Energy efficiency and standardization bodies (part 2 - ISO-IEC)

The increase in energy demand, the growing instability in energy supply and the EU CO2 emmissions reduction commitments have stressed the need for an international strategy on energy efficiency and the diversification of energy sources.

Energy efficiency is, then, a topic which can be found at every international standardisation level (ISO, IEC, CEN, CENELEC, ITU-T, ETSI). This series of short articles provides a brief summary of the main activities currently on going by the various international standardisation bodies relevant to this field of interest.

ISO

In 2005, the ISO General Assembly highlighted the importance of the relationship between standardisation, competitiveness and innovation and expressed the opinion that ISO should foster new initiatives and be more proactive in order to anticipate new fields where international standardisation might support the dissemination of innovation.

As a follow-up to this recommendation, (set forth in General Assembly Resolution 5/2005,) and further to the proposal developed by CSC/STRAT, based on the work done by the “Task force on innovative fields of work for ISO,” the ISO Council has approved, through its resolution 35/2006, a pilot process to complement the existing approaches for identifying and prioritising innovative fields of work. In this resolution, the Secretary-General is asked  to initiate the pilot implementation of the process immediately, starting with the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, to be followed, in a timeframe dependent on available resources, by biotechnology.

IEC

IEC created a working group (SMB-SG1) aiming to analyse the current situation in the field of energy efficiency standardisation (as awell as renewables) and to identify standardisation gaps and opportunities.
The kick-off meeting of this Task Force took place in May 2007.

The group eventually agreed to the following Terms of Reference (ToR):

• to analyse the status quo in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources (existing IEC standards, ongoing projects)
• to identify “white spots”/gaps/opportunities and find new ways of achieving energy efficiency in the electrotechnical domain
• to set objectives for electrical energy efficiency (EEE) in products and systems
• to formulate recommendations for further actions