Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2281 of 30 November 2016 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products, with regard to ecodesign requirements for air heating products, cooling products, high temperature process chillers and fan coil units (Text with EEA relevance )

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation establishes ecodesign requirements for the placing on the market and/or putting into service of:

(a) air heating products with a rated heating capacity not exceeding 1 MW;

(b) cooling products and high temperature process chillers with a rated cooling capacity not exceeding 2 MW;

(c) fan coil units.

This Regulation shall not apply to products meeting at least one of the following criteria:

(a) products covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1188 with regard to ecodesign requirements for local space heaters (¹);

(b) products covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2012 with regard to ecodesign requirements for air conditioners and comfort fans (²);

(c) products covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 813/2013 with regard to ecodesign requirements for space heaters and combination heaters (³);

(d) products covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1095 with regard to ecodesign requirements for professional refrigerated storage cabinets, blast cabinets, condensing units and process chillers (⁴);

(e) comfort chillers with leaving chilled water temperatures of less than + 2 °C and high temperature process chillers with leaving chilled water temperatures of less than + 2 °C or more than + 12 °C;

(f) products designed for using predominantly biomass fuels;

(g) products using solid fuels;

(h) products that supply heat or cold in combination with electric power (‘cogeneration’) by means of a fuel combustion or conversion process;

(i) products included in installations covered by Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁵) on industrial emissions;

(j) high temperature process chillers exclusively using evaporative condensing;

(k) custom-made products assembled on site, made on a one-off basis;

(l) high temperature process chillers in which refrigeration is effected by an absorption process that uses heat as the energy source; and

(m) air heating and/or cooling products of which the primary function is the purpose of producing or storing perishable materials at specified temperatures by commercial, institutional or industrial facilities and of which space heating and/or space cooling is a secondary function and for which the energy efficiency of the space heating and/or space cooling function is dependent on that of the primary function.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply in addition to the definitions set out in Directive 2009/125/EC:

(1) ‘air heating product’ means a device that: (a) incorporates or provides heat to an air-based heating system; (b) is equipped with one or more heat generators; and (c) may include an air-based heating system for supplying heated air directly into the heated space by means of an air-moving device. A heat generator designed for an air heating product and an air heating product housing designed to be equipped with such a heat generator shall, together, be considered as an air heating product;

(2) ‘air-based heating system’ means the components and/or equipment necessary for the supply of heated air, by means of an air-moving device, either through ducting or directly into the heated space, where the purpose of the system is to attain and maintain the desired indoor temperature of an enclosed space, such as a building or parts thereof, for the thermal comfort of human beings;

(3) ‘heat generator’ means the part of an air heating product that generates useful heat using one or more of the following processes: (a) the combustion of liquid or gaseous fuels; (b) the Joule effect, taking place in the heating elements of an electric resistance heating system; (c) by capturing heat from ambient air, ventilation exhaust air, water or ground heat source(s) and transferring this heat to the air-based heating system using a vapour compression cycle or a sorption cycle;

(4) ‘cooling product’ means a device that: (a) incorporates, or provides chilled air or water to, an air-based cooling system or water-based cooling system; and (b) is equipped with one or more cold generator(s). A cold generator designed for use in a cooling product and a cooling product housing designed to be equipped with such a cold generator shall, together, be considered as a cooling product;

(5) ‘air-based cooling system’ means the components or equipment necessary for the supply of cooled air, by means of an air-moving device, either through ducting or directly into the cooled space, in order to attain and maintain the desired indoor temperature of an enclosed space, such as a building or parts thereof, for the thermal comfort of human beings;

(6) ‘water-based cooling system’ means the components or equipment necessary for the distribution of chilled water and the transfer of heat from indoor spaces to chilled water, where the purpose of the system is to attain and maintain the desired indoor temperature of an enclosed space, such as a building or parts thereof, for the thermal comfort of human beings;

(7) ‘cold generator’ means the part of a cooling product that generates a temperature difference allowing heat to be extracted from the heat source, the indoor space to be cooled, and transferred to a heat sink, such as ambient air, water or ground, using a vapour compression cycle or a sorption cycle;

(8) ‘comfort chiller’ means a cooling product: (a) whose indoor side heat exchanger (evaporator) extracts heat from a water-based cooling system (heat source), designed to operate at leaving chilled water temperatures greater than or equal to + 2 °C; (b) that is equipped with a cold generator; and (c) whose outdoor side heat exchanger (condenser) releases this heat to ambient air, water or ground heat sink(s);

(9) ‘fan coil unit’ means a device that provides forced circulation of indoor air, for the purpose of one or more of heating, cooling, dehumidification and filtering of indoor air, for the thermal comfort of human beings, but which does not include the source of heating or cooling nor an outdoor side heat exchanger. The device may be equipped with minimal ductwork to guide the intake and exit of air, including conditioned air. The product may be designed to be built in or may have an enclosure allowing it be placed in the space to be conditioned. It may include a Joule effect heat generator designed to be used as back-up heater only;

(10) ‘high temperature process chiller’ means a product: (a) integrating at least one compressor, driven or intended to be driven by an electric motor, and at least one evaporator; (b) capable of cooling down and continuously maintaining the temperature of a liquid, in order to provide cooling to a refrigerated appliance or system, the purpose of which is not to provide cooling of a space for the thermal comfort of human beings; (c) that is capable of delivering its rated refrigeration capacity, at an indoor side heat exchanger outlet temperature of 7 °C, at standard rating conditions; (d) that may or may not integrate the condenser, the coolant circuit hardware or other ancillary equipment;

(11) ‘rated refrigeration capacity’ (P) means the refrigeration capacity that the high temperature process chiller is able to reach, when operating at full load and measured at an inlet air temperature of 35 °C for air-cooled high temperature process chillers and at an inlet water temperature of 30 °C for water-cooled high temperature process chillers, expressed in kW;

(12) ‘air-cooled high temperature process chiller’ means a high temperature process chiller, of which the heat transfer medium at the condensing side is air;

(13) ‘water-cooled high temperature process chiller’ means a high temperature process chiller, of which the heat transfer medium at the condensing side is water or brine;

(14) ‘biomass fuel’ means a fuel produced from biomass;

(15) ‘biomass’ means the biodegradable part of products, waste and residues of biological origin from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries including fisheries and aquaculture, and the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste;

(16) ‘solid fuel’ means a fuel which is solid at normal indoor room temperatures;

(17) ‘rated heating capacity’ (Prated,h) means the heating capacity of a heat pump, warm air heater or fan coil units when providing space heating at ‘standard rating conditions’, expressed in kW;

(18) ‘rated cooling capacity’ (Prated,c) means the cooling capacity of a comfort chiller and/or air conditioner or fan coil units when providing space cooling at ‘standard rating conditions’, expressed in kW;

(19) ‘standard rating conditions’ means the operating conditions of comfort chillers, air conditioners and heat pumps under which they are tested to determine their rated heating capacity, rated cooling capacity, sound power level and/or emissions of nitrogen oxides. For products using internal combustion engines, this is the engine rpm equivalent (Erpmequivalent);

(20) ‘leaving chilled water temperature’ means the temperature of the water leaving the comfort chiller, expressed in degree Celsius.

For the purposes of the Annexes II to V, additional definitions are set out in Annex I.

Article 3

Ecodesign requirements and timetable

Each ecodesign requirement shall apply in accordance with the following timetable:

(a) From 1 January 2018: (i) air heating products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (1)(a) and point (5) of Annex II; (ii) cooling products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (2)(a) and point (5) of Annex II; (iii) high temperature process chillers shall comply with the requirements set out in point (3)(a) and point (5) of Annex II; (iv) fan coil units shall comply with the requirements set out in point (5) of Annex II.

(b) From 26 September 2018: (i) air heating products and cooling products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (4)(a) of Annex II.

(c) From 1 January 2021: (i) air heating products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (1)(b) of Annex II; (ii) cooling products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (2)(b) of Annex II; (iii) high temperature process chillers shall comply with the requirements set out in point (3)(b) of Annex II; (iv) air heating products shall comply with the requirements set out in point (4)(b) of Annex II.

Article 4

Conformity assessment

Manufacturers shall be able to choose whether to use, for the conformity assessment procedure referred to in Article 8(2) of Directive 2009/125/EC, either the internal design control set out in Annex IV to that Directive or the management system set out in Annex V to that Directive.

Manufacturers shall provide the technical documentation containing the information set out in point 5(c) of Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 5

Verification procedure for market surveillance purposes

Member States' competent authorities shall apply the verification procedure set out in Annex IV to this Regulation when performing the market surveillance checks referred to in Article 3(2) of Directive 2009/125/EC, to ensure compliance with the requirements set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 6

Benchmarks

The indicative benchmarks for classifying air heating products, cooling products and high temperature process chillers available on the market at the time of entry into force of this Regulation as ‘best-performing’ are set out in Annex V to this Regulation.

Article 7

Review

The Commission shall review this Regulation in the light of technological progress made in connection to air heating products, cooling products and high temperature process chillers. It shall present the results of this review to the Ecodesign Consultation Forum no later than 1 January 2022. The review shall include an assessment of the following aspects:

(a) the appropriateness of setting ecodesign requirements covering direct greenhouse gas emissions caused by refrigerants;

(b) the appropriateness of setting ecodesign requirements for high temperature process chillers using evaporative condensing and high temperature process chillers using absorption technology;

(c) the appropriateness of setting stricter ecodesign requirements for the energy efficiency and emissions of nitrogen oxides of air heating products, cooling products and high temperature process chillers;

(d) the appropriateness of setting ecodesign requirements for the noise emissions of air heating products, cooling products, high temperature process chillers and fan coil units;

(e) the appropriateness of setting emission requirements on the basis of useful heating or cooling capacity, instead of energy input;

(f) the appropriateness of setting ecodesign requirements for combination warm air heaters;

(g) the appropriateness of setting energy labelling requirements for domestic air heating products;

(h) the appropriateness of setting stricter ecodesign requirements for C2 and C4 warm air heaters;

(i) the appropriateness of setting stricter ecodesign requirements for rooftop and ductable air conditioners and heat pumps;

(j) the appropriateness of third party certification; and

(k) for all products, the value of the tolerances for verification, as mentioned in the verification procedures set out in Annex IV.

Article 8

Derogation

Article 9

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

Definitions applicable for Annexes II to V

For the purposes of this Regulation in addition to the definitions set out in Directive 2009/125/EC, the following definitions shall apply:

Common definitions

(1) ‘conversion coefficient’ (CC) means a coefficient reflecting the estimated 40 % average EU generation efficiency, as established in Annex IV of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁶); the value of the conversion coefficient shall be CC = 2,5;

(2) ‘gross calorific value’ (GCV) means the total amount of heat released by a unit quantity of fuel when it is burned completely with oxygen and when the products of combustion are returned to ambient temperature; this quantity includes the heat of condensation of any water vapour contained in the fuel and of the water vapour formed by the combustion of any hydrogen contained in the fuel;

(3) ‘global warming potential’ (GWP) means the climatic warming potential of a greenhouse gas relative to that of carbon dioxide (CO2), calculated in terms of the 100-year warming potential of one kilogram of a greenhouse gas related to one kilogram of CO2. GWP values considered are those set out in Annexes I, II and IV to Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. GWP values for mixtures of refrigerants shall be based on the method presented in Annex IV of the Regulation (EU) No 517/2014;

(4) ‘air flow rate’ means the air flow rate in m³/h measured at the air outlet of indoor and/or outdoor units (if applicable) of comfort chillers, air conditioners or heat pumps, and fan coil units at standard rating conditions for cooling, or heating if the product has no cooling function;

(5) ‘sound power level’ (LWA) means the A-weighted sound power level measured indoors and/or outdoors, at standard rating conditions, and expressed in dB;

(6) ‘supplementary heater’ means a heat generator of the air heating product that generates supplemental heat during conditions where the heating load exceeds the heating capacity of the preferred heat generator;

(7) ‘preferred heat generator’ means the heat generator of the air heating product that has the highest contribution in the total heat supplied over the heating season;

(8) ‘seasonal space heating energy efficiency’ (ηs,h) means the ratio between the reference annual heating demand pertaining to the heating season covered by an air heating product, and the annual energy consumption for heating, corrected by contributions accounting for temperature control and the electricity consumption of ground water pump(s), where applicable, expressed in %;

(9) ‘seasonal space cooling energy efficiency’ (ηs,c) means the ratio between the reference annual cooling demand pertaining to the cooling season covered by a cooling product, and the annual energy consumption for cooling, corrected by contributions accounting for temperature control and the electricity consumption of ground water pump(s), where applicable, expressed in %;

(10) ‘temperature control’ means equipment that interfaces with the end-user regarding the values and timing of desired indoor temperature and communicates relevant data, such as actual indoor and/or outdoor temperature(s), to an interface of the air heating or cooling product such as a central processing unit, thus contributing to the regulation of the indoor temperature(s);

(11) ‘bin’ (binj) means a combination of an ‘outdoor temperature (Tj)’ and ‘bin hours (h j)’, as set out in Annex III, Tables 26, 27 and 28;

(12) ‘bin hours’ (hj) means the hours per season, expressed in hours per year, at which an outdoor temperature occurs for each bin, as set out in Annex III, Tables 26, 27 and 28;

(13) ‘indoor temperature’ (Tin) means the dry bulb indoor air temperature, expressed in degrees Celsius; the relative humidity may be indicated by a corresponding wet bulb temperature;

(14) ‘outdoor temperature’ (Tj) means the dry bulb outdoor air temperature, expressed in degrees Celsius; the relative humidity may be indicated by a corresponding wet bulb temperature;

(15) ‘capacity control’ means the ability of a heat pump, air conditioner, comfort chiller or high temperature process chiller to change its heating or cooling capacity by changing the volumetric flow rate of the refrigerant(s), to be indicated as ‘fixed’ if the volumetric flow rate cannot be changed, ‘staged’ if the volumetric flow rate is changed or varied in series of not more than two steps, or ‘variable’ if the volumetric flow rate is changed or varied in series of three or more steps;

(16) ‘degradation coefficient’ ((Cdh) for heating mode and (Cdc) for cooling or refrigeration mode) means the measure of efficiency loss due to cycling of the product; if it is not determined by measurement then the default degradation coefficient shall be 0,25 for an air conditioner or heat pump, or 0,9 for a comfort or high temperature process chiller;

(17) ‘nitrogen oxides emissions’ means the sum of the emissions of nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide by air heating products or cooling products using gaseous or liquid fuels, and expressed in nitrogen dioxide, established while providing the rated heating capacity, expressed in mg/kWh in terms of GCV.

Definitions related to warm air heaters