What Manufacturers Need to Know About Energy Efficiency Requirements in North America

Published February 16, 2010

The progression of energy efficiency requirements is enough to make your head spin, especially if you're a product manufacturer.

Understanding and keeping track of global energy efficiency regulations and program requirements can be a full-time job.

In North America, there have been several significant announcements in recent months that will impact many manufacturers that import products into Canada or are part of the Energy Star program.

Natural Resources Canada announced late last year it will begin regulating energy efficiency for consumer electronics.

For many years, NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency has regulated appliances, HVAC equipment, motors and other types of equipment. Now it has published bulletins to also regulate external power supplies, standby power of televisions, audio/video products, as well as many other product categories.

The proposed regulation is to become effective July 1, 2010, with a second tier of more stringent requirements coming January 1, 2013. The first tier requirements are not too difficult to achieve for most products. For instance, audio/video products need to consume less than 3W in standby mode, whereas Energy Star requirements are now 1W. However, come 2013, the NRCan-required standby power drops significantly.

Another notable change, which was more recently added to the proposal, is that manufacturers must also report the active mode power of televisions, even though there will be no set requirement to meet. This appears to indicate that NRCan may move to regulate active power in the future as well.

Now that NRCan is moving forward with these new product categories, product manufacturers also need to be aware that:

Regulations apply to all covered products that are imported into Canada.
They require independent, third-party testing of all such imported products.
All products must have a verification mark from a third-party certification body.
Anyone importing the products into Canada must meet specific customs reporting requirements.

More information on reporting requirements, verification and certification bodies that can perform testing is available from NRCan.

In addition to the new regulations in Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have recently announced some major changes to the Energy Star program.

What Manufacturers Need to

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