E.U.’s EuP (energy using product) Initiative

The E.U., a bureaucracy that perhaps even overshadows our own, set a date of July 6, 2007, to put the directive in place. Its goal is “establishing a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements for energy-using products [EuP].”

EuP will require manufacturers to calculate the energy used to produce, transport, sell, use, and dispose of almost every one of its products. It will require that the manufacturer go all the way back to the energy used when extracting the raw materials to make its product, including all subassemblies and components. And in time, it will set limits on a product-by-product basis of how much energy can be used in a product’s entire lifecycle.

http://www.infoworld.com/4671

Part 2


This will actually be a cool thing, if there is a rating on each item, so that you could compare two washing machines, and see the total lifecycle "cost" (an item with a 400 has more impact than a similar item with a 350?). The cost (manpower, etc.) of implementing such a process could be horrendous.