Initially established for household appliances, the European Commission revised the Energy Labelling Directive and the Ecodesign Directive in 2009. Both directives can now be applied to energy-related products, i.e. all goods impacting energy consumption directly or indirectly, thus potentially including windows. Both directives are part of the sustainable industrial policy of the EU whose main objective is to foster the uptake of environmental and energy efficient products in the internal market. While the eco-design directive's goal is to reduce overall environmental impacts of products throughout their lifecycles by removing worst-performing products from the market, the energy labelling directive aims to guide consumers towards more energy-efficient products, by way of label with an A to G scale to identify products' performance. Back in 2012, the Commission defined a list of energy-related products considered as priority for the development of implementing measures. Since windows have a significant potential to save energy once in use, they were recognised by the European Commission as an energy-related product and included in the list of priority products. A preparatory study meant to identify if an energy label and/or eco-design measures should be developed for windows was launched in July 2013 and is expected to be finalised in spring 2015. The Ecodesign preparatory study on window products will assess the viability, feasibility and effectiveness of eco-design and/or energy labelling measures in helping to grasp the energy saving potential of windows and will therefore help the European Commission define a policy proposal. The study will be at the heart of the discussions of the eco-design forum in spring 2015 when representatives of Member States will debate about what to do on windows. From the beginning, Glass for Europe provided input to the consultants to ensure that the study provides the right content to support the development of an energy labelling scheme. For example, Glass for Europe supports the introduction of at least 3 different climatic conditions in Europe. We also called for a robust and credible energy saving calculation method, which excludes external and uncontrollable factors which have the potential to undermine calculations. At this stage, the preparatory study seems to lean towards the development of a label hence the heavy work undertaken by Glass for Europe to ensure the best possible technical recommendations. After the publication of the final report in spring, the process will enter a new phase that will become more political.
