Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

Deutsche Energie-Agentur (DENA) National energy labelling program & Energy Star:
The Deutsche Energie-Agentur and the German Electricity Association (VDEW) are
currently working on the implementation of a national electricity labeling program as
required under the new EU law and incorporated in the amendment to the Energy
Industry Act (EnWG). The goal of this labeling system is to make products more
transparent to the consumer with the idea that the consumer will take energy efficiency
into account when purchasing a new product. Also, in 2002, the American Energy Star
Program was officially introduced into Europe as a voluntary label for energy-efficient
office equipment. The Energy Star Labeling Program provides unified labeling for
energy-efficient office equipment throughout Europe for the first time. In Europe it
applies to computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, scanners and multifunction
devices. The aim of Energy Star is to help private consumers and bulk buyers from
businesses and the public sector select energy-efficient equipment and motivate them to
buy such equipment. At the same time, the manufacturers of office equipment are
encouraged to give energy efficiency a higher priority in both the development and the
distribution of their products. The European Commission set up the European
Commission Energy Star Board (ECESB) to ensure the successful implementation of the
Energy Star System in Europe. This Board consists of national representatives from EU
Member States and relevant interested parties. Germany’s national representatives at
ECESB meetings are the Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the
Deutsche Energie-Agentur. Additionally, there has been recent discussion of
implementing a German “Top-Runner” program for electrical and electronic appliances,
based on the Japanese Top-Runner Program. However, the Program is still being
discussed, without any recent major steps towards putting it into practice. The DENA’s
well-known slogan “EnergieEffizienz lohnt sich!” (or “Energy Efficiency pays off!”) is
also leading to an increase in personal energy efficiency practices as more people realize
the long-term benefits – personal and public – of these initiatives.
European Commission’s GreenBuilding Project:
The European Commission’s program to improve energy efficiency in non-residential
buildings was put into force in early 2005. The two-year (2005-6) pilot phase of the
GreenBuilding project is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) Programme
and will be carried out by 13 European partners in 10 countries. DENA is responsible for
the program’s coordination in Germany. The aim of the project is to improve the energy
efficiency of non-residential buildings, with a focus on upgrading existing buildings.
Current obstacles to energy efficiency are to be addressed with particular emphasis on
dealing with the lack of information, awareness and knowledge of builders, building
owners and managers which discourages investment in energy-efficient building services.
The organizations and companies who take part in the Project do so on a voluntary basis,
and will be provided with an analysis of their building’s energy consumption and the
identification and implementation of measures to improve its energy efficiency. The ideal
candidates for the pilot project are buildings which are to be subjected to model
refurbishment over the next two years. Non-residential buildings such as office and
administration buildings or schools which have already been refurbished or have only just
been built can also be put forward as “Best Practice” GreenBuilding projects.
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