who buy a class C device in 2021 should be aware that what they are buying is the best that the market can offer at that moment. It will then be innovation and the evolution towards ever better appliances that will, over time, allow to have machines in class A or B available for purchase“. This is exactly the inherent mechanism of the energy label: to encourage manufacturers to climb the ladder, by placing increasingly efficient appliances on the market. Scuderi concludes: “It is key to understand this concept, in order to appreciate the real value of the machines that will be purchased“.

So, the invitation is for February 17, 2020 from 14:00 to 16:30 in a meeting room at the CCD / Ost entrance at Euroshop.

More information here: https://eurovent.eu