Closing all roads to CirCumvention of eu eCodesign and ...

Horizon 2020 programmeProject acronym: ANTICSSProject full name: ANTI-Circumvention of Standards for better market Surveillance

Closing all roads to CirCumvention of eu eCodesign and energy labelling legislation and standards FINAl rePorT

Document published: 15 september 2021organisation name of lead author of this document: oeko-institut e.v.Project coordinator: Kathrin graulich

3final report – september 2021

table of Content

1 / summary: Key results at a glance 5

2 / aim and importance of the antiCss project 8

3 / Where circumvention may happen: scope and model selection 10

4 / beyond defeat devices: a broader understanding of circumvention and jeopardy effects 12

5 / Tracingcircumvention:Theneedfor‘modified’testprocedures 15

6 / from practice: antiCss results of laboratory testing 17 6.1/Dishwashers–specificloadinginstructions 19

6.2/Washingmachines–specificoptimisationatfullandhalfratedcapacity 20

6.3/Ovens–volumemeasurementwithoutshelfguides 21

6.4/Ovens–automatictemperaturereductionfunction 22

6.5/Refrigeratingappliances–screenswitch-offfunction 24

6.6/Televisions–automaticbacklightreductionfunction 25

7 / from individual models to a general risk: basic behaviours and gateways to circumvention 27

8 / What is lost: impacts of circumvention 28

9 / What we achieved: antiCss contributions to anti-circumvention 31

10 / the way forward: role and responsibilities of relevant actors 34 10.1/Industryandproductmanufacturers 34

10.2/Policymakersandstandardisationorganisations 35

10.3/MarketSurveillanceAuthoritiesandtestlaboratories 36

11 / still to do: further need for research 38

Contacts 40

ThisprojecthasreceivedfundingfromtheEuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchandinnovationprogrammeunderGrantAgreementNumber785122.Thesoleresponsibilityforthecontentofthisdocumentlieswiththeauthors.ItdoesnotnecessarilyreflecttheopinionoftheEuropeanUnion.NeithertheCINEAnortheEuropeanCommissionareresponsibleforanyusethatmaybemadeoftheinformationcontainedtherein.


abbreviations

adCo AdministrativeCooperationGroups

antiCss Projectacronym:Anti-CircumventionofStandardsforbettermarketSurveillance

Cold Householdrefrigeratorsandfreezers(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

Cv circumvention

disH Householddishwashers(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

drier Householdtumbledriers(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

eC EuropeanCommission

eCo nameofaprogramme,e.g.indishwashers

ed Ecodesign

eei EnergyEfficiencyIndex

el Energylabelling

en EuropeanStandard

eu EuropeanUnion

faQ FrequentlyAskedQuestions

gWh gigawatthour

Heaters Spaceheaters/air-to-waterheatpumps(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

iCsms internet-supportedinformationandcommunicationsystemforthepan-Europeanmarketsurveillanceoftechnicalproducts

ieC InternationalElectrotechnicalCommission

kg kilogram

km kilometre

kWh kilowatt-hour

msa MarketSurveillanceAuthority

ngo non-governmentalorganisation

oven Ovens(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

raC Roomairconditioners/air-to-airheatpumps(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

t tons

tJ Terajoule

tv Televisions(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)

W watt

WasH Householdwashingmachines(productcategoryanalysedinANTICSS)


1 / summary: Key results at a glanCe

aim and importance of the antiCss projectTheEuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchand innovationprogrammefunded in2018-2021theprojectANTICSS – Anti-Circumvention of Standards for better market Surveillanceconductedby19partnersofeightcountries,comingfromresearchorganisations,EnergyAgencies,MarketSurveillanceAuthorities(MSAs),testlaboratoriesandNGOs.Triggeredbythedieselscandal,inwhichvehiclescontainedacertaindefeatdevicethatguaranteedcompliancewithemissionlimitsduringthetestconditionswhileemissionsinpracticeweremuchhigher,themainobjectiveoftheANTICSSprojectwasathoroughinvestigationonwhethersuchmanipulationsarealsopossibleunderEUecodesignandenergylabellinglegislation,includingcapacitybuildingandmitigationmeasures.

Where circumvention may happenManipulation of products or test instructions (circumvention) as well as exploitation of loopholes andweaknessesofregulationsandstandards(jeopardyeffects)toreachmorefavourableresultsspecificallyinthetestsituationalsohappensunderEUecodesignandenergylabellinglegislation.Inprinciple,anyoftheproductcategories covered by ecodesign and/or energy labelling regulations could be affected. ANTICSS analysed8 productcategoriesinmoredetailwherein18suspectcases,eitherhintsforcircumventionbehavioursorjeopardyeffectsbecameapparent.Amongthesameproductcategories,24modelsweretestedbyANTICSSinlaboratoriesand6ofthemshoweda kindofcircumventionbehaviour.

beyond defeat devices ANTICSSclearlyshowsthatcircumventioncannotbeachievedonlybyautomatic detection of the test situation and alteration of the product performance specifically during testingasalreadydefinedandprohibitedinsomeEU ecodesignandenergylabellingregulations.StickingstrictlytothatdefinitionwouldrestricttheMSAcontrastactionsagainstanyformofcircumvention.MostcasesdetectedinANTICSSrefertoa pre-set or manual alteration of the product affecting the performance or resource consumption during testing. Especiallyageneralreferencetofollowing manufacturer’s instructionsgiveninsomestandardsopensthedoorforpossiblemisuse:manufacturersmayrequirethatspecifictestinstructions,preparationsorpre-treatmentsoftheappliancesareusedspecificallyonlybythetestlaboratoriesthathavenocomprehensiblejustification(e.g.technicalorsafetyreasons),butareaimedatachievingmorefavourableresultscomparedtootherproductsthatdonotfollowsuchinstructions.Insomecases,thespecificproductinstructionsmayalsobeaddressedtobothtestlaboratoriesandconsumers,withthefavourableresultsachievedbothinthetestsituationandduringconsumers’usage,butforthelatteronlytheoreticallyorin(extremely)infrequentsituations.Inthissituation,still,thedesignoftheproductorthetestinstructionsseemtobefinalisedtoreachmorefavourableresultsinthetestsituation.ANTICSSclassifiedthosecasesasjeopardy effectsandtestedmodelswiththesetestresultsasborderline to circumvention.


Inothercases,pre-setpossibleoperationalmodesorfunctionsofproductsmayleadtoajeopardyeffectifthefunctionreducedtheenergyconsumptionwhichisfullytakenintoaccountintheharmonisedstandardtestsbutisconsideredrarelyapplicabletoreallife.Forexample,TVsthatdetectfastchangingcontentandreactwithabacklightreductiontobetterfollowrapidscenechangesand/ordepictingalargeamountofmotionsuchassportsprogrammesthatareconsideredbysomeexpertsasalmostneverbroadcastinreallife.Orrefrigeratorswiththedisplayofacontroller,providingadigitalclockactivatedeachtimethedoorisopenedanddisabledafter24hwithoutdooropenings.Thisfunctionsavesenergywhentheconsumerisabsentforaholidayperiod,butthedisplayisalwaysactivatedindailyuseoftheappliance.Thedeclaredenergyconsumptionmeasuredwith the digital clock deactivated (as captured by the specific test conditionswhich does not include anyopeningofthedoors),representsthemostefficientmodeoftheapplianceandisnotprovidingagoodproxioftheactualuseandenergyconsumptionduringreallife.The ANTICSS project provided also a clear delimitation of circumvention and jeopardy effects from non-compliance,useofgoldensamples,productsdesignedforbeingoutofscope,smartproductsingeneralaswell as software updates. In addition, ANTICSS has also clarified that circumvention and jeopardy effectsshouldnotbeconfusedwiththefactthatstandardsmaynotalwaysreflecttypicalconsumeruse,i.e.missingrepresentativenessofstandards,andfor thisreasonthevaluesmeasuredunderreal-lifeconditionsmaybedifferentfromtheclaimedperformances.

What is lost AccordingtoANTICSS,thediscoveredactsofcircumventionandborderlinetocircumventionintheproductcategoriesofwashingmachines,dishwashers,ovens,refrigeratingappliancesandtelevisionscouldsumupfrom395TJ(inthelowestoptionofthemore realistic scenario)to5,982TJ(inthemoretheoreticalextensive scenario)ofpotentialprimaryenergysavingsthatcouldbepotentiallylosteachyear,correspondingto13,300upto201,800tonsofCO2equivalents.Overthetotallifespanoftheappliancesthiswouldamounttoaround2.4 milliontonnesofCO2equivalents.Nottoforgetfurthersevereimpactsofcircumvention:marketdistortions,unfaircompetitionamongmarketeconomicactors, lossofreputationfor individualmanufacturersorentireindustriesaswellaslossofconsumers’trustintheoveralleffectivenessofEuropeanlegislationandstandards.

tracing circumventionWhentestedaccording to the testconditiondefined in theharmonisedstandards,atfirstglanceaproductappearstocomplywithallrequirements.However,thisisbecausetheproductitselforitssettingshavebeenmanipulated,i.e.thetestresultsareinfluencedinsuchawaythattheybecomemorefavourableofwhattheywouldbewithoutanymanipulation.Forthisreason, it israther impossibletodetectcircumventionthroughlaboratorytestingunderharmonisedstandardsspecifications.OneofthemostimportantfindingsoftheANTICSSprojectistheneedforanewapproachforcomplianceverification, able to specifically address circumvention suspicions. The main characteristics of this newprocedureproposedbyANTICSSisthedevelopmentof‘modified’measurementmethods:onlytheparameter(s)ofthestandardtestconditionsconsideredpronetoorundersuspectofmanipulationwereslightlyvaried.Atthesametime,themodifiedtestmethodswerestilldesignedtobeascloseaspossibletothemethodsinharmonisedstandardswiththeaimofensuringcomparabilitybetweenthetwosetsofmeasurementresults.Infact,onlyunderthecomparabilityofthetwomethodsaninexplicablylargevariationinameasurementresult(s)canbeconsideredasanindicationofapossiblecircumventionbehaviourofthetestedproduct.


the way forwardTocloseallroadstocircumvention,themainrecommendationfromANTICSStoEUpolicymakersandEuropeanStandardisationOrganisationsareto: extendthelegaldefinitionofcircumventioninecodesignregulationsandtheframeworkenergylabelling

regulationtocover–andthereforeforbid–alsotheothersituationsencompassedintheANTICSSdefinitionofcircumvention:(i)pre-setormanualalterationoftheproduct,affectingperformanceand/orresourceconsumptionduringtestand(ii)pre-setalterationoftheperformancewithinashortperiodafterputtingtheproductintoservice;

specifyinharmonisedstandardstheconditionsforthesettinganduseofmanufacturer’sinstructionsforlaboratorytesting,andclarifythattheirmisuse,i.e.theuseofsuchinstructionsforaspecificset-upoftheproductinordertoachievemorefavourabletestresultsisforbidden;

specifyunderwhichconditionsmodifiedtestmethodsaimedatindicatingthepresenceofcircumventionarelegallyusablebyMarketSurveillanceAuthoritiesduringthecomplianceverificationofproductsandconstitutethelegalbasisforaneventualenforcementactionagainstcircumventingmodels;and

regularlyanalysetheapplicationoflegislationandstandardstoidentifyloopholesandotherweaknessesthatmayleadtojeopardyeffectsormightevenfacilitatecircumvention.

further need for research EvenifalothasalreadybeenachievedbytheANTICSSprojectthereisstillsomefurtherneedforresearch: Furtherfinetuningofthedefinitionofcircumvention,especiallythespecificationofthetypesofpre-set

ormanualalterationoftheproductthatshouldbeconsideredasacircumvention. FurtherdevelopmentoftheANTICSSclassificationofcasesandmodels,especiallythecategorisation

andconsequencesofjeopardyeffectswithtestedmodelsresultingintoborderlinetocircumvention. Furtherdevelopmentofmodifiedtestmethods(e.g.randomisedtestpatterns)includingtheassessment

oftheirreproducibilityandrepeatability,andthedefinitionof‘circumventiontolerances’. ‘Resilience check’ of current standards, i.e. the analysis of which of the test parameters could be

randomisedorslightlymodifiedwithoutinfluencingthetestresultsfortheregulatoryrequirements. Analysisoflatestlegislationandstandardsfor(new)loopholesandweaknessesthatmightfacilitate

circumvention,includingtheanalysisoffurtherproductcategoriesnotyetinfocusofANTICSS. Establishingaregularcommunicationorcollaborationplatformengagingallrelevantstakeholdersto

exchangeexperiencesoncircumvention.


2 / aim and importanCe of tHe antiCss proJeCt

Ecodesign legislation sets mandatory minimum energy efficiency requirements for many products on theEuropeanmarket. The indication of the energy efficiency and consumption on the energy label alongwiththe functionalperformancemakes iteasier forconsumers tochooseenergy-efficientandmoreperformingproducts.TheecodesignproductspecificregulationsunderDirective2009/125/ECcovermorethan25productgroups, including household appliances, lighting, heating and air-conditioning equipment, information andcommunicationtechnologiesand,increasingly,industrialequipment.TheEuropeanCommissionestimatesthatthesetwopolicyinstrumentstogetherhavecontributedtoabouthalfoftheenergyefficiencytargetfor2020.Consumersalsobenefitfromtheregulations:havinginstalledmoreefficientandperformingappliancesintheirhouseholds,benefitofareducedenergybill,loweringthewaterconsumption.Ontheotherhand,theEuropeanCommissionestimatesthat10-25%ofproductsputontheEUmarketdonotfullycomplywithenergyefficiencylabellingregulationsandaround10%ofpotentialenergysavingsmaybelostduetonon-compliance1.AccordingtotheSpecialReportEU action on ecodesign and energy labelling: important contribution to greater energy efficiency reduced by significant delays and non-compliance of the EuropeanCourtofAuditorsthiswouldroughlycorrespondtothefinalelectricityconsumptionofSwedenandHungarycombined2.Thereasonsfornon-complianceincludeamissingorincorrectenergylabel,non-compliancewithinformationrequirements,aswellasincorrectclassificationoftheenergyclass.While reasonsfornon-compliancewiththerequirements,andthepossible remedialmeasureshavealreadybeenwellanalysed,the issueofcircumventionofstandardsandrequirementsoftheecodesignandenergylabellinglegislationthroughmanipulatedtestresultshasonlyfewyearsagostartedtoreceiveduepoliticalattention.Triggeredbythedieselscandal,inwhichvehiclescontainedacertaindefeatdevicethatguaranteedcompliancewithemissionlimitsduringthetestconditionswhileemissionsinpracticeweremuchhigher,theinvestigationonwhethersuchmanipulationsarealsopossibleunderotherEUlegislationswasenvisaged.

1 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MeMo_19_15962 https://www.eca.europa.eu/lists/eCADocuments/Sr20_01/Sr_ecodesign_and_energy_labels_eN.pdf

ANTI-CIRCUMVENTION OF STANDARDS FOR BETTER MARKET SURVEILLANCE

ABOUT THE PROJECT PROJECT ACTIVITIES CONTACTS LANGUAGE SECTIONS



LOGIN

ANTICSS project to be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference on June 6th, 2018 The project actions and achievements will be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference in Brussels, on June 6th. The project will be pre-sented within the " Effective Market surveillance for large industrial products as a contribution to overall energy efficiency and energy savings in the EU" presentation.

ANTICSS Focal point meeting in Italy: 11 May 2018The second national focal point meeting of the project in Italy will take place on May 11, 2018 in Milano.

ANTICSS project to be presented at Fan 2018 conference The project activities will be presented at the international FAN 2018 conference, organised on April 18.–20., 2018 in Darm-stadt, Germany.

TEAM AND CONTACTS

ADVISORY BOARD

HELPDESK

PROJECT INTRODUCTION

FAQ

NEWSLETTERS

EVENTS DOCUMENTS AND DELIVERABLES

NEWSLETTERSUBSCRIPTION LOGIN

ANTICSS ON TWITTER #10-05-2018#22:25ANTICSS FOCAL POINT MEETING IN ITALY: 11 MAY 2018, THE SECOND NATIONAL FOCAL POINT MEETING OF THE PROJECT IN ITALY WILL TAKE PLACE ON MAY 11, 2018 IN MILANO.



Project introduction PROJECT NEWS

MAY 6TH, 2018

ANTICSS project to be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference on June 6th, 2018 The INTAS project actions and achievements will be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conferen-ce in Brussels, on June 6th. The project will be presented within the " Effective Market surve-illance for large industrial products as a contri-bution to overall energy efficiency and energy savings in the EU" presentation.

MAR 6TH, 2018


JAN 6TH, 2018



FAQ

NEWSLETTERS

EVENTS

DOCUMENTS AND DELIVERABLES


ANTICSS objectives are to assess and define "circumvention" in order to achieve a better product positioning in relation to EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards; inclu-ding clear delimitation from other effects to facilitate unambiguous public communication. Its aims are also to collect, analyse and learn from cases of circum¬vention by literature research and dedicated expert interviews, as well as analysing existing EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and standardisation for possible loopholes. The potential relation between circumvention and "smart" products with specific embedded software is another issue addressed by the project. From these findings, conclusions how to better detect and prevent future circumvention will be derived; assessing impacts 'if' and 'how much' energy consumption and/or functional performance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention by conducting appli-ance testing. Project’s further objectives are to define alternative test procedures or check lists with the aim to by-pass any possible measurement circu-mvention. Based on the results, ANTICSS will provide practical capaci-ty building measures for key actors of market surveillance and test laboratories, support communication and collaboration platforms between major stakeholders and provide policy recommendations for policy makers and standardisation bodies to prevent future circum-vention under EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling. ANTICSS project was also designed to provide reliability to manufactu-rers by specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far. By overall awareness raising on circumvention among stakeholders, ANTICSS is supporting an effective EU legislation enforcement and thus increasing acceptance and trust of market actors and civil society into the Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation.

FAQ

What are your main questions about products, energy efficiency, market surveillance, Ecodesign, energy labels and circumvention? Find out answers to these questions below.Do contact the project organisers if you want to know more! What are the ANTICSS project key objectives?

ANTICSS objectives are to assess what "circumvention" actually is and how relation to EU eco-design and energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards (measurement methods harmonised for purpose of product conformity) can be circumvented in order to achieve a better product positioning. Its objectives are also to under-stand 'if' and 'how much' energy consumption and/or functional per-formance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention; and 'how' circumvention attempts could be unmasked via the definition of new specific procedures or check lists, modified test conditions, "sentinel" parameters to be screened, etc. and to make recommendations for setting a clearer policy and enforcement framework.

What scope of activities ANTICSS project organises?

ANTICSS firstly aims to define what circumvention is in relation to EU Ecodesign and energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards. It then investigates how they can be circumvented in order to achieve a better product positioning. The project team collects and discusses evidence on circumvention cases, following up with a limi-ted number of physical testing of selected product models along with engineering analysis.

What product categories are being investigated?

An initial selection of product categories and types has been done in the early project phases, researching mostly among the following household appliances: vacuum cleaners, wash appliances (washing machines, dishwashers, washer-dryers, tumble dryers), refrigerating appliances (wine coolers, mini bars), cooking appliances (ovens, range hoods) and other products (TV and/or another product, if considered appropriate). The final selection of product categories and types that will be analysed/tested will be done throughout the project on the basis of information gathered within the project research.

Could you be more specific about the project methodology to detect possible circumvention?

The ANTICSS methodology is simple but effective. The starting point is the elaboration of a detailed definition of what "circumvention" means among the different definitions that might be given by different stakeholders. The list below includes topics that are addressed by the project in order to assess the meaning of "circumvention": hidden software (defeat devices) (hidden) specific cycle/setting/configuration used only for testing for legislation compliance products specifically designed to be excluded from legislation, also exploiting ambiguities in the legislation itself

Sample of an embedded chart, diagram or schema

ANTICSS project team will analyse the results of its investigations and will define recommendations for policy makers and standardisation, to identify circumvention risks and to perform loophole identification testing, thus allowing preparing better circumvention-proof standards and legislation before adoption.

A second outcome will be a complete set of guidelines on "How to detect and avoid circumvention of eco-design and energy labelling legislation and standards", targeted to all market economic and non--economic actors and MSAs for a more effective EU legislation enforce-ment. Note that at the end of the project, the tested models will as much as possible donated free to charity. Only if the discovered circu-mvention will severely decrease the declared performance in a way to make the models non-compliant with the eco-design requirements the specific models will be disposed (according to the national waste

By providing reliability to manufacturers through specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by various market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far.

ANTI-CIRCUMVENTION OF STANDARDS FOR BETTERMARKET SURVEILLANCE

Co-funded by the Horizon 2020Programme of the European Union

CONTACT USHere will be all contactinformation, address, any other contacts. The green sign „at“ – e-mail will be activ: By one click you can start to write e-mail.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement Number 785122. The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not necessa-rily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

PROJECT NEWS

MAR 6TH, 2018

MAY 6TH, 2018

JAN 6TH, 2018

Team and contacts

Project coordinator

Ms. Kathrin GraulichDeputy Head of Sustainable Products and Material Flows DivisionOeko-Institut e.V. P.O. Box 17 71 | 79017 Freiburg GermanyEmail: K.Graulich ATT oeko.dewww.oeko.de

PROJECT COUNTRIES

List of project partners

Österreichische Energieagentur – AEA AustriaBundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft - BMWFW Austria

European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation – ECOS BelgiumService public federal sante publique, securite de la chaine alimentaire et environnement – BHTC Belgium

Camera di commercio industria artigianato agricoltura - CCIAA Mi ItalyAgenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo eco-nomico sostenibile – ENEA ItalyIstituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità S.p.A. - IMQ Italy

Fundacion para el fomento de la innovacion industrial - FFII-LCOE Comunidad de Madrid – CM Spain

SEVEn, the Energy Efficiency Center, z.u. – SEVEn Czech Rep.Státní energetická inspekce – SEIA Czech Rep.

Regierung von Schwaben – Gewerbeaufsichtsamt – GRS GermanyRheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn – Ubonn GermanyVDE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH – VDE Germany

Re/gent B.V. - Re/gent NetherlandsNederlandse voedsel en warenautoriteit - NVWA NetherlandsAdene-agencia para a energia - ADENE Portugal

Autoridade seguranca alimentar e economica - ASAE Portugal

Advisory Board

What are your main questions about products, energy efficiency, market surveillance, Ecodesign, energy labels and circumvention? Find

TEAM ANd CoNTACTS

Ms. Kathrin Graulich Senior Researcher Öko-Institut e.V. Postfach 17 71 | d-79017 Freiburg Germany Email: [email protected]

projeCT pArTNerS

projeCT CoordINATor WWW.ANTI-CIrCuMveNTIoN.eu

@ANTICIrCuMveNT

eNeAAgenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l‘energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile CCIAA Mi Camera di commercio industria artigianato agricoltura

IMQIstituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità S.p.A.

AdeNeAdene-agencia para a energia

ASAeAutoridade seguranca alimentar e economica

FFII-LCoeFundacion para el fomento de la innovacion industrial

CM Comunidad de Madrid

eCoSEuropean Environmental Citizens organisation for

Standardisation

BHTCService public federal sante publique, securite de la

chaine alimentaire et environnement

re/gentRe/gent B.V.

NvWANederlandse voedsel en warenautoriteit

SevenSEVEn, the Energy Efficiency Center, z.u.

SeIAStátní energetická inspekce

AeAÖsterreichische Energieagentur

BMWFWBundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft

GrSRegierung von Schwaben – Gewerbeaufsichtsamt

ubonnRheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn

vdeVdE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH

The sole responsibility for the content of this leaflet lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the reflect the opinion of the European Union. Co-funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union under grant agreement no. 785122.

FINAl rePorT – SePTeMber 2021

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_19_1596

https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR20_01/SR_Ecodesign_and_energy_labels_EN.pdf


Againstthisbackground,theEuropeanUnion’sHorizon2020researchandinnovationprogrammefundedin2018-2021 theprojectANTICSS – Anti-Circumvention of Standards for better market Surveillance conductedby19partnersofeightcountries,comingfromresearchorganisations,EnergyAgencies,MarketSurveillanceAuthorities(MSAs),testlaboratories,andconsumerorganisations.

The overall objective ofANTICSSwas to assess anddefine circumvention in relation to EU ecodesign andenergylabellinglegislationandrelevantharmonisedstandards,clearlydelimititfromothereffects,assessitspotentialimpactsonprojectedenergysavings,supportcapacitybuildingforMarketSurveillanceAuthoritiesandtestlaboratoriesandfinally,providerecommendationsforEUpolicymakersandEuropeanStandardisationOrganisationstofacilitatetheidentificationandpreventfuturecircumventionoftheEUlegislation.TheANTICSSprojectwasalsodesignedtosupportmanufacturersbyidentifyingpotentiallyvaguepointsinlegislationandstandards,whichmightbeinterpreteddifferentlybymarketactors,withsomeofthemtakingunfair advantages so far. By overall awareness raising on the topic of circumvention among stakeholders,ANTICSS intendedsupportingan effectiveEU legislationenforcement and thus increasingacceptanceandtrustofmarketactorsandcivilsocietyintotheecodesignandenergylabellinglegislation.

Assessanddefinecircumvention, delimit from other effects

Asses,howmuchenergycouldbe lost through circumvention

Definealternativetestprocedures to detect circumvention

Capacity building measures for key actors of market surveillance and test laboratories

recommendations for policy and standardisation

goals and obJeCtives of tHe antiCss proJeCt

Avoidingenergylosses fromnon-compliance

Increasingconfidenceamongpurchasers,manufacturers

andretailers

Contributingtotheenforcement ofEUproductlegislation

andsettingaclearerpolicy andenforcementframework


3 / WHere CirCumvention may Happen: sCope and model seleCtion

Inprinciple,circumventionmayhappeninanyoftheenergy-relatedproductcategoriescoveredbyecodesignand/orenergylabellingregulations.TheANTICSSprojectdecidedtoexcludefromitsactionstheproductcategoriesthatwerenotcoveredbyaproductspecificregulationonecodesignorenergylabelling(i.e.productgroupswithVoluntaryAgreements),productgroupswhichnolongerhadamarketrelevance(i.e.almostzerosalesfrom2020onwards),andproductcategorieswherenoharmonisedstandardsortransitionalmethodsarepublishedontheEUOfficialJournal.Basedon literature research,analysisofexistingecodesignandenergy labelling legislationandstandards,aswell as a broad stakeholder consultation, approaching in total 278 experts frommanufacturers,MarketSurveillanceAuthorities,testlaboratoriesaswellasconsumerandenvironmentalNGOs,39casesofproductsuspectbehaviourwerecollected.Afteraninitialevaluation,21casesweredeemedasrelatedtonon-compliant,compliant or duplicated cases. The remaining 18 cases belonging to 8 different product categories wereanalysedindetailandforeachproductcategory3differentmodelswereselectedtobetestedinthepartnertestlaboratories.

How to target products with a high probability of having a circumvention behaviour ANTICSShascompiledthefollowingpatternsorsuspicioushabitstobeconsideredwhentargetingproductsmorepronetocircumvention:

Hidden software (defeat devices) Software solely reacting to test situation Features with no function Specificfactorysettings Functions/sensors and internet connectivity ...

With reference to the appliances

Standardswhichreferto‘followspecificmanufacturer instructions‘ only for labs

Standards which allow different interpretations (e.g. deviations in testing condition(s) allowed)

Standards which allow decoupled measurement of energy consumption and functional performances

Ifnostandardfortestingisdefined ...

With reference to standards

Specificfactorysettings Specifictestinstructionsonlyfortestlabs Specifictestanduserinstructions,only

applicable in exceptional situations ...

With reference to product information to be provided by the manufacturer Specificconditionsthatratherdeviatefrom

typical user behaviour (e.g. dishwasher: the test has to be done by using an eCo programme)

regulations with detected loopholes and weaknesses (ambiguities such as unclear definitions,boundaries)

Missingspecificationinregulations ...

With reference to regulations

Patternsorsuspicioushabitstobeconsideredwhentargetingproductsmorepronetocircumvention


TheselectionprocedureappliedwithinANTICSSwasspecifically targetedatfindingapplianceswithahighprobabilityofhavingacircumventionbehaviour.Thismeansthattheultimategoaloftheprojectwasnottoassess (non-)compliance to other regulatory requirements, but rather to identify if and how circumventionoccurs.Incase thespecificbrand/modelwas referred to in thesuspectcase reported toANTICSS, thismodelwasselectedfortestingwithintheproject.Alternatively,whennospecificbrand/modelwasknown,themainsearchfocusedonmodelswith the technical featuresorpeculiaritiesassociated to theproduct reportedwith thesuspectedbehaviour.To avoid unnecessary redundancy, itwas assured that the threemodels to be testedwere not too similar(e.g.variationsofthesameproductmodelwithinthesamebrand),orequivalent(e.g.samemodelsoldunderdifferentbrand/modelnames).Modelswithahigherenergyefficiencyclasswereprimarilyselectedastheyweredeemedtobemorelikelypronetocircumventionduetohigherpressureonthemanufacturertoachievethehighestpositioningofthesemodels.

ANTICSSmodelselectionprocedurespecificallytargetedatfindingapplianceswithahighprobabilityofhavingacircumventionbehaviour

brand/model from antiCss cases

Use product-comparisonwebsite

Filter fortechnicalfeatures

Filter foryear&retailer

Qualitycheck= =Shortlist (&randomisation)

final selection of 3 models & purchasing

model seleCtion


4 / beyond defeat deviCes: a broader understanding of CirCumvention and Jeopardy effeCts

Aftertheissueofcircumventionenteredthepolicyagenda,aspecificarticleoncircumventionwasintroducedintheEUecodesignregulationspublishedfrom2019onwards:

CircumventionThe manufacturer, importer or authorised representative shall not place on the market products designed to be able to detect they are being tested (e.g. by recognising the test conditions or test cycle), and to react specifically by automatically altering their performance during the test with the aim of reaching a more favourable level for any of the parameters declared by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative in the technical documentation or included in any of the documentation provided.

ArticleoncircumventionusedintheEUecodesignregulationspublishedfrom2019onwards Thefocusisonproductsprogrammedtorecognisethetestsituationandautomaticallyoptimisetheperformanceand/orresourceconsumptionwhentheyaretested.Inaddition,Recital(35)andArticle3oftheenergylabellingframeworkregulation(EU)2017/1369explicitlymentionthatmethodsandstandardsshoulddeterintentionalandunintentionalcircumvention,andprohibittheinclusionofsoftwareorhardwarethatautomaticallyalterstheperformanceofaproductintestconditions.The ANTICSS project has extensively investigated the possibilities for circumvention. Based on literatureresearch, analysis of existing legislation and standards on ecodesign and energy labelling, as well as thecasesofsuspiciousproductbehaviourcollectedduringthestakeholderconsultation,theanalysisshowedthatcircumventiondoesnothappenonlybyautomaticallydetectingthetestsituationandchangingtheproductperformanceduringthetest,asalreadyprohibitedinsomeecodesignandallenergylabellingregulations.Bettertestresultscanalsobeachievedbymakingcertainpre-settingsormanualalterationstotheproductthatapplyduringthetestsituation.Often,harmonisedstandardsincludeageneralreferencetomanufacturer’sinstructionstoallowthepreparationoftheproductforthelaboratorytest.Thiscanbenecessary,e.g.forsafetyreasonsor repeatabilityand reproducibilityof the test results.However, if such instructionsareprescribedexclusivelytotestlaboratorieswithoutacomprehensiblereasonandaltertheproductbehaviourtooptimiseitsperformancespecificallyundertesting,theANTICSSprojectidentifiesthisasamisuseofmanufacturer’sinstructionsandanactofcircumventionaswell.A third way of circumvention could be by programming products to show very good energy efficiency orfunctionalperformanceand/or resourceconsumptionfor thetime inwhichaconformityverificationtest isexpected,orforapredefinednumberofcycles.AtthetimeofplacingonthemarkettheproductisprogrammedinawaytomakeitcompliantifselectedbyaMarketSurveillanceAuthorityforcomplianceverification,butthentoautomaticallychangeitsperformanceacertaintimeafteritisputintoservice.Theautomaticmodificationdoesnottakeplaceduringtheperiodinwhichtheverificationofthecomplianceisexpected,butonlyafterwards,forexampletoeasetherestrictionsimposedbycompliancewiththeregulatoryrequirementsandmaketheproductmoreattractivetoendusersinthereal-lifeuse,butalsolessefficientorperformingcomparedtowheninitiallyplacedonthemarket.Thesoftwareresponsibleoftheautomaticmodificationisalreadypresentinthedeliveredproduct,i.e.notprovidedsubsequentlyviaasoftwareupdate.


Onthebasisofallcollectedinformation,theANTICSSprojectdevelopedamorecomprehensivedefinitionofcircumvention,includingallthreeidentifiedpossibleroutes:

Circumvention is the act of designing a product or prescribing test instructions, leading to an alteration of the behaviour or the properties of the product, specifically in the test situation, in order to reach more favourable results for any of the parameters specified in the relevant delegated or implemented act, or included in any of the documentations provided for the product.

The act of circumvention is relevant only under test conditions and can be executed, e.g.,a) by automatic detection of the test situation and alteration of the product performance and/or

resource consumption during test, orb) by pre-set or manual alteration of the product, affecting performance and/or resource consumption

during test or c) by pre-set alteration of the performance within a short period after putting the product into service.

ANTICSSdefinitionof circumvention InseveralofthecasescollectedbytheANTICSSprojecttheproducts’behaviourwasnotclearlyattributabletotheabovedefinitionsofcircumventionbutwasneverthelessstillsuspicious.Againstthisbackground,theANTICSSprojectdevelopedtheconceptofjeopardyeffects.Theserefertoproductbehaviourthatisnotcircumventionandthuscannotbeconsiderednon-compliantbutallowsadistortionofthetestresultsduetotheexploitationofloopholesorotherweaknessesinstandardsorregulations.

Jeopardy effects encompass all aspects of products or test instructions, or interpretation of test results, which do not follow the goal of the EU ecodesign and/or energy labelling legislation of setting ecodesign requirements and providing reliable information about the resource consumption and/or performance of a product.

These effects may be not classified as circumvention but become possible due to loop holes or other weaknesses in standards or regulations.

ANTICSSdefinitionof jeopardy effects

ThecasesofsuspectedproductbehavioursinitiallyreportedtotheprojectbyMarketSurveillanceAuthorities,test laboratories or other stakeholders, were differentiated and classified by ANTICSS between hints forcircumventionandjeopardyeffectsasshowninthebelowpicture:

Hints for circumvention (case level): Initially reported cases where the suspected behaviour leads to more favourable results exclusively during the test situation but not during consumers’ use in real life. If such act was then proven by laboratory testing in ANTICSS, the tested model (product level) is categorised as circumvention .

Examplesarespecifictestinstructionsprovidedexclusivelyfortestlabs,(hidden)softwaresolelyreactingtothetestsituation,orspecificfactorysettingsnotrevertingafterchangingthesettingsinthemenu.


Jeopardy effects (case level): Initially reported cases where the suspect behaviour occurs both in the test situation and in real life, but to the latter applicable only theoretically or in (extremely) rare situations. If such act was then proven by laboratory testing in ANTICSS, the tested model (product level) is categorised as borderline to circumvention .

Examplesarespecifictest instructionsalso includedintheusermanual instructions;orenergyorresourcesavingsoftwareortechnologieswhichareonlyapplicableinexceptionalcasesinreallife,whereastheyarefullyconsideredinthetestsituation.Theseactsarenotrelevantonlyundertestconditions,butnevertheless,thedesignoftheproductorthetestinstructionsresultinmorefavourableresultsespecially,butnotexclusively,inthetestsituation.

On theotherhand,notevery initiallysuspectedcasewascategorisedascircumventionor jeopardyeffect.TheANTICSSprojectprovidedcleardelimitationsofcircumventionandjeopardyeffectsfromnon-compliance,missing representativenessofstandards,goldensamples,productsdesigned forbeingoutofscope,smartproductsingeneralaswellassoftwareupdates.

Morefavourableresults

SpecificonlytotestsituationBothintestsituationandconsumeruse,

buttothelatterapplicableonlytheoreticallyand/orin(extremely)raresituations

Morefavourableresults

Notmore favourableresults

Notmore favourableresults

STANDARD ≠ ALTERNATIVE STANDARD ≈ ALTERNATIVE STANDARD ≠ ALTERNATIVE STANDARD ≈ ALTERNATIVE

Circumvention Nocircumvention

Hint for circumvention

Case / suspicious behaviour

Jeopardy effect

Borderlineto circumvention Nocircumvention

e.g.,specifictestinstructionsexclusivelyfortestlabs;(hidden)softwaresolelyreactingtotestsituation;specificfactorysettingsnotrevertingafterchangingsettingsinthemenu

e.g.,specifictestinstructionsalsoincludedinusermanualinstructions;smartfunction/energysavingsoftwareortechnologyspecificallyappliedintestsituationbutalsoapplicableinreallifeinexceptionalcases

GeNe

rAl

leVe

l (C

ase)

ProD

UCT

leVe

l (T

este

d m

odel)

ANTICSSdifferentiationbetween‘hintsforcircumvention’and‘jeopardyeffects’andrespectivecategorisationoftestedmodelsto‘circumvention’or‘borderlinetocircumvention’


5 / traCing CirCumvention: TheneeDfor‘moDifieD’TesTproceDures

Circumvention is a special case of non-compliance MarketSurveillanceAuthoritiescandetectthenon-compliancebyinspectingtheproductdocumentationand/orbylaboratorytesting,usingthemeasurementmethodsdefinedintheharmonisedstandards.Theinformationandtestresultsarecomparedwiththerequirementslaiddowninlegislationandthesamestandards.Iftheydonotmeettheserequirementstheproductisnon-compliant.Incaseofcircumventiontheproductdoesnotimmediatelyappeartobenon-compliant.Theproductappearstocomplywithallrequirementswhentestedaccordingtotheapplicableharmonisedstandards.However,thisisbecausetheproductitselforitssettingshavebeenmanipulatedsothatthetestresultsareinfluencedinsuchawaythattheyturnoutmorefavourablepreciselyundertheharmonisedstandardtestconditions.Forthisreason,itisratherimpossibletodetectcircumventionbehaviourwiththestandardmeasurementmethodsharmonisedfortheregulations.ThisisoneofthemostimportantfindingsoftheANTICSSprojectasitshowstheneedforanewapproachtocomplianceverificationthatrequiresthedefinitionof‘modified’measurementmethods.

AnTicssmodifiedtestmethodsANTICSSdevelopedandappliedmodifiedtestmethodsforseveralsuspiciouscasesthatwereinitiallycollectedorreportedtotheproject.Themaincharacteristicsofthemodifiedtestmethodsspecificallyaddressingcircumventionarethatonlytheparametersofthetestconditionsoftheapplicableharmonisedstandard(s)consideredpronetomanipulationorunder suspectofmanipulationare slightly varied.At thesame time, themodified testmethodsare stilldesigned to be as close as possible to the harmonised standards, with the aim of ensuring comparabilitybetweenthetwosetsofmeasurementresults.

GeneralexamplesofAnTicssmodifiedtestmethods

standard test condition potential circumvention AnTicssmodifiedtestmethod

ratherfixedambientconditions (e.g. narrow voltage,frequency,ortemperature ranges)

Appliances might be programmed in a way to detect being under test and automatically alter the performance togainmorefavourableresultsspecificallyduringstandard test conditions.

Slight variation of the ambient conditions. ANTICSSexamples:householdtumbledriers,householdwashingmachines,householdrefrigerators and freezers

Testingatfixedloads(rather few load points specifiedinthestandardtest conditions)

Appliances might be programmed in a way to detect these standard load points and automatically alter the performancetogainmorefavourableresultsspecificallyduring standard test conditions.

Slight variation of the standard load points. ANTICSS example: washing machines


GeneralexamplesofAnTicssmodifiedtestmethods

standard test condition potential circumvention AnTicssmodifiedtestmethod

Possibility ofspecificinstructions or accessories applicable under standard test only

Appliances might achieve the declared performance parametersonlyunderthespecificinstructions.

Testing without or with slightly changed specificinstructionsoraccessories.ANTICSSexamples:householddishwashers,householdrefrigeratorsandfreezers,householdtumbledriers,ovens.

testing at factory settings

Appliances might be programmed in a way to achieve morefavourableresultsspecificallyatinitialfactorysettings during standard test conditions whereas these results will not be achieved after changing the settings inthemenuforthefirsttimeandresettingtothefactorysettings again.

Testing with slight deviations from the factory settings and afterwards testing at reset factory settings. ANTICSS example: televisions.

decoupled testing ofenergyefficiencyand performance measurement

Appliances might be programmed in a way to detect being under test and being optimised to achieve more favourableresultsspecificallyregardingtheenergyefficiencybyreducingornotfulfillingtheproduct’sperformance during that (separate) test cycle.

Testingtheproduct’sperformancealsoduringtheenergyefficiencytestcycle. ANTICSS example: ovens.

Cycle based appliances tobetestedforadefinednumber of test rounds as specifiedintherelatedstandards

Appliances might be programmed to perform the pre-set numberofcycleswithconsumingsignificantlylessresources and automatically alter the properties after this number of standard cycles.

Testing a certain number of cycles beyond thedefinednumberofcyclesinthestandard. Not tested within ANTICSS.

ItmustbenotedthatwithintheANTICSSprojectnoanalysiswasdevelopedtoprovethatthemodifiedtestmethodsdeliver(i)repeatableandreproducibleresultswhichare(ii)directlycomparablewiththeresultsachievedwith the harmonised standards. Nevertheless, according to the ANTICSS project‘s experts the specificallychosenandwelldocumenteddeviationsoftheANTICSSmodifiedtestmethodsfromtheharmonisedstandardsdonotgenerallyresultintosubstantialdeviationsoftheresultsfromthoseobtainedwhentestedaccordingto theharmonisedstandard testconditions.Therefore, theANTICSSprojectconsiders that theharmonisedstandardandthemodifiedtestmethodaswellastheachievedtestresults,althoughnotusableforcomplianceverification,areinprinciplebroadlycomparableforthepurposesoftheproject.

inexplicable test results as indicator for potential circumvention acts TheANTICSSprojectconsideredthat,ifthemodifiedmeasurementmethodleadstoinexplicable changesinthemeasurementresultscomparedtothesameresultsachievedwiththeharmonisedstandardtestmethod,thismayindicatethattheproductmighthavebeenspecificallyalteredtodetect,ormanipulatedtobeoptimisedfor,theharmonisedstandardtestconditions.Asareferencefordeterminingthesignificanceofthedeviationbetweentheresultsachievedunderthetwotesting conditions, ANTICSS used the verification tolerances of the tested parameters as provided in theEU ecodesign and energy labelling regulations formarket surveillance purposes. If the deviation exceededthemagnitudeof theverification tolerances, the resultof themodifiedmeasurementmethod isconsideredsignificantand thusworthaspecificanalysisand thorough interpretation tounderstand if consequenceofcircumvention.


6 / from praCtiCe: antiCss results of laboratory testing

ThefollowingoverviewsummarisestheANTICSStestresultsandrespectivecategorisationof24testedmodels,covering18casesin8differentproductcategories.

antiCss colour legend

general level (reported case)

produCt level (Model tested in ANTICSS)

Yellow Jeopardy effect GreeN no circumvention

orANGe Hints for circumvention DArk orANGe borderline to circumvention

reD Circumvention

antiCss test results

produCt level (Tested model)

general level (reported case) model a model b model C

Household dishwashers Specificloadinginstructions(removalandrelevantalterationofaccessories)exclusivelyprovidedtotestlab,i.e.nottoconsumers,toreachthedeclaredcapacity(hint for circumvention)

Modelnottested forthiscase

Modelnottested forthiscase Circumvention

televisions Specificfactorysettings(brightness),notrevertingtoitslowenergyconsumptionafter changing factory settings in the menu (hint for circumvention)

Nocircumvention Nocircumvention Nocircumvention

Household dishwashers Separatebowlexclusivelyprovidedtotestlaboratoryforstandardtest,nottoconsumers (hint for circumvention)

Nocircumvention Modelnottested forthiscase


Household dishwashers Specificinstruction(dedicatedpre-treatmentcycle)onhowtoadjusttheapplianceforthestandardtest,exclusivelyprovidedtotestinstitutes(hintforcircumvention)

Modelnottested forthiscase Nocircumvention Modelnottested

forthiscase

Household tumble driers Specificinstruction(dedicatednumberandtypeofpre-treatmentcycles)onhowtoadjusttheapplianceforthestandardtest,exclusivelyprovidedtotestinstitutes (hint for circumvention)

Nocircumvention Modelnottested forthiscase


Household tumble driers & Household washing machines white goods may theoretically comprise hidden software/sensors to detect the specificambienttestingconditionsofthestandardtestandrunspecificalgorithmsthat might result in e.g. lower resource consumption or better performance values (hint for circumvention)

Nocircumvention Nocircumvention Nocircumvention


produCt level (Tested model)

general level (reported case) model a model b model C

Household washing machines Optimisationoftheappliancespecificallyforthefullandhalfratedcapacityofthestandard test (jeopardy effect)

Nocircumvention Nocircumvention Borderlinetocircumvention

domestic ovens Specificrecipe(e.g.yogurtmaking)inuserinstructionsthatrequiresremovingtheshelf-guides for the volume measurement (jeopardy effect)

Borderlinetocircumvention



domestic ovens Decoupled energy and temperature (performance) measurement in standard test; loweredtemperaturealwaysduringenergyconsumptionmeasurement,whereasstablesettemperatureduringsubsequenttemperaturemeasurement (jeopardy effect)


Borderlinetocircumvention Nocircumvention

refrigerating appliances Holidaymode/eco-modetoreduceenergyconsumption,fullyaccountedinstandardtest whereas seldom in real life (jeopardy effect)

Nocircumvention Nocircumvention


(equaltocaseonscreenswitch-offfunction)

refrigerating appliances Screenswitch-offfunctiontoreduceenergyconsumption,fullyaccountedinstandard test whereas seldom in real life (jeopardy effect)




televisions Automatic backlight reduction function fully accounted in standard test whereas extremely rarely in real life (jeopardy effect)

Nocircumvention (functionapplied,butnotmisusedtodeclare

betterresults)Nocircumvention Nocircumvention

domestic ovens The standard allows the setting of a lower temperature if the oven is not capable to performthemaximumrequestedtemperature.Thissituationimplieslowerenergyconsumption results for ovens not being able to reach these temperatures – asituationofwhichmanufacturersmighttakeadvantage.TheANTICSSmodifiedprocedure,proposingareductionofthetemperatureinthecentreoftheovenshowedthatthisfinallyhadverylowimpactontheenergyconsumption,i.e.theinitialclassificationofthiscaseasjeopardyeffecthasnotbeenconfirmed.

Modelnottested forthiscase Nocircumvention Nocircumvention

dishwashers Additional water and energy consumption of the cleaning operations of water tank machines is not fully accounted to the overall consumption (missing representativeness of the standard)

Modelnottested forthiscase Nocircumvention Modelnottested

forthiscase

room air conditioners (defrostcycles)Manufacturersmaydeclareefficienciesfortheproductsontheenergy labels and supporting data sheets considerably higher compared to what havebeenmeasuredinrealinstallations,especiallyincoldandhumidclimates,which in such case would give the consumer misleading information (missing representativeness of the standard)

Resultsnotassessable Nocircumvention Nocircumvention

room air conditioners & space heaters (variablespeedcompressor)Manufacturersmaydeclareefficienciesfortheproducts on the energy labels and supporting data sheets considerably higher comparedtowhathavebeenmeasuredinrealinstallations,especiallyincoldandhumidclimates,whichinsuchcasewouldgivetheconsumermisleadinginformation(missing representativeness of the standard)

Resultsnotassessable



Forsomeofthereportedcases,nocircumventioncouldbeprovenfortheselectedmodelsanalysedinlaboratorytesting.Still,thecaseswereclassifiedashintsforcircumventionorjeopardyeffectsastheycouldapplytoothermodelsonthemarketnotyettested,thuscouldserveasindicatortoMSAsatwhichcasestolookinmoredetail.


6.1 / disHWasHers – speCifiC loading instruCtions

StandardEN50242:2016formeasuringtheperformanceofelectrichouseholddishwashers,statesthatThe dishwasher manufacturer’s instructions regarding installation and use shall be followed.The testingofoneofthethreeanalyseddishwashermodelsfollowingthemanufacturer’sinstructionsaccordingtotheharmonisedstandard required the removalorchangeof thepositionofmanyof theaccessories thatwerefitted to theapplianceassupplied.Instructions,e.g.removalofathirdrackoralterationofrelevantparts(e.g.splitofcutlerybasketintotwopartsatdifferentpositions)wereexclusivelygivenintheinstructionsfortestlaboratories,andnotintheuserinstructions;therefore,thiscasewascategorisedashintforcircumvention.TheANTICSSmodifiedtestswereconductedalsoaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardEN50242:2016andfollowingmanufacturer’sinstructionsbutwithoutremovingoralteringtheaccessories.Theloadingschemewas appliedwith themaximum number of place settings and corresponding serving pieces that fit in themachineasdelivered.Withthismodifiedloadingschemeandallaccessorieskeptinplaceinthemachine,only12insteadof16placesettingscouldbefittedintothedishwasher,i.e.thenumberofloadableplacesettingswasreducedby25%.

ANTICSStestingofadishwashermodel:harmonisedstandardandmodifiedloadingscheme Althoughtheabsolutewaterconsumptiondidnotchangeandthetotalenergyconsumptionwasslightlylower(-3.2%)comparedtothetestresultsintheconfigurationfor16placesettingsduetothereducedweightoftheload,thespecificenergyandwaterconsumptionperplacesettingincreasedby29%and34%respectively.Forconsumers,thismeansthatinreallifeonly12insteadofthedeclared16placesettingscouldbeloadedandcleaned,whichresultsinmorecyclesneededperyeartocleanthesamenumberofdishes,i.e.increasestheirannualenergyandwaterconsumption.

HARMONISEDSTANDARD: Standardloadingscheme accordingtomanufacturer‘sinstructions:

Manyaccessoriesandthirdrackhadtobe removed,cutlerybasketsplitintohalf

16placesettingsdeclared

ANTICSSAlTERNATIVE lOADINGSCHEME

Machinetestedassupplied

12placesettingsachievable


ANTICSS TeST reSUlTS / disHWasHer

Harmonised standard measurement method

AnTicssmodifiedmeasurement method deviation

Standardplacesettings(ps) 16 12 -25%

Specificenergyconsumption(Wh/ps) 47.2 60.9 +29%

Specificwaterconsumption(l/ps) 0.68 0.91 +34%

Energyefficiencyclass A+++ A+++ Nodifference

Consideringthatthemanufacturer’sinstructionsregardingtheloadingschemeareexclusivelyprovidedfortestlaboratories,theproductisconsideredasmanuallyaltered,andtheresourceconsumptionaffectedonlyduringthelaboratorytesting.Thedeviationofthespecificenergyandwaterconsumptionexceededtheverificationtolerances;therefore,theresultofthemodifiedtestmethodisconsideredsignificantandthetestedmodeliscategorisedascircumvention.Theloadingcapacityisoneofthedeclaredparametersontheenergylabelandthusapurchasecriterionforconsumers.Sincetheloadingcapacityisalsousedtocalculatetheenergyefficiencyindex,ahigherloadingcapacitymighthelpreachingabetterenergyefficiencyclass,althoughthiswasnotthecaseforthespecificmodeltestedwithinANTICSS.

6.2 / WasHing maCHines – speCifiC optimisation at full and Half rated CapaCity

AccordingtoharmonisedstandardEN60456:2016,forwashingmachinesaseriesofseventestshavetobecarriedoutwiththreedifferenttreatmentsforthestandardprogrammes:Halfload:twotestrunsattreatment40°Candtwotestrunsattreatment60°C;andfullload:threetestrunsattreatment60°C.Thesuspectwasthatwashingmachinesmightbeoptimisedinawaytopresentmorefavourableresultsfortheenergyandwaterconsumptionexactlyatthetwotestingpointsoffullandhalfloadasspecifiedintheharmonisedstandard,whereastheconsumptionvaluesfollowadifferentpatternwhenthemachineisrunatdifferentloads.FortheANTICSSmodifiedtestingprocedure,thetestswerealsoperformedaccordingtoEN60456:2016butwithareducedloadof6kginsteadofthefullloadof10kgasdeclaredbythemanufacturerandwithahalfloadof3 kg(insteadof5kg).Theresultsforoneofthethreetestedmodelssuggestedthatthiswashingmachinemightbeoptimisedspecificallyforthestandardloads.So,theANTICSSconsortiumdecidedtoperformadditionaltestsat4kg,6.5kgand8kgat60°Ctreatmenttobetterunderstandthemachine’sbehaviour.Theresultswerestriking:

Theenergyconsumptionvaluesatloadslowerthanhalfratedcapacityof5kg(0.55kWh)werehigher(0.63kWhat4kgand0.67kWhat3kg)andalsotheenergyconsumptionvaluesatloadslowerthanfullratedcapacityof10kg(0.81kWh)werehigher(0.88kWhat8kg,0.92kWhat6.5kgand0.95kWhat6kg)

Therewasasignificant,inexplicableincreaseoftheenergyconsumptionfrom0.55kWhat5kgto0.95kWhat6kgload.


ANTICSSresultsofawashingmachinemodel:energyconsumptionofthe60°Cstandardprogrammeusingdifferentloads

Theincreasingenergyconsumptionatlowerloadsisremarkableasitcouldratherbeexpectedthattheenergyconsumptionofthewashingmachinewouldrisewithincreasingwashloadorgettinglowerwithsmallerloads(note: a linear dependency of thewashingmachine’s energy consumption to the load is an approximationintroducedbytheANTICSSprojectforsakeofsimplicityalthoughitiswellknownthattheusualrelationisnotlinear).Thetestedmodelcouldbecategorisedintwodifferentways:

borderline tocircumvention,assuming that themoreefficient test results for theenergyandwaterconsumptionmoreorlessexactlyatfullandhalfratedcapacity(comparedtodifferentloadsin-between)wouldalsobeachievedinreallifewhenconsumersloadthemachinearoundthesecapacities.

circumvention,imaginingthatthemodelcouldhaveasensorthatautomaticallydetectstheweightoftheload,andbeingprogrammedinawaythatiftheweightcorrespondstotheexactloadusedinthestandardtest(fullandhalfloadoftheratedcapacity,standardgarments),theenergyandthewaterconsumptionwouldbereducedexclusivelyunderthesestandardtestconditions,butnotinconsumeruse.

Thiscasegivesstrong indicationshowproductswhoseperformancevarieswithcapacitycanbeoptimisedtowardsalegislationsettingalimitednumberofcapacitiesasrepresentativeoftheoverallproductperformance.

6.3 / ovens – volume measurement WitHout sHelf guides

StandardEN60350-1:2016formeasuringtheperformanceofhouseholdelectriccookingappliancesstatesformeasuringthevolume:Removable items specified in the user instructions to be not essential for the operation of the appliance in the manner for which it is intended shall be removed before measurement is carried out. Inoneofthethreetestedovenmodels,theuserinstructionscontainedonespecificrecipeformakingyoghurt,whichindicatedthatitisnecessarytoremovetheaccessoriesandshelvesandthatthecookingcompartmentmustbeempty.Duetothisspecificrecipeintheuserinstructions,thestandardtestofthevolumehadtobedoneremovingallshelfguides.TheANTICSSmodifiedtestmethodwasconductedalsoaccordingtostandardconditionsofEN60350-1:2016,exceptthevolumewasmeasuredwiththeshelfguidesintheirposition.

0.555

0.81

0.55

0.82

0.606

0.453

0.67 0.625

0.58

0.95 0.92

0.875 0.82

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Ener

gy c

onsu

mpt

ion

(kW

h)

Load (kg)

Standard Declared Expected Extra +alternative


In themodifiedmeasurementmethod, thevolumewithshelfguides includedwas lower (9 litresoraround13%)thaninthetestsdevelopedfollowingtheharmonisedstandardwithouttheshelfguides.Themeasuredenergyconsumptionwasthesameforthetwotests.However,thedifferenceinthevolumehadanimpactonthecalculatedEnergyEfficiencyIndex(EEI),whichwas5%higher(i.e.morefavourable)thanunderthetestconditionsoftheharmonisedstandard.Forthetestedmodel,however,thehigherEEIdidnotresultinachangeoftheenergyefficiencyclass.

ANTICSS TeST reSUlTS / oven



Volume(l) 71 62 -13%

Energyconsumption(kWh/cycle) 0.71 0.71 0%

EnergyEfficiencyIndex 83.5 87.7 +5%

Energyefficiencyclass A A Nodifference

The inclusionof a recipewhere the shelf guidesarenotneeded (which is then the settingof theoven forthestandardtest)wasnotexclusivelyprovided inthe instructionsfortest laboratoriesbutalso included intheuserinstructions.Thisprovidesthepossibilityofsuchasettinginreal-lifeuse.Nevertheless,theuseofanovenwithoutshelfguidesseemstobeanexceptionaluseandnottheoperationof theappliance inthemannerforwhichitisusuallyintended,soitremainssuspectedthattheinclusionofsucharecipeisintendedtoachievemorefavourableresultsspecificallyundertesting;thecaseiscategorisedasjeopardyeffect.Thedeviationofthevolumeexceededtheverificationtolerances,i.e.theresultofthemodifiedtestisconsideredtobesignificantandthetestedmodeliscategorisedasborderlinetocircumvention.Thevolumeofovensisoneofthedeclaredparametersontheenergylabel,i.e.purchasecriterionforconsumers.SincethevolumeisalsousedtocalculatetheEnergyEfficiencyIndex,ahighervolumemighthelpreachingabetterenergyefficiencyclass,althoughthiswasnotthecaseforthespecificmodeltestedwithinANTICSS.

6.4 / ovens – automatiC temperature reduCtion funCtion

Thefirststepof thetestcycleaccordingtoEN60350-1:2016formeasuringtheperformanceofhouseholdelectriccookingappliances,theenergyconsumptionmeasurement,isdonewithabrick(soakedupwithwatertosimulateapieceofbeef)loadedinthecentreoftheoven.Inthesecondstep,aconsecutivetemperaturemeasurement of the empty oven is done.Between the two steps, the door necessarilymust be opened toremovethebrick.Tomeasuretheenergyconsumptionoftheoveninthefirststep,acertaintemperature-riseasdefinedinthestandardmustbereachedinthecentreofthebrick.


TheresultsoftheANTICSStestingforoneofthethreetestedmodelsrevealedasuspectbehaviour:Duringthefirststep(energyconsumptionmeasurement)intheECOmode,thetemperatureintheovenwasconsiderablylower than the targeted temperature setting: the total length of the first step was 54 minutes, but thetemperatureofthecentreoftheovenwasaroundthesettemperatureof190°Cforonlyapprox.20minutes.Then,thetemperaturedroppeddownto89°C,whereastheexpectedandnormalbehaviourofanovenwouldbetomaintainthesettemperatureofaround190ºCformostofthetime.Thetemperaturewasonlyincreasedagain after the doorwas opened to remove the brick. In the second step (temperaturemeasurement), thetemperatureremainedstableduringthetestperiod.

ANTICSSresultsofanovenmodelinECOmode:energyconsumptionmeasurement(step1)andtemperaturemeasurement(step2)

Inatestednon-ECOmode(‘fanassisted’mode)ofthesamemodel,thetemperatureinthecentreoftheovenremainedstableforboththeenergyconsumptionmeasurementandthetemperaturemeasurement.Inaddition,thesecondovenmodeltestedforthiscasedidnotshowthisbehaviour:bothintheECOandinthe‘conventionalwithfan’modethetemperatureinthecentreoftheovenremainedstableforbothsteps.ItseemsthattheECOmodeofthefirstmodelhasbeenspecificallydesignedtoreachlower,i.e.morefavourable,valuesfortheenergyconsumptionbyreducingthetemperaturewhilestillmaintainingthetargettemperatureriseinthecentreofthebrick.Onlyafterthefirsthour,i.e.usuallywhenthetestingoftheenergymeasurementisfinished,thetemperatureremainedstableattherequiredtemperaturesetting.Probablytheopening(andre-closing)oftheovendoorinthetestsaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardor,alternatively,acertainpre-setperiodoftime,triggeredthetemperaturetoincreasesothattherequiredtemperaturevaluecouldbereachedforthesubsequenttemperaturemeasurement.It isassumedthatthetemperaturedecreasedoesnotapplyexclusivelyduringthetestsituationbutoccursalways during the first hour, i.e. applicable both in the test situation and during consumer use in real life;thus, thecasewascategorisedas jeopardyeffect.Thetemperaturesof themodifiedmeasurementmethodaredeviatingsignificantlyfromtherequirementincludedintheharmonisedstandardandthereforethetestedmodelwascategorisedasborderlinetocircumvention.

Tempe

rature[°C]

Time[hour:min]

250

200

150

100

50

08:27 8:44 9:00 9:17

Dooropening

Step1 Step2

9:34 9:50 10:07 10:24


6.5 / refrigerating applianCes – sCreen sWitCH-off funCtion

StandardENIEC62552:2013formeasuringtheperformanceofhouseholdrefrigeratingappliancesstates:The refrigerating appliance shall be set up as in service in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Forthetestedrefrigeratingmodel,thedisplayofacontroller,providingadigitalclock,wasactivatedeachtimethedoorwasopened.Incasetheconsumerisawayforalongerperiod,thecabinetcansaveenergybydisablingthedisplayafter24hours.Theappliancedidnothaveafunctionalitytoturnoffthedisplaypermanently.Itonlycontrolledwhetherthedisplayremainsalwaysonoristurnedoffafter24hourswithoutdooropeningdetection;itwasnotpossibletoincreaseorshortenthistimeinthesettings.Theuserinstructionsstatetoleavethescreenswitch-offfunctioninthepre-setvalue(i.e.turn-offafter24hourswithoutdooropenings)inordertosaveenergyandincasethatthepre-setswitch-offfunctionisdisabledtheenergyconsumptionwillslightlyincrease.Therefore,thetestaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardwasdonewiththescreenswitch-offfunctionenabled,i.e.automaticturn-offafter24hourswithoutdooropenings.Astheharmonisedstandarddoesnotincludeanydooropeningsthedisplaywillbepermanentlyturnedoffduringthetest,whereasineverydaylife,thedisplaywillbeactivatedmostofthetimeduetothenormaluseoftherefrigeratorwithdailydooropenings.For theANTICSSmodifiedmeasurementmethod, the input power of the displaywasmeasured separatelyduringanoffcycleofthecoolingsystem,whileswitchingthedisplayonandoff.Thedifferenceofthemeasuredinputpower(2.1W)wasattributedtothedisplay.Theannualenergyconsumptionoftheappliancewasthencalculatedbyaddingtheenergyconsumptionoftheactivateddisplay(estimating20daysofabsenceperyearwiththedisplaybeingdeactivated)totheannualenergyconsumptionmeasuredwiththeharmonisedstandard.

ANTICSS TeST reSUlTS / refrigerator



Energyconsumption(kWh/year) 169 186 +10.3%

EnergyEfficiencyIndex 20.3 22.4 +10.3%

Energyefficiencyclass A+++ A++ 1class

The resultsshowthat therewouldbeanadditionalenergyconsumptionofaround17kWh/yeardue to thedisplay,whichcannotbe switchedoffmanually or via amodificationof the setting. This is an increaseof10.3%comparedtotheenergyconsumptionresultingfromthetestwiththeharmonisedstandard.TheenergyefficiencyclasswouldchangefromanA+++toA++.Duringthetestingaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardtheapplianceisoperatedasiftheconsumerwerenotathomeanddeactivatedthedisplaytosaveenergy.Thus,themeasuredandthedeclaredenergyconsumptionrepresent themostefficientmodeof theapplianceascapturedby thespecific test conditionswhichdoesnotincludeanyopeningofthedoors,whichisnotprovidinganoptimumproxioftheactualuseandenergyconsumptionduringreal life.Theturn-offofthedisplaydoesnotapplyexclusivelyduringthetestsituationbutoccursalsoduringconsumeruse,e.g.whentheconsumerisabsentforaholidayperiod;thus,thecaseiscategorisedasjeopardyeffect.Thedeviationoftheenergyconsumptionofthetestedmodelexceededtheverificationtolerances, i.e.theresultofthemodifiedtestmethodwasconsideredsignificantandthetestedmodelwascategorisedasborderlinetocircumvention.


6.6 / televisions – automatiC baCKligHt reduCtion funCtion

ItiswellknownamongexpertsthatthetestvideotobeusedforthestandardmeasurementaccordingtoIEC62087-2:2015for thedeterminationof thepowerconsumptionofaudio,video,andrelatedequipmentsuchastelevisionsincludeshardcutseveryfewseconds,i.e.fastmovingimageswhichareverydifferentfromthecharacteristicsofreal-lifebroadcastcontent.Thispatternmightfacilitatethedevicerecognisingthissequenceasatestvideoandimplementingspecialfunctionstoreduceforexampletheluminance(backlight)duringthislooptodecreasethepowerconsumptionspecificallyinthetestsituation.ForoneofthethreemodelstestedinANTICSS,theresultsaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardshowedthatthemodelindeedhasaspecialfunctiontodetectfastchangingcontent:thebacklight(finallytheinputpower)wasreducedstepbystepstartingatabout95Watthestartofthetestvideoandsettlingdownatabout85Wafter100secondsfortherestofthe10minutestestsequence.ThetwoothermodelstestedinANTICSSdidnotpresentanybacklightreductionfunction.

ANTICSSresultsofmodifiedtestmethodofaTVmodelusinganautomaticback-lightreductionfunction

Atthecaselevel,thiscouldbeeitherclassifiedasjeopardyeffect–followingthemanufacturer’sexplanationthatthefunctionisalsoapplicabletoanycontentinreallifethatentailsrapidscenechangesand/ordepictingalargeamountofmotionsuchassportsprogrammes;orashintforcircumvention–basedontheexperienceofthetestlaboratorythatsuchfastmovingpicturesneverapplyinreallife,i.e.thesoftwareexclusivelyreactstothespecificfast-movingimagesofthestandardtestvideo,althoughthisfactcouldnotbeprovenbyANTICSS.Inprinciple,suchabacklightreductionfunctioncanbeusedtogainmorefavourableresultsforthemeasuredvaluesandthereforealsoforthedeclaredonesoftheon-modeandannualpowerconsumption.However,forthespecificmodeltestedinANTICSSthisdidnotoccur–onthecontrary:thedeclaredvaluesfortheon-modeandannualpowerconsumptionweresignificantlyhigher,23%worsethantheresultsofthemeasuredvalues,evenresulting inadeclared lowerenergyefficiencyclassA insteadof theA+thatcanbederived fromthemeasuredvalues.Therefore,thespecifictestedmodelwasnotcategorisedascircumvention.

Inpu

tPow

er[W

] 80

60

PowerConsumption(TVOnWithMeanAverageValue)

Time[s]

100

400 100 600500400300200

Mean:86.11

InputPower


ANTICSS TeST reSUlTS / television model

antiCss Harmonised standard test results

declared by manufacturer deviation

On-modepowerconsumption(W) 85 110 -23%

Annualpowerconsumption(kWh/year) 118 153 -23%

Energyefficiencyclass A+ A 1class

According to themanufacturer, this over-declaration of power consumption is a safetymargin due to thevariations between units due to the construction process, to ensure all units being compliantwith energyefficiencyclassAwhenverifiedbyMarketSurveillanceAuthorities.


7 / from individual models to a general risK: basiC beHaviours and gateWays to CirCumvention

FromtheANTICSStestresultsoftheindividualmodels,thefollowingcommonwaystowardscircumventionwereidentified,consideredtobegenerallyapplicabletoseveralmodelsandproductcategories:

Common circumvention behaviours applicable to several models and product categories

Influencing parameters used for the calculation of the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) and thus alsodeterminingtheenergyefficiencyclass;forexample:volumeorcapacityoftheappliance.

Smartorenergysavingfunctionsthatarefullycreditedinthestandardtestproceduretoreducetheenergyconsumptionwhileinpracticeonlytheoreticallyorveryrarelyapplicable.

Weaknesses in legislation and harmonised standards serving as gateway for circumvention

Harmonisedstandardsentailingveryspecificconditionsandsignificantlydeviatingfromtypicaluserbehaviourincreasethelikelihoodthatmanufacturersdesignproductstoadapttothesetestconditionsto achievemore favourable results. Examples: testing refrigerators without door openings; testingtelevisionsbyusingastandardtestvideowithfast-movingpicturesbeingextremelyrareinreal-lifebroadcastingcontent.

lackofperformancerequirementsinlegislationcanbeusedtooptimisetheenergyefficiencyattheexpenseofthefunctionalperformanceoftheappliance.Inaddition,thedecoupledmeasurementoftheenergy(andwater)consumptionandthefunctionalperformance,i.e.indifferentcycles,configurations,settings, or even different test conditions increases the risk of products being set to decrease theenergyconsumptionattheexpensesoftheproduct’sfunctionalperformance.Example:measuringtheenergyconsumptionofovenswithoutsimultaneouslymeasuringthereachedtemperature(consideredasindicationofthereachablecooking/bakingperformance).

Missing specification and definition of standard programme(s) to be used for the measurementof the energy and functional performance leaving the possibility formanufacturers to declare theprogramme(s)tobeusedforcomplianceassessmentandverification.


8 / WHat is lost: impaCts of CirCumvention

ForthemodelscategorisedeitherascircumventionorborderlinetocircumventiononthebasisoftheANTICSStestresultsthefollowingimpactscenarioswerecalculated:

the realistic circumvention scenario:theminimumandmaximumpossiblelossesofpotentialenergysavingsarecalculatedonthebasisofthecombinedknowledgeofthemarketsharesofthetechnicalfeaturesoftheconsideredappliances,andtheestimatedmarketshareoftheproductsprobablyshowingthecircumventionbehaviourcomingfromexpertsfromEnergyAgencies,MSAs,test laboratoriesorstandardisationbodies.Incasethisinformationwasnotavailable,aconservativemarketshareof5%wasestimatedfortherealisticminimumscenario.

the extensive circumvention scenario:thepossiblelossesofpotentialenergysavingsarecalculatedconsideringallproductsthathavethesametechnicalfeatureresponsiblefortheidentifiedcircumventionbehaviourandarethustheoreticallypronetothesametypeofcircumvention.

AccordingtotheANTICSSimpactassessmentabout395to1,754TJ(realisticminimumandmaximumscenario)or5,982TJ(extensivescenario)ofprimaryenergysavingscouldbelostperyearduetothecircumventionorborderlinetocircumventionbehaviouroftheconsideredproductcategories,correspondingtoarangeof13,300to201,800 tonsofCO2 equivalents3.Over the total lifespanof theappliances thiswouldamount toaround2.4 milliontonnesofCO2equivalents.

total possible annual impaCts due to CirCumvention or borderline to CirCumvention

Case

realistic circumvention scenario

extensive circumvention scenario

extensive circumvention scenario over appliances‘ lifespan

average operational lifespan of appliances [years]minimum maximum

televisions: automatic backlight reduction function 197 691 3,946 39,459 10

Washing machines: specificoptimisationatfull and half rated capacity

41 328 819 12,289 15

refrigerating appliances: screen switch-off function 52 325 651 10,411 16

dishwashers: specificloadinginstructions 88 178 333 5,001 15

ovens: volume measurement without shelf guides 17 232 232 4,417 19

total possible annual losses of potential primary energy savings (TJ/year)

395 1,754 5,982 71,577

additional emissions Co2eq (t/year) 13,336 59,167 201,766 2,414,319

3 Conversion factor 255 g Co2e/kWhfortheyear2019.Source:EEA,Greenhousegasemissionintensityofelectricitygeneration,lastmodified11June2021,availableathttps://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/co2-emission-intensity-8

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/co2-emission-intensity-8


Totalpossibleannuallossesofpotentialprimaryenergysavings(TJ/year)duetocircumventionorborderlinetocircumventionbehaviour

additional emissions of Co2 equivalents due to circumvention or borderline to circumvention behaviour

13,300 t CO2eq

59,200 t CO2eq

REALISTICMINIMUMSCENARIO

REALISTICMAXIMUMSCENARIO

EXTENSIVECIRCUMVENTION

SCENARIO

EMISSIONS* FROM A MIDDLE CLASS CAR

120 g CO2eq / km

201,800 t CO2eq

1,700 Mio km=

42 000 timesaround the globe

However,thisreflectsonlyasmallproportionofpotentiallossessinceaquantificationoftheimpactontheresource consumption was not possible for all the reported and tested cases. In addition, other types ofcircumventionpracticescouldoccurinproductcategoriesthatwerealreadycoveredorinproductcategoriesthatwerenot yet coveredby theANTICSSproject.ANTICSS resultsalsoshow thatnotonly theelectricityconsumption,butalsothewaterconsumptionorthefunctionalperformancecanbesubjecttocircumvention.

0

2,000

1,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

Loss

es o

f pot

entia

l prim

ary e

nerg

y sav

ings

in T

J pe

r yea

r

Summary of losses of potential primary energy savings caused by circumvention during standard testing of

smart TVs, cooling appliances, dishwashers, ovens and washing machines

REALISTICMINIMUMSCENARIO

REALISTICMAXIMUMSCENARIO

EXTENSIVECIRCUMVENTION

SCENARIO

395TJ/year

1,754TJ/year

5,982TJ/year

TVWASHCOLDDISHOVEN

* Source: eurostat (2020): Co2 emission Intensity in europe. https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/co2-emission-intensity- 6#tab-googlechartid_googlechartid_googlechartid_googlechartid_chart_11111


Circumvention of eu ecodesign and energy labelling legislation and standards can have further severe impacts

Anon-satisfactoryperformanceunderreal-lifeuseconditionswillprobablybenoticedbyconsumersandmightleadthemtoreduceorevenavoidtheuseof theECOmodes,orofothermodes/configurations/settingsofownappliances.Theswitchtoother,moreperformingbutalsoprobablymoreresource-intensiveprogrammes/configurations/settingswouldbedisastrousinseveralrespects:Inadditiontothepossiblelostsavingsandclimateprotectionpotential,thetrustofthecivilsocietyandthebusinessoperatorsinkeyEUpolicyinstrumentssuchasecodesignandenergylabellingandstandardsmightbeirreversiblydamaged.

ExAMPlES OFTHESEVERE IMPACTS OFCIRCUMVENTION

MARkETDISTORTIONS/UNFAIRCOMPETITION

lOSSOFREPUTATIONforindividualmanufacturersand/orentireindustries

lOSSOFCONSUMERS’ANDBUSINESSES’TRUST intheoveralleffectivenessofEuropeanlegislationandstandards


9 / WHat We aCHieved: antiCss Contributions to anti-CirCumvention

Main target groups for the complex topic of circumvention are market surveillance authorities and test laboratoriesintermsoftheverificationprocedureofproductcompliance,policy makersaswellasstandardisation organisationswithregardtothedevelopmentandrevisionofEUecodesignandenergylabellingregulationsandtherespectiveharmonisedstandards,manufacturersdesigningproductsandplacingthemonthemarket,consumers represented byconsumer organisations and in the end the overall environment represented byenvironmental ngos. From the beginning, the ANTICSS project focused its dissemination and awarenessraisingactivitiesonthesetargetgroups,ensuringearlyandongoingstakeholderengagementatEuropeanandnationallevelatthevariousstagesoftheproject.Forexample,theANTICSSAdvisoryBoardconsistedofrepresentativesoftheindustryassociationsAPPliAEurope (homeappliance industry)andEPEE(representingthe refrigeration,air-conditioningandheatpumpindustry),theEuropeanconsumerorganisationBEUC,thestandardisationorganisationCEN-CENElECwithitsCoordinationGrouponecodesign,aMemberStatesrepresentativeandonepersonfromaMarketSurveillanceAuthority.Further,ANTICSSorganisedabroadstakeholderconsultation,addressingatotalof278expertsatEuropeanlevel(39MarketSurveillanceAuthorities,61industryrepresentativesand178consumerorganisations,test organisations and environmentalNGOs) to contribute their views and experiences to the collectionofsuspectedcasesandthedevelopmentofaconcisedefinitionofcircumvention.Infourdedicatedworkshops,theperspectivesofNGOs,industryrepresentatives,membersofstandardisationcommitteesandrepresentativesof theEuropeanCommissionwereconsidered in the formulationof thefinalANTICSSrecommendations tobetteraddresscircumventioninfuturestandardisationandpolicyprocessesonecodesignandenergylabelling.

TEAM ANd CoNTACTS

Ms. Kathrin Graulich Senior Researcher Öko-Institut e.V. Postfach 17 71 | d-79017 Freiburg Germany Email: [email protected]

projeCT pArTNerS

projeCT CoordINATor WWW.ANTI-CIrCuMveNTIoN.eu

@ANTICIrCuMveNT

eNeAAgenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l‘energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile CCIAA Mi Camera di commercio industria artigianato agricoltura

IMQIstituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità S.p.A.

AdeNeAdene-agencia para a energia

ASAeAutoridade seguranca alimentar e economica

FFII-LCoeFundacion para el fomento de la innovacion industrial

CM Comunidad de Madrid

eCoSEuropean Environmental Citizens organisation for

Standardisation

BHTCService public federal sante publique, securite de la

chaine alimentaire et environnement

re/gentRe/gent B.V.

NvWANederlandse voedsel en warenautoriteit

SevenSEVEn, the Energy Efficiency Center, z.u.

SeIAStátní energetická inspekce

AeAÖsterreichische Energieagentur

BMWFWBundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft

GrSRegierung von Schwaben – Gewerbeaufsichtsamt

ubonnRheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn

vdeVdE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH

The sole responsibility for the content of this leaflet lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the reflect the opinion of the European Union. Co-funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union under grant agreement no. 785122.

At the latest since the so called “diesel gate”, the topic of manipulated emission testing of cars, possible “circumvention” was exposed to highest attention of public media, also with regard to other EU legislation such as Ecodesign and Energy labelling.

Therefore, specific challenge of the project is to clearly define circumvention and delimitate it from other effects, to identify potential circumvention habits, describe it on a technically sound basis, to make laboratory testing or engineering analysis feasible for the selected product categories and types and to quantify the possible impact for a number of energy related products and relevant measurement methods under EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling.

The project objectives are to assess and define „circumvention“ in order to achieve a better product positioning in relation to the EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards; including clear delimitation from other effects to facilitate unambiguous public communication.

aims to collect, analyse and learn from cases of circum¬vention by literature research, dedicated expert research and interviews, by product testing as well as by analysing existing EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and standardisation for possible loopholes.

aims to provide evidence and guidance on how to better detect and prevent future circumvention; assessing impacts ‚if‘ and ‚how much‘ energy consumption and/or functional performance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention by conducting appliance testing.

Project’s further objectives are to define alternative test procedures or check lists with the aim to by-pass any possible measurement circumvention. provides practical capacity building measures for key actors of market surveillance and test laboratories, support communication and collaboration platforms between major stakeholders and provide policy recommendations for policy makers and standardisation bodies to prevent future circumvention under EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling.

project was also designed to provide reliability to manufacturers by specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far.





LOGIN

ANTICSS project to be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference on June 6th, 2018 The project actions and achievements will be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference in Brussels, on June 6th. The project will be pre-sented within the " Effective Market surveillance for large industrial products as a contribution to overall energy efficiency and energy savings in the EU" presentation.



TEAM AND CONTACTS

ADVISORY BOARD

HELPDESK


FAQ

NEWSLETTERS

EVENTS DOCUMENTS AND DELIVERABLES

NEWSLETTERSUBSCRIPTION

ANTICSS ON TWITTER #10-05-2018#22:25ANTICSS FOCAL POINT MEETING IN ITALY: 11 MAY 2018, THE SECOND NATIONAL FOCAL POINT MEETING OF THE PROJECT IN ITALY WILL TAKE PLACE ON MAY 11, 2018 IN MILANO.



Project introduction PROJECT NEWS

MAY 6TH, 2018

ANTICSS project to be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conference on June 6th, 2018 The INTAS project actions and achievements will be presented at the EUSEW 2018 conferen-ce in Brussels, on June 6th. The project will be presented within the " Effective Market surve-illance for large industrial products as a contri-bution to overall energy efficiency and energy savings in the EU" presentation.

MAR 6TH, 2018


JAN 6TH, 2018



FAQ

NEWSLETTERS

EVENTS

DOCUMENTS AND DELIVERABLES


ANTICSS objectives are to assess and define "circumvention" in order to achieve a better product positioning in relation to EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards; inclu-ding clear delimitation from other effects to facilitate unambiguous public communication. Its aims are also to collect, analyse and learn from cases of circum¬vention by literature research and dedicated expert interviews, as well as analysing existing EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and standardisation for possible loopholes. The potential relation between circumvention and "smart" products with specific embedded software is another issue addressed by the project. From these findings, conclusions how to better detect and prevent future circumvention will be derived; assessing impacts 'if' and 'how much' energy consumption and/or functional performance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention by conducting appli-ance testing. Project’s further objectives are to define alternative test procedures or check lists with the aim to by-pass any possible measurement circu-mvention. Based on the results, ANTICSS will provide practical capaci-ty building measures for key actors of market surveillance and test laboratories, support communication and collaboration platforms between major stakeholders and provide policy recommendations for policy makers and standardisation bodies to prevent future circum-vention under EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling. ANTICSS project was also designed to provide reliability to manufactu-rers by specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far. By overall awareness raising on circumvention among stakeholders, ANTICSS is supporting an effective EU legislation enforcement and thus increasing acceptance and trust of market actors and civil society into the Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation.

FAQ

What are your main questions about products, energy efficiency, market surveillance, Ecodesign, energy labels and circumvention? Find out answers to these questions below.Do contact the project organisers if you want to know more! What are the ANTICSS project key objectives?

ANTICSS objectives are to assess what "circumvention" actually is and how relation to EU eco-design and energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards (measurement methods harmonised for purpose of product conformity) can be circumvented in order to achieve a better product positioning. Its objectives are also to under-stand 'if' and 'how much' energy consumption and/or functional per-formance modifications could be ascribed to circumvention; and 'how' circumvention attempts could be unmasked via the definition of new specific procedures or check lists, modified test conditions, "sentinel" parameters to be screened, etc. and to make recommendations for setting a clearer policy and enforcement framework.

What scope of activities ANTICSS project organises?

ANTICSS firstly aims to define what circumvention is in relation to EU Ecodesign and energy labelling legislation and relevant harmonised standards. It then investigates how they can be circumvented in order to achieve a better product positioning. The project team collects and discusses evidence on circumvention cases, following up with a limi-ted number of physical testing of selected product models along with engineering analysis.

What product categories are being investigated?

An initial selection of product categories and types has been done in the early project phases, researching mostly among the following household appliances: vacuum cleaners, wash appliances (washing machines, dishwashers, washer-dryers, tumble dryers), refrigerating appliances (wine coolers, mini bars), cooking appliances (ovens, range hoods) and other products (TV and/or another product, if considered appropriate). The final selection of product categories and types that will be analysed/tested will be done throughout the project on the basis of information gathered within the project research.

Could you be more specific about the project methodology to detect possible circumvention?

The ANTICSS methodology is simple but effective. The starting point is the elaboration of a detailed definition of what "circumvention" means among the different definitions that might be given by different stakeholders. The list below includes topics that are addressed by the project in order to assess the meaning of "circumvention": hidden software (defeat devices) (hidden) specific cycle/setting/configuration used only for testing for legislation compliance products specifically designed to be excluded from legislation, also exploiting ambiguities in the legislation itself

Sample of an embedded chart, diagram or schema

ANTICSS project team will analyse the results of its investigations and will define recommendations for policy makers and standardisation, to identify circumvention risks and to perform loophole identification testing, thus allowing preparing better circumvention-proof standards and legislation before adoption.

A second outcome will be a complete set of guidelines on "How to detect and avoid circumvention of eco-design and energy labelling legislation and standards", targeted to all market economic and non--economic actors and MSAs for a more effective EU legislation enforce-ment. Note that at the end of the project, the tested models will as much as possible donated free to charity. Only if the discovered circu-mvention will severely decrease the declared performance in a way to make the models non-compliant with the eco-design requirements the specific models will be disposed (according to the national waste

By providing reliability to manufacturers through specifying potentially vague legislation and standards which might be interpreted differently by various market actors and some of them taking unfair advantages so far.




Co-funded by the Horizon 2020Programme of the European Union

CONTACT USHere will be all contactinformation, address, any other contacts. The green sign „at“ – e-mail will be activ: By one click you can start to write e-mail.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement Number 785122. The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not necessa-rily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

PROJECT NEWS

MAR 6TH, 2018

MAY 6TH, 2018

JAN 6TH, 2018

Team and contacts

Project coordinator

Ms. Kathrin GraulichDeputy Head of Sustainable Products and Material Flows DivisionOeko-Institut e.V. P.O. Box 17 71 | 79017 Freiburg GermanyEmail: K.Graulich ATT oeko.dewww.oeko.de

PROJECT COUNTRIES

List of project partners

Österreichische Energieagentur – AEA AustriaBundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft - BMWFW Austria

European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation – ECOS BelgiumService public federal sante publique, securite de la chaine alimentaire et environnement – BHTC Belgium

Camera di commercio industria artigianato agricoltura - CCIAA Mi ItalyAgenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo eco-nomico sostenibile – ENEA ItalyIstituto Italiano del Marchio di Qualità S.p.A. - IMQ Italy

Fundacion para el fomento de la innovacion industrial - FFII-LCOE Comunidad de Madrid – CM Spain

SEVEn, the Energy Efficiency Center, z.u. – SEVEn Czech Rep.Státní energetická inspekce – SEIA Czech Rep.

Regierung von Schwaben – Gewerbeaufsichtsamt – GRS GermanyRheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn – Ubonn GermanyVDE Prüf- und Zertifizierungsinstitut GmbH – VDE Germany

Re/gent B.V. - Re/gent NetherlandsNederlandse voedsel en warenautoriteit - NVWA NetherlandsAdene-agencia para a energia - ADENE Portugal

Autoridade seguranca alimentar e economica - ASAE Portugal

Advisory Board

What are your main questions about products, energy efficiency, market surveillance, Ecodesign, energy labels and circumvention? Find


TheoutcomesoftheprojectwereregularlypresentedtoMarketSurveillanceAuthoritiesattheannualmeetingsoftheAdministrativeCooperationGroups(AdCo)onecodesignandenergylabelling.Also,theresultswerepresentedanddiscussedatvariousmeetingsofnational,Europeanandinternationalstandardisationcommittees.Forthecaseofovensregardingvolumemeasurementwithoutshelfguides,theresultsoftheANTICSSlaboratorytestswerereportedtotheecodesignandenergylabellingreviewstudyoncookingappliancesandformedthebasisforanamendmentofthevolumemeasurementintherevisionprocessofthecurrentstandard.For Market Surveillance Authorities and test laboratories, the ANTICSS project team developed detailedguidelines including process flow charts explaining ways to implement the detection of circumvention inthegeneralcomplianceverificationprocedureunderecodesignandenergy labelling.Asacapacitybuildingmeasure,theseguidelineswerepresentedattwowebinarsspecificallydedicatedtoMSAsandtestlaboratories.As another tool facilitating the detectionof circumventing products, the test laboratoryRe/genT,ANTICSSprojectpartner,developedanExcelbasedtooltobeusedbytestinglaboratories.Thetoolgeneratesrandomlychosenconditions,whichmustbesetduring testingandfinallyprovidesastatementwhether refrigeratorsundertestaresuspiciousforcircumventionornot.Forthescientificcommunity,ANTICSSpublishedtwopapersandpresentedthemattheElectronicGoesGreenconferencein2020andattheeceeeSummerStudyonEnergyEfficiencyin2021.In2019,ANTICSSwasalsopresentedattheEuropeanSustainableEnergyWeek(EUSEW).Finally,totheinterestedpublictheANTICSSresearchresultswerecommunicatedthroughvariousmeansandchannels.Thisincludes2pressreleases,5newsletters,severalarticlesinnewspapers,regularinformationonTwitterandlinkedIn,aswellasorganisingnationalworkshopsineachparticipatingpartnercountriesandthefinalconference.Onthewebportalwww.anti-circumvention.euallreports,guidelines,toolsandpresentationsaswellasthepublishednewslettersandarticlesareavailablefordownload.

All these actions of the ANTICSS project contribute significantly to the general understanding and overallawarenessraisingofrelevantstakeholderstothetopicandimpactsofcircumventionunderEUecodesignandenergylabellingandthusdeliverasignificantprogressonthepathofanti-circumvention.However,evenifalothasalreadybeenachievednotallaboutcircumventionanditsimplicationshasbeeninvestigated,andnotallpossiblewaystoavoiditcouldbeidentifiedwithintheproject.Ifwearetoavoidfuturelossesofenergysavingsduetocircumventionacts,moreworkisstillaheadforallstakeholdersinvolved.

At the latest since the so called “diesel gate”, the topic of manipulated emission testing of cars, possible “cir-cumvention” was exposed to highest attention of public media, also with regard to other EU legislation such as Ecodesign and Energy labelling.

Therefore, specific challenge of the project is to clearly define circumvention and delimitate it from other effects, to identify potential circumvention habits, describe it on a technically sound basis, to make labo-ratory testing or engineering analysis feasible for the selected product categories and types and to quantify the possible impact for a number of energy related products and relevant measurement methods under EU Ecode-sign and Energy labelling.

The project objectives are to assess and define „circumven-tion“ in order to achieve a better product positioning in relation to the EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling legislation and relevant harmoni-sed standards; including clear delimitation from other effects to facilitate unambiguous public communication.

aims to collect, analyse and learn from ca-ses of circum¬vention by literature research, dedicated expert research and interviews, by product testing as well as by analysing existing EU Ecodesign and Energy

Newsletter M 101sT EdiTion

WP7, Deliverable 7.1January 2019

www.anti-circumvention.eu


AnTicssapproachofaverificationproceduretotargetcircumvention

YES

YESYES

YES

YES

YESYES

YES

NO

NO

NO

Standard MSA approach

ANTICSS MSA approach for CV

Beyond current legal framework

Sampling

Product X

Compliant?

Compliance assessment

In scope of regulation according to supplier

(ED/EL)?

Verification of compliance according to

corresponding Annex in ED and EL regulations

Suspicious behaviour? (Sections 4.1.1 & 4.1.2)

Specific only to test situation

(Section 3.3: figure 2)

Automatic detection of the test situation and alteration of the product performance during test

Part a) of ANTICSS definition (Section 3.1)

Both in test situation and in consumer use, but to the latter applicable only theoretically

and/or in extremely rare situations(Section 3.3: figure 2)

Pre-set or manual alteration of the product (specific test instruction only for test labs;

software only reacting to test situation; specific factory setting not reverting after

changing settings in the menu)

Part b) of ANTICSS definition (Section 3.1)

Pre-set alteration of the performance within a short period after putting

the product into service Part c) of ANTICSS definition (Section 3.1)

Justified?(Section 3.4.4)

Harmonised test(Section 4.2.1)

Harmonised test(Section 4.2.1)

Alternative test(Section 4.2.2)

Adjusted deviation > verification tolerance

(Section 4.2.3)

Alternative test(Section 4.2.2)

Hint for CV(Section 3.1)

Jeopardy effect(Section 3.2)

Complete information

in ICSMS

Information of MSA and Commission

via ICSMS update

Follow-up measures


in ICSMS

NO

NO

NO

YES YES

NO Non-compliant

Compliant

Borderline to CV No CVComplete

information in ICSMS


in ICSMS

Follow-up actions


in ICSMS


in ICSMS


in ICSMS

Follow-up measures

(Section 4.3.2)

Follow-up measures

(Section 4.3.2)

Information of MSA and Commission

via ICSMS update Information of MSA

and Commission via ICSMS update

CV

YES

CVPart a)

Parts b) and c) of ANTICSS definition

Specific test instructions also included in user manual;Energy or resource saving software/technologies being specific but not exclusively applicable in the test situation;Others

(Section 3.3: figure 2)

YES NO

MARKETSURVEILLANCE

Adjusted deviation > verification tolerance

(Section 4.2.3)

No CV

Targeting

Compliant Non-compliantNO

Follow-up measures(Section 4.3.1)

under market surveillance if ‘non compliant’


10 / tHe Way forWard: role and responsibilities of relevant aCtors

Interactionandresponsibilities ofdifferentactorsnecessary topreventcircumvention

10.1 / industry and produCt manufaCturers

Circumvention is an illegal act. In this respect, the obvious task and legal responsibility ofmanufacturersis todesignproducts thatcomplywith theapplicableEU legislationand (harmonised)standards.However,manufacturers should also contribute to the overall objectives of the EU ecodesign and energy labellinglegislation.Insimplewords:

morefavourableresultsforaproductmodelachievedthroughcircumventionarenon-compliant.Thecommunicationofsuchresultstoconsumersisalsoleadingtonon-complianceofprovidedinformation.

providingunreliableindicativeinformationtoconsumersabouttheenergyandresourceconsumptionandperformanceofproducts,whererequestedbytheEUlegislation,mayalsobeconsideredanon-compliancetothemoregeneralconsumerprotectionlegislation.

morefavourableresultsduetotheexploitationofweaknessesandloopholesinlegislationarecurrentlynot considered as non-compliance, but are against the spirit and the goals of EU ecodesign andenergy labelling legislationandthesituationmaychange infutureasresultoftheANTICSSprojectrecommendations.

the misuse/abuse of the possibility to provide, for safety reasons and provision of reliable andreproducibleresults,manufacturer’sinstructionsforlaboratorytestingiscurrentlynotillegal;however,theexploitationoftheresultingmorefavourabletestresultsisagainstthespiritandthegoalsofEUecodesign and energy labelling legislation and the situationmay change in future as result of theANTICSSprojectrecommendations.

responsibility for preventing CirCumvention

industry / produCt manufaCturers

poliCy maKers /

regulations

standardisation organisations

marKet surveillanCe autHorities

test laboratories

responsibility for preventing CirCumvention


Beyondthis,manufacturerscanhelpuncoveringactsofcircumventionandclosingambiguitiesorloopholesinlegislationandstandards.Manufacturersknowtheproductsonthemarketandcouldthereforerecogniseandshouldreportatanearlystageanyapparentirregularityorsuspectedcasethatgivecompetitorsanunfairadvantage.AsmembersoftheecodesignandenergylabellingConsultationForumaswellasofstandardisationcommittees,individualmanufacturersortheirindustryAssociationsareactivelyinvolvedinthedevelopmentandrevisionofregulationsandsupportingstandards.Theidentifiedloopholesorambiguitiesshouldalsobereported–andasfaraspossibleovercome–aspartoftherevisionprocessoflegislationorstandards.

10.2 / poliCy maKers and standardisation organisations

extendthelegaldefinitionofcircumventionineuecodesignandenergylabellingregulations to cover all types of circumvention

CircumventionisconsideredanillegalactaccordingtoanewArticleincludedinseveralrecentproductspecificecodesignregulations.Agenericprohibitionisalsopresentintheenergylabellingframeworkregulation(EU)2017/1369.However,theseprohibitionsonlycoverproductsthatactivelyrecognisethetestconditionsandreact by automatically altering their performance during the test. Therefore, it is highly recommended toextend the legal definition of circumvention in ecodesign regulations and the framework energy labellingregulation,tocover–andthereforeforbid–alsotheothersituationsencompassedintheANTICSSdefinitionof circumvention: (i) pre-set or manual alteration of the product, affecting performance and/or resourceconsumptionduringtestand(ii)pre-setalterationoftheperformancewithinashortperiodafterputtingtheproductintoservice.

specify in harmonised standards the instructions manufacturers may provide only for laboratory testing to avoid misuse

Theobligationtofollowmanufacturer’sinstructionfortheinstallationofaproductoritssettingbeforelaboratorytesting is per se correct andunavoidablebecause themanufacturer is theonlyone legally responsible forthecharacteristicsandcomplianceofaproductwithallapplicablelegislation,includingthewayithastobeusedand testedaccording to its intendeduse.Themisuse ofmanufacturer’s instructions, i.e.prescribinginstructionsforaspecificset-upoftheproductonlyforlaboratorytestingaccordingtotheharmonisedstandardwithnocomprehensiblejustification(e.g.technicalorsafetyreasons),inordertoachievemorefavourabletestresultsfallsundertheANTICSScircumventiondefinitionandshouldbedeclaredillegalinlegislationaswellasinstandards.


makepossibletheuseofmodifiedmeasurementmethodsaimedatindicatingthepossiblepresence of circumvention

Whenproductsor respective test settingshavebeenmanipulatedwith theaimof circumvention,productsappeartocomplywiththelegislationrequirementswhentestedfollowingthemeasurementmethodsoftheharmonisedstandards.For this reason, it is impossible todetectcircumventionbehaviourwith thecurrentharmonisedstandards.TheANTICSSprojecthasdevelopedmodifiedmeasurementmethodsthatmayindicatethepossiblepresenceofcircumvention.Thesemodifiedmeasurementmethodsmayencompass:

slightvariationsoftheambienttestconditions,

testingwithoutfollowingthespecificmanufacturer’s instructionsorusingtheaccessoriesprovidedonlyfortestlaboratories;

testing a certain number of cycles beyond those set in the legislation and in relevant harmonisedstandardsand/ortestinginadifferent(randomised)sequence.

PolicymakersandstandardisationbodiesarealsocalledupontodecideifmodifiedmeasurementmethodsshouldbeincludedinaspecificpartoftherelevantharmonisedstandardtobecomelegallyusablebyMarketSurveillanceAuthoritiesandconstitutethelegalbasisforaneventualenforcementactionagainstcircumventingmodels.

analyse the application of legislation at regular intervals to identify and overcome jeopardyeffects,loopholesandotherweaknessesthatmightfacilitatecircumvention

The ANTICSS project has highlighted that the existing ecodesign and energy labelling legislation and therespectiveharmonisedstandardsmayincludeloopholesandotherweaknesses–jeopardyeffects–thatcanbelegallyexploitedbymanufacturerstoachievemorefavourableresults.Thepracticehasshownthatsometime isneededafter theapplicationof anew regulationor standard tounderstand theactual implicationsandrelationsamongthedifferent legal requirementsandtestconditions. Inthisrespect, theapplicationoflegislationandthecorrespondenceofstandardstolegislationshouldbeanalysedatregularintervalstoidentifyambiguities, loopholes, illogical or unintentional interpretations andotherweaknesses thatmight facilitatecircumvention.Onceidentified,theseloopholescouldbeovercomeviaafasttrackrevisionprocedureofthelegislation,viaanamendmentorthepreparationofaneweditionofthestandard,orspecificFAQsincludedintheCommissionGuidelinesthatusuallyaccompanytheEUecodesignandenergylabellingregulationsorFAQspreparedbytheMSAswithintheAdCoGroupsforecodesignandenergylabelling.


10.3 / marKet surveillanCe autHorities and test laboratories

identifypossiblecircumventionandjeopardyeffectsduringthecomplianceverificationandlaboratory testing of investigated products

Due to the definition of circumvention in the current legal framework the action of Market SurveillanceAuthoritiestodetectdifferentpossiblecircumventionbehavioursandconsideringthemasnon-compliantiscurrentlystilllimited.Nevertheless,MSAsandtestlaboratoriesareencouragedtoactivelylookforcasessuspectedofcircumvention.Theseactsmaybecomeillegalandtheresultingmeasurementsresultsbeconsiderednon-compliantinfuturelegislation.ThecollectionofsuchcasesandexchangeofexperiencesamongMSAsandtestlabscanprovideanimportantbasisforthis.

supportthedevelopmentandapplicationofmodifiedmeasurementmethodstoidentifycircumvention

Given the technical impossibility to detect circumvention during laboratory testing following the currentharmonisedstandards,modifiedtestmethodsshouldbedevelopedandappliedonacasebycasebasis toidentifythepossiblepresenceofcircumvention.IncasetheresponsibilityofthepreparationofmodifiedmeasurementisputinchargeofMSAs,itisadvisablethatthedevelopmentofthesemethodsiscarriedoutinclosecooperationbetweenMSAsandthetechnicalexpertsofthecommissionedtestlaboratories.MSAscanprovidedetailsonthesuspectbehaviouraswellasbeing responsible for the follow-upmeasures incaseof resultingnon-complianceof the testedproduct(s).Thetestlaboratoriesarewell-experiencedinthemeasurementconditionsforthedifferenttechnicalproductparameters and in possible adaptations of harmonised standard test conditions. For example, some testlaboratorieshavealreadystartedtodevelopandusesimulationtoolswhichfacilitatetheslightvariationofcertainparametersofthetestconditionsinanautomatedprocess.

regularly exchange experiences about suspicious cases

MSAs and test laboratories could strengthen their competence regarding circumvention: MSAs couldsystematically collect suspicious cases on circumvention or cases falling under the extended ANTICSSdefinitionof circumventionor jeopardyeffects, and share this knowledgewith theaim to identify possiblepatterns,discusstheverificationprocedureandfollow-upmeasures.Forexample,theAdComeetingscouldserveasregularplatformtoexchangeexperiencesonhowtoidentifyandavoidcircumvention.

bring in your expertise in the legislation and standardisation processes

Whenever possible, MSAs’ involvement in ecodesign and energy labelling regulatory processes, includingproductspecificpreparatoryandrevisionstudiesaswellasrelatedstandardisationworkshouldbeencouraged,asthewaytoincludetheirexperienceofpotentialweaknessesandloopholesofregulationsandstandardsthatmightbeusedforcircumvention.Iftheapplicablestandardsdonotaddressknowncircumventionbehavioursorjeopardyeffects,testlaboratoriesare recommended to inform the standardisation committee about this situation to promote the relevantmodificationsduringrevision.


11 / still to do: furtHer need for researCH

Oneof thekeyfindings learntfromtheANTICSSproject is thattheusualverificationprocedure inthepastrelatedtotheverificationofthedeclaredvaluescompliancevialaboratorytestingisnotfit-for-purposeforthedetectionofcircumventionorjeopardyeffects,astheproductitselforitssettingshavebeenmanipulatedorloopholeshavebeenexploitedsothatthetestresultsareinfluencedinawaythattheyturnoutmorefavourablepreciselyunderthetestconditionsoftheharmonisedstandard.TheANTICSSprojectdevelopedseveralmodifiedmeasurementmethodsspecificallyforthepurposeofdetectingsuspectbehaviourofmodelsduringlaboratorytestingthatmayindicatethepresenceofcircumvention.Thesetests encompass e.g. a slight variation of ambient testing conditions, additional single test parameters orrandomisationoftestsequences.MSAshavealwaystheoptiontodevelopownnon-standardisedalternativeteststodetectcircumvention,butsomeexpertshavetheopinionthattheycanbeusedonlyforanengagementwiththemanufacturerandnotforalegalenforcementaction,nothavingalegalbasisinsideanharmonisedstandard.Otherexpertsinsteadthinkthatcircumventionisnotaregulatedproductcharacteristic(itisadesignactoraprescriptionoftestinstructionsbythemanufacturer),soaharmonisedstandardisnotnecessarytoconcludeoncircumventionandthereforeMSAsmayuseall(legal)methodstoprovecircumventionandintheendthecourtwilldecidewhetheracertainproofiswellfoundedandconvincing.ThelegalvalueofmodifiedmeasurementmethodsismatterfordiscussionwithintheEuropeanCommissionlegalserviceandexperts inEU legislation inorder to takeadecisionabout thesubject responsible for thepreparation.Butbeyondthis,MSAsusuallysufferfromalackofpersonnelandfinancialresourcesaswellasthedeeptechnicalexpertisenecessarytodevelopsuchmodifiedmeasurementmethodsontheirown.Therefore,theANTICSSprojectrecommendedthatthemodifiedtestconditionsshouldbecomepartofthefinalharmonisedstandard(s),e.g.inaspecificpartthereofdevotedtopreventionofcircumvention,withtheaimthattheywillbelegallyusablebyMarketSurveillanceAuthorities,andcouldconstitutealegalbasisforaneventualenforcementactionagainstthecircumventingmodels.Itisexpectedthatoncethemodifiedtestmethodsarepartofthestandardthepossibilitytohaveacircumventingmodelwillbecomemoreandmorecostlyandtimeconsumingformanufacturers,duetothetimeneededtodevelopfurthercircumventionbehavioursnon-detectablealsoundermodifiedtests.However,alsofeedbackfromstandardisationorganisationshas revealed that resources inaddition to the regulardevelopmentandrevisionofharmonisedteststandardsareratherlimited.


Forthisreason,wesummarisetheneedforfurtherresearchasfollows:

Furtherfinetuningofthedefinitionofcircumvention: Specificationofthetypesofpre-setormanualalterationoftheproductthataffectperformance

and/orresourceconsumptionduringtestingandshouldbeconsideredasacircumvention. (legal)relevanceoftheintention/unintentionintheassessmentofthedesignactascircumvention.

FurtherdevelopmentoftheANTICSSclassificationofcasesandmodels,especiallythecategorisationandconsequencesofjeopardyeffectswithtestedmodelsresultingintoborderlinetocircumvention.

Furtherdevelopmentofmodifiedtestmethods(e.g.randomisedtestpatterns)includingtheassessmentoftheirreproducibilityandrepeatability,andthedefinitionof‘circumventiontolerances’inthosecaseswherepotentialdeviationsbetweentheharmonisedandthemodifiedtestprocedurecouldbeduetotheadaptationsofthetestmethodologyitself.

‘Resilience check’ of current standards, i.e. the analysis of which of the test parameters could berandomisedorslightlymodifiedwithout influencingthe test results for the regulatory requirementsand therefore serve as potential basis for detection of circumvention through the identification ofunjustifiedabnormalreactionofthetestedmodelstothesevariations.

Analysisoflatestlegislationandstandardsfor(new)loopholesandweaknessesthatmightfacilitatecircumvention, includingtheanalysisof furtherproductcategoriesnotyet in focusof theANTICSSprojectfortheirpotentialofcircumvention.

Establishingacommunicationorcollaborationplatform–engagingallrelevantstakeholderssuchasEuropeanCommission,MarketSurveillanceAuthorities,EuropeanStandardisationOrganisations,testlaboratories,industryandNGOs–toexchangeexperiencesanddiscussthechallengesandconclusionsofassessmentsofproductssuspectofcircumvention.

d a


ContaCts

Thesoleresponsibilityforthecontentofthisdocumentlieswiththeauthors.Itdoesnotnecessarilyreflectthereflecttheopinion oftheEuropeanUnion.SupportedbytheHorizon2020programmeoftheEuropeanUnionundergrantagreementno.785122.

project coordinator

ms. Kathrin graulich DeputyHeadofSustainableProducts

andMaterialFlowsDivision Oeko-Institute.V. P.O.Box1771|D-79017Freiburg Germany Email:[email protected] www.oeko.de

proJeCt partners

https://twitter.com/anticircumvent

www.anti-circumvention.eu

https://www.linkedin.com/company/anticss/

eneaAgenzianazionaleperlenuovetecnologie, l‘energiaelosviluppoeconomicosostenibile CCiaa mi Cameradicommercioindustriaartigianatoagricoltura

imQIstitutoItalianodelMarchiodiQualitàS.p.A.

adeneAdene-agenciaparaaenergia

asaeAutoridadesegurancaalimentareeconomica

bHtCServicepublicfederal

santepublique,securite delachainealimentaire

etenvironnement

ffii – lCoe Fundacionparaelfomento delainnovacionindustrial

Cm ComunidaddeMadrid

eCosEuropeanEnvironmentalCitizens OrganisationforStandardisation

re/gentRe/gentB.V.

nvWaNederlandsevoedsel

enwarenautoriteit

sevenSEVEn,TheEnergyEfficiencyCenter,z.u.

seiaStátníenergetickáinspekce

aeaÖsterreichischeEnergieagentur

bmdWBundesministeriumDigitalisierung undWirtschaftsstandort

oeKoOeko-Institute.V.,InstitutfürAngewandteÖkologie

grsRegierungvonSchwaben–Gewerbeaufsichtsamt

ubonnRheinischeFriedrich-Wilhelms-UniversitätBonn

vdeVDEPrüf-undZertifizierungsinstitutGmbH

http://www.anti-circumvention.eu

mailto:[email protected]

www.oeko.de

https://twitter.com/anticircumvent

https://www.linkedin.com/company/anticss

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