Multiple Standards Confound Power-Supply Designers
The melange of energy-efficiency standards used to be good for a “green” label. But how much difference really exists between them?
Don Tuite
ED Online ID #13109
August 3, 2006
Voluntary today will be mandatory tomorrow - unaccountable bureaucracy at work. My favorite examples in this article of what I regard as lunacy are California's agency that waved a magic wand and decided that standby power for set-top boxes would be 1/3 of current devices - "Make it so!" - and Japan's progressive goal-post moving scheme.
The melange of energy-efficiency standards used to be good for a “green” label. But how much difference really exists between them?
Don Tuite
ED Online ID #13109
August 3, 2006
What's a poor power-supply designer to do? The U.S. alone has four standards for energy efficiency: Energy Star, Executive Order 13221 (1-W Standby), 80 Plus, and the regulations of the California Energy Commission.
Europe grapples with at least seven: the International Energy Star program, Blue Angel, the Group for Energy Efficient Appliances, the European Code of Conduct, EU Eco Label, Energy Plus, and Nordic Star. Then there's the Australia Greenhouse Office (Australia also participates in Energy Star), the China Energy Conservation Project, Korea's Energy Saving Office Equipment & Home Electronics Program, and Japan's Top Runner program. Many similarities weave through these programs, but there are enough differences to make powering a product for a global market an exercise in anxiety.
Fortunately, many of the programs are voluntary. Therefore, you could still play in those markets even if you don't meet their standby power of efficiency specs. But you won't get the compliance sticker, which would mean mean you'd most likely be positioning your brand as a "value leader" while sacrificing your profit margin.
Europe grapples with at least seven: the International Energy Star program, Blue Angel, the Group for Energy Efficient Appliances, the European Code of Conduct, EU Eco Label, Energy Plus, and Nordic Star. Then there's the Australia Greenhouse Office (Australia also participates in Energy Star), the China Energy Conservation Project, Korea's Energy Saving Office Equipment & Home Electronics Program, and Japan's Top Runner program. Many similarities weave through these programs, but there are enough differences to make powering a product for a global market an exercise in anxiety.
Fortunately, many of the programs are voluntary. Therefore, you could still play in those markets even if you don't meet their standby power of efficiency specs. But you won't get the compliance sticker, which would mean mean you'd most likely be positioning your brand as a "value leader" while sacrificing your profit margin.
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