Legislation, Compliance, Building Certifications & Standards

The F-Gas Directive (EU) 517/2014 has a major impact on the air conditioning industry. It steers the market towards low-carbon HVAC systems. Water-based air conditioning systems with low refrigeration charges and/or refrigerants with low GWP values can be considered particularly future-proof.

ErP 2021 EU Regulation 517/2014, also known as the "F-Gas Directive", provides for a gradual phase-down of the CO₂ equivalent of the refrigerants introduced into the EU market by 2030. CO₂ equivalent is the product from the amount of refrigerant in kg and its global warming potential (GWP).

To meet the 21% quota in 2030 while continuing to meet the demand for refrigerants in the EU, it is mandatory to reduce the average GWP of the refrigerant mix placed on the market. High-GWP refrigerant is becoming scarce in the market, which led to a significant increase in the price of these refrigerants after the first major quota reduction at the beginning of 2018. Refrigerant with low GWP is not affected by such price jumps and are therefore considered to be particularly future-proof. Nevertheless, there are no prohibitions for conventional refrigerant R-134a (GWP 1430) or R-410A (GWP 2088) used in air conditioning technology when used in chillers or heat pumps. They are still used as a standard in some products for non-flammability. This includes, for example, indoor equipment such as water-cooled chillers, close control units for cooling server rooms or small air-cooled chillers and heat pumps up to 40 kW with very small refrigeration charges.

The Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) for energy-related product is a vital part of the European Union’s framework that allows the European Commission to develop regulations for product used in buildings to the commitment of reaching the “2020 goals”

• 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
• 20% share of renewable energy
• 20% better energy efficiency

At FläktGroup we focus on developing energy efficient products and solutions that are beneficial for occupants, property owners and for our shared environment. We welcome these initiatives and many of our products are not just ErP compliant today – they are already futureproof.

Following the Kyoto protocol the European Union has set a target to reduce energy consumption. For buildings the target is set at a 20% reduction by 2020.

The 160 million buildings in the EU use over 40% of Europe’s energy and create over 40% of its carbon dioxide emissions. And unfortunately that proportion is increasing.

Therefore the Commission of the European Union has issued The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Reducing the energy use of buildings without compromising the indoor environment and services is the key challenge for Europe.

This directive allows for the European Commission to set regulations to ensure that environmental targets can be met.

The Commission Regulation (EU) No 327/2011 is related to Ecodesign requirements for fans driven by motors with an electrical input power between 125W and 500kW.

The first phase (tier 1) came into force on the 1st January 2013. A second phase (tier 2) of tighter efficiency grades came into force on the 1st January 2015. A third phase (tier 3) is scheduled for late 2020 or early 2021.

The regulation sets out minimum efficiency grades for fans within its scope being placed on the market for the first time. The efficiency grade is based on the electrical input power and therefore encompasses both the fan efficiency and the motor efficiency.

Any fan placed onto the market for the first time (usually by the manufacturer) must comply with these efficiency grades. This will not affect the onward selling by a distributor, stockiest etc.

It was therefore illegal to introduce a non-compliant fan into the market after 2012.

The efficiency grade of the fan is clearly visible on the product data plates/labels, technical documentation, free access websites of manufacturers of fans, etc. as set out in the regulation.