skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Accelerating the Adoption of Second-Tier Reach Standards forApplicable Appliance Products in China

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/928435· OSTI ID:928435

The minimum energy efficiency standards program for household appliances in China was initiated in 1989. Since 1996, CLASP and its implementing partner, LBNL, have assisted China in developing 11 minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for 9 products and endorsement labels for 11 products including: refrigerators; air conditioners; clothes washers; televisions; printers; computers; monitors; fax machines; copiers; DVD/VCD players; external power supplies; and set-top boxes (under development). Before 2003, China's traditional approach to standards development involved small increases in efficiency requirements for implementation within 6 months of a standard's approval. Since 2003, China has adopted a new approach in setting MEPS. This new approach involves the development of two tiers of standards--one for initial implementation and a second tier at a more aggressive level of energy efficiency for implementation three to five years later. The second-tier standard is also referred to as a 'reach standard'. Reach standards have now been developed in China for: color TVs; refrigerators; air conditioners; and external power supplies. This report is presented in five sections. After the introduction in Section 1, Section 2 analyzes the distribution of the efficiency of refrigerators and air-conditioners in China based on data collected by the China Energy Label Center for the mandatory energy information label program. The results provide an assessment of the adoption of reach standards for these two products. Section 3 summarizes on-going collaborations with Shanghai related to early local adoption of reach standards, and presents both the impact and an analysis of barriers to the local adoption of reach standard for air-conditioners. Section 4 offers suggestions for local governments on how to move forward in adopting reach standards in their localities and concludes with a summary of the results and a plan for developing local capacity in order to achieve success in adopting reach standards.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Director, Office of Science
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
928435
Report Number(s):
LBNL-62877; TRN: US200812%%484
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English