Development of Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for Fans and Ventilation Units

In this presentation we dive in to the approach, progress and preliminary results of the project to develop product environmental footprint category rules (PEFCR) for fans and ventilation units.

In December 2021 the European Commission adopted a revised recommendation (EU 2021/2279) promoting the use of the environmental footprint (EF) methods to measure and communicate environmental performance of products and organizations in a reliable, verifiable, and comparable way. The PEF method is based on life cycle assessment (LCA). This means that it enables quantification of the environmental performance of a product or process over its entire life cycle by taking the full value chain in consideration; from material extraction through manufacturing, product use and until the final disposal at end of life. To streamline the use of the PEF method bIn this presentation we dive in to the approach, progress and preliminary results of the project to develop product environmental footprint category rules (PEFCR) for fans and ventilation units. In December 2021 the European Commission adopted a revised recommendation (EU 2021/2279) promoting the use of the environmental footprint (EF) methods to measure and communicate environmental performance of products and organizations in a reliable, verifiable, and comparable way. The PEF method is based on life cycle assessment (LCA). This means that it enables quantification of the environmental performance of a product or process over its entire life cycle by taking the full value chain in consideration; from material extraction through manufacturing, product use and until the final disposal at end of life. To streamline the use of the PEF method by manufacturers, category rules (PEFCR’s) for specific product groups are developed by industry associations.

The European Ventilation Industry Association (EVIA) has commissioned Ecomatters, a sustainability consultancy based in the Netherlands to develop the PEFCR based on the PEF method. With the PEFCR, EVIA aims to promote unified and streamlined product sustainability assessment by their members, and to prepare the industry for potential future regulations or policy developments. The PEFCR for fans and ventilation units covers several subgroups as identified by EVIA: fans, residential ventilation units (unidirectional and bidirectional), and non-residential ventilation units. For the development of the PEFCR, a study of a representative product (RP-study) is performed for each identified subgroup. Industry manufacturers are widely engaged throughout the project, from data collection to providing input for the RP study and PEFCR. During the presentation Ecomatters provides a clear overview of the project, its context, and elaborates on the preliminary results of the RP study.y manufacturers, category rules (PEFCR’s) for specific product groups are developed by industry associations. The European Ventilation Industry Association (EVIA) has commissioned Ecomatters, a sustainability consultancy based in the Netherlands to develop the PEFCR based on the PEF method. With the PEFCR, EVIA aims to promote unified and streamlined product sustainability assessment by their members, and to prepare the industry for potential future regulations or policy developments. The PEFCR for fans and ventilation units covers several subgroups as identified by EVIA: fans, residential ventilation units (unidirectional and bidirectional), and non-residential ventilation units. For the development of the PEFCR, a study of a representative product (RP-study) is performed for each identified subgroup. Industry manufacturers are widely engaged throughout the project, from data collection to providing input for the RP study and PEFCR.

During the presentation Ecomatters provides a clear overview of the project, its context, and elaborates on the preliminary results of the RP study.