E.U. nations on Thursday agreed that manufacturers should make an array of building products, including windows and taps, more energy-efficient, broadening out a law on green design.
“Many energy-related products have a significant potential for being improved in order to reduce environmental impacts and to achieve energy savings through better design,” the revised law on environmentally-conscious design says, stressing that such rules can also save businesses and consumers money.
The rules already apply to energy-using products, such as washing machines, freezers and hair-dryers.
The new rules, still to be rubber-stamped, state that “products used in construction such as windows, insulation materials, or some water-using products such as shower heads or taps” should also be designed with environmental savings in mind, from manufacture to use and disposal.
The new rules would also cut disparities between EU member states’ individual rules which can “create barriers to trade and distort competition,” EU ministers agreed.
The eco-design measures are part of a grander European Union scheme to cut the greenhouses gases blamed for global warming.
The EU also has laws on car emissions and is seeking to do the same for vans.
“Many energy-related products have a significant potential for being improved in order to reduce environmental impacts and to achieve energy savings through better design,” the EU statement said.
