What does the next generation of MEPS look like?

Panel: 7. Appliances, product policy and the ICT supply chain

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Andrew DeLaski, Appliance Standards Awareness Project, USA
James E. McMahon, Better Climate Research and Policy Analysis, USA
Jennifer Amann, American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy, USA
Sameer Kwatra, American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy, USA
Joanna Mauer, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, USA

Abstract

Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS) have proven to be among the most effective and economically attractive national and regional policies for saving energy. In both the United States and European Union, the MEPS programs are very mature with existing MEPS covering products representing a significant portion of total energy consumption in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. In many cases, MEPS for individual products have been updated and strengthened multiple times leading some to observe that savings potential from future revisions are diminishing. However, significant sustained improvements in energy efficiency are needed to meet economy-wide energy saving and climate change mitigation goals. Technologies continue to evolve and converge. How can traditional MEPS evolve over the next decade to enable this policy approach to continue to deliver very large energy savings? This paper will report on the findings of two focus groups of experts scheduled to be convened in fall 2014. The focus group research will be supplemented by individual interviews with international experts. The research will generate and catalogue ideas for how MEPS can evolve to yield increased savings and discuss the pros and cons of applying various new approaches, some of which may have already been used on a limited basis in some economies. Topics will include: strategies for maximizing energy savings through improvements to current processes; strategies for better capturing savings from controls, including applications of information and communication technologies; using MEPS to address systems opportunities; applying MEPS to new categories of products, including non-traditional types (e.g. non-energy-using building components such as windows); wider application of horizontal MEPS; and improved integration with other energy efficiency and climate change mitigation strategies. Future research directions will be identified for the most promising strategies.