The PCR of the PEP ecopassport® program becomes a standardised reference

The availability and the quality of environmental information on electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment is becoming an increasingly important factor in instructing authorities' purchasing policies and specifications. The very goal of the PEP ecopassport® programme is to ensure that the environmental declarations provide reliable, transparent, comparable and verified information in compliance with the standard ISO 14025

Thus, the PEP ecopassport® programme lays down an international reference framework and procedures that allow the manufacturers of electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment to communicate PEP (Product Environmental Profile)  using the environmental declaration format type III In addition to the rules defining the verification scheme, production and use of the label, the PEP ecopassport® programme also lays down the rules applying to the product categories, known as PCR, or Product Category Rules.

The French Ministry for Housing and Urban Planning has launched a regulatory initiative with regard to the format of the environmental declarations for electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment intended for use in building structures. This initiative aims to introduce compulsory environmental declarations based on a multi-criteria Life Cycle Assessment for products for which one or more environmental aspects are communicated.

In order to have the PCR of the PEP ecopassport ® program been retained as a methodology in this context, they will be published as a series of experimental standards "Environmental Declaration for electrical, electronic equipment and HVAC intended for use in building structures”. This series XPC 08-100-x will be called by the regulation.

The first part XPC 08-100-1 developed within UTE/AFNOR and chaired by Emmanuelle Briere of the manufacturer association UNICLIMA, covers the common rules of the PCR. Amongst others, it provides the environmental indicators to be declared and the associated calculation methods. These indicators converge with the harmonised European environmental indicators applicable to building equipment, and meet the corresponding regulatory requirements.

As Serge Theoleyre, Chairman of the Technical Committee, emphasizes, the standardization process is part of the policy of PEP Program ecopassport ®. The aim is that these PCR for environmental declarations of electric or HVAC products are confirmed to be an international reference. In the short term, this will serve as a basis for European projects and make the industry able to address market demands and eco design regulations applicable to these equipments.