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EcoDesign

Purpose of the legislation on EcoDesign

The eco design process relates to a framework directive adopted in 1992, which aims at reducing the environmental impact of “mass” products, especially their energy consumption. Eco design covers the energy consumption throughout the whole life cycle (manufacturing – in use – end of use) of products as well as the nitrogens oxides (NOx) emissions.

The eco design process is as follows:

    • In a first phase, preliminary studies identify which product families present a significant potential for improvement in their energy consumption
    • In a second phase, the products families identified in phase 1 are the subject of additional studies to establish the level energy efficiency improvement which can be achieved with the technologies available, at what costs and if the industry and the consumers can bear these costs.

Finally, as in the current case, legislation introduces energy efficiency requirements for products sold across the EU. Those mandatory minimum efficiency requirements will encourage those products’ manufacturers to improve product design with the view to lower the energy consumption in use.

Legal back ground

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