When it pertains to initiatives on climate change and control of emissions, the European Union is one of the most proactive governmental blocks as they go on with setting standards for energy efficiency. Recently, the EU issued new rules that will help ensure energy efficiency by requiring all industrial, commercial, and household machines and appliances to have labels displayed. As part of the major roster change, this is to ensure that energy efficiency will be a top priority to help commercial agenda move forward.
The rules on energy efficiency issued by the European Parliament insist that all building that are new and constructed after 2020 should have to be powered by renewable energy sources. Buildings account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gases emitted and it has long been recognized that stringent action should be taken to apply energy efficiency rules for new building stock.
The EU has been one of the most proactive governmental blocks pertaining to the war against climate change and in controlling emissions, continuously setting high standards of energy efficiency. They have recently issued new energy efficiency rules that expand the need to display labels on industrial, commercial and household appliances and machines. This is part of a sweeping roster change, aimed at ensuring that energy efficiency is at the top of the commercial agenda going forward.
Since buildings have a lifespan of approximately 50 years, the environmental impact should not be underestimated. Renovation and retrofitting can only go so far and new emphasis is being placed on sustainable efforts during the process of construction, as well as during the design phase. The European Union’s energy efficiency rules dictate that all buildings made after 2020 will conform to this philosophy.
The European Parliament is convinced that education is paramount when it comes to achieving high energy efficiency standards and as such, labels must now be attached to energy consuming products for industrial or commercial use across the Union. Windows and framework must also be appropriately labeled, so that users can see how much energy they are responsible for and can choose wisely, in advance.
If consumers, individuals or corporations are in possession of all the right information, they can choose to include appliances that work well according to their sustainability objectives. Each appliance or asset must perform with ultimate energy efficiency in the “carbon era” of tomorrow, or the user will be responsible for additional fees in one way or another.
The concept of carbon taxation or “cap and trade” restrictions is not new in the European Union, as their Energy Efficiency Scheme has been in place since 2005. Such concepts are beginning to become clear in the United States, where the corresponding legislation is already being considered, which will most probably include a cap and trade and taxation options.
In order to provide detailed information pertaining to energy use and carbon emissions, procedures and systems need to be implemented at the boardroom level for each organization. Quite apart from greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency drives savings, which every organization should be focusing on these days.
Around the world, governments tend to agree that we must aim for as much as an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as based on 1990 levels, by the time we get to 2050. If not, considerable and detrimental change could be caused to climate and weather patterns. This level of change will, nevertheless, call for consistent and urgent action and implementation of new energy efficiency rules, everywhere.