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The most ambitious energy efficiency standards compared

The CLASP compared MEPS requirements across ten of the world’s most carbon-intensive economies.

The Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Programme (CLASP) evaluated the stringency of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) requirements for six major appliance categories—lighting, air conditioners, refrigerators, electric motors, water heating, and space heating—across ten of the world’s highest greenhouse gas-emitting economies: Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Their report identifies economies with the most ambitious MEPS, and highlights opportunities for further policy intervention across all economies.

 

Best MEPS for air conditioners

 

Aligned with the current minimum standard in U4E’s model regulation, the authors defined the target for ambitious air conditioner MEPS at or above a cooling seasonal performance factor (CSPF) of 6.1 Wh/Wh for a split system air conditioner with 7 kW (24,000 Btu/h) cooling capacity. They found that China’s MEPS levels for cooling-only products meet U4E’s model regulation target.

The authors suggest that economies have the ability to enforce the same air conditioner MEPS as China, since most air conditioners are either produced in China or made from components sourced in China.

 

Best MEPS for household refrigerators

 

Aligned with the U4E’s model regulation, the authors defined the target for ambitious refrigerator MEPS at an annual energy consumption of 279 kWh/year for top-mount domestic refrigerator-freezers with a total volume of 400 L. They found that Canada, the EU, Japan, the UK, and US all meet U4E model regulation levels for refrigerators, with India just above the target by only 1 kWh/yr.

 

For more details on their results or methodology, please download the complete report on the CLASP website.

 

 

Figure. World’s best MEPS performance targets for air conditioners and household refrigerators (according to CLASP)

 

 

 

 

Source

Mavandad, S. and Malinowski, M., World’s Best MEPS: Assessing Top Energy Efficiency Standards for Priority Appliances, CLASP, 2022 https://www.clasp.ngo/research/all/worlds-best-meps/