Eco-Desing And Seasonal Efficiency; Eco-Design; Seasonal Efficiency - Hitachi UTOPIA R32 Series Technical Catalogue

2 Features and benefits
Eco-Desing and Seasonal Efficiency

2.2 Eco-Desing and Seasonal Efficiency

To respond to the European Environmental Objectives of the 3 x 20 (-20% energy consumption, -20% CO2 emission,
+20% renewable energy) within 2020, Europe revised the original Ecodesign Directive (Directive 2005/32/CE) and
enlarged the applications covered. Initially the scope of Eco-Design was products using energy (E.u.P.). From now on,
the scope of Eco-Design will be all products related to energy reduction (ex: air conditioning, windows...) and is called
ErP (Energy related Products).

2.2.1 Eco-Design

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The Eco-Design of Energy-related products (ErP) Directive provides consistent EU-wide rules for improving the
environmental performance of energy related products (ErP) by requiring integration of eco considerations at the outset
of product design – ensuring reduced energy consumption to benefit both businesses and consumers. It implies a
consideration of the environmental aspect of any products or services developed. This approach consists of qualifying
'CO2 emission' and 'energy consumption' during the whole life of the product (from design to the end life, including
transport).
Eco-Design analyses highlighted the fact that the major environmental impact is related to the "usage period" of the
above products. For this reason, ErP fixes minimum performance levels to allow products coming in the European
market. Simultaneously, ErP fixes technical communication contents to end user through a label (data on performance,
sound level) in order to help them to make their choice.
ErP is applied to all air conditioning and heating equipment, whatever the type (air/air, air/water, water/water, boilers...),
the capacity, the usage (heating, cooling, SHW) is, through different "Lots" and at different application frameworks. The
first one, coming into application on 1rst January 2013, was "Lot 10". It does concern all air conditioning systems (air/air),
with a capacity lower than 12kw, operating in heating and/or cooling mode.
These regulations include air conditioning products, which are a key source of energy consumption in buildings, and
require all manufacturers to calculate energy usage in a more realistic way, moving from nominal to seasonal, creating a
more accurate calculation and representation of products in the market.
Key issues in terms of compliance are:
(a) Fixing a minimum level of performance in heating and cooling mode
(b) Fixing a maximum sound power level for indoor and outdoor units
(c) Fixing communication of above characteristics to end users through labelling
Hitachi has always engineered the most environmentally-friendly heating and cooling products from its factories, and is
proud to launch a complete range of fully ErP-compliant air conditioning products. Where product ranges and models
fall outside the scope of the ErP directive (<12kW), there are a series of enhancements for RAC; in particular UTOPIA
Series, which already are market leaders in Japan's Annual Performance Factor (APF) for seasonal efficiency.

2.2.2 Seasonal Efficiency

Seasonal Efficiency has been developed in the Eco Design Directive (EU's Energy Related Products Directive), which
specifies the minimum requirements that manufacturers must integrate into their energy using products.
Target relies on a seasonal performance of the equipment called SCOP (heating mode) and SEER (cooling mode) for an
average European climate. This performance value will replace historical nominal values of COP and EER.
The new calculation uses several rating temperatures for cooling and heating, and integrates partial capacity operation
in the calculation. Since most systems operate most of the time under a partial load, the new methodology gives a better
indication of expected real-life performance. The new seasonal efficiency calculation will also take into consideration the
power consumed by devices in auxiliary modes like standby mode.
19 TCGB0136 rev.1 - 05/2021