GEN – 936.00. BACS have been subject to a scoping study to evaluate if a full preparatory study would be necessary. The scoping study has been published and can be commented upon until 16 September 2018. Our Team has summarised all key aspects for members within this article.
Background
BACS have been included in the 3rd Ecodesign Work Plan.
The views on whether or not BACS would need to be subject to an Ecodesign Regulation vary among different industries. Some views are expressed by a limited number of stakeholders and can be found in the annexes to the scoping study.
Scoping Study
The scoping study was accompanied by 28 stakeholders. It explored many fields and concluded that it would be necessary to carefully define the scope of the full BACS preparatory study. Several assumptions regarding the energy saving potential (overall and on BACS themselves) would motivate the preparatory study and the development of Ecodesign and energy Labelling measures. These measures would focus on the accuracy and functionality of BACS.
The links with the Smart Readiness Indicator (ENER Lot 33) and the BACS requirements for Technical Building Systems under the EPBD for installations over 290 KW have been highlighted.
The issue related to interoperability would also require attention.
The existing Ecodesign Regulations for space, water and local space heaters would be looked at regarding the impact of BACS on the “package label”.
The preparatory study would need to examine the gaps in the supporting standardisation framework so that BACS can be classified.
Next steps
Stakeholders are invited to send their position paper on the scoping of the study before 16 September 2018 at: 4bacs@vito.be including Veerle.BEELAERTS@ec.europa.eu in cc.
Afterwards, the services of the European Commission will decide on the scope of a full preparatory study based on the scoping report and the position papers received would start in 2019.
Recommended Actions
As controls are increasingly used, manufacturers are recommended to read the scoping study, register to the project to formulate their views towards the consortium and the Commission.
Related documents and links
All related documents and articles can be found in the respective sections in the right sidebar.
As soon as the Commission documents become available, they will become available on the Eurovent Extranet.
- ENER Lot 38 BACS: https://ecodesignbacs.eu/welcome
- Scoping report: https://ecodesignbacs.eu/sites/ecodesignbacs.eu/files/attachments/BACS_scopeReport.pdf
- Annexes to scoping report including some industry views: https://ecodesignbacs.eu/sites/ecodesignbacs.eu/files/attachments/BACSscopeReportAnnexes.pdf
- ENER Lot 33 Smart appliances: http://www.eco-smartappliances.eu/Pages/welcome.aspx
- EPBD Smart Readiness Indicator: https://smartreadinessindicator.eu/
- EPBD Regulation 2018/844 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?toc=OJ%3AL%3A2018%3A156%3ATOC&uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2018.156.01.0075.01.ENG