EU Ecodesign Requirements for Computers Come into Effect – July 1, 2014

The first phase of energy efficiency requirements specified in the European Ecodesign regulation for computers and computer servers (Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013) came into effect on July 1, 2014. Compliance with the regulation, an implementing measure under the Ecodesign (ErP) framework Directive, is a CE mark requirement and is mandatory for selling computers and computer servers in the EU.

The regulation established relatively aggressive energy efficiency requirements (in comparison to Energy Star version 5.2). In general, the Ecodesign regulation has a broader scope than the Energy Star specification for computers; however, there are a few important exclusions to the scope of the products covered. Energy efficiency requirements come into effect in two phases. The first phase took effect on July 1 2014 and the second (more aggressive) phase takes effect 18 months later on January 1 2016.

Article 1, paragraph 2 establishes the scope of the implementing measure as “the following products that can be powered directly from the mains alternating current (AC) including via an external or internal power supply: ”

  • desktop computers;
  • integrated desktop computers;
  • notebook computers (including tablet computers, slate computers and mobile thin clients);
  • desktop thin clients;
  • workstations;
  • mobile workstations;
  • small-scale servers;
  • computer servers.

However, Article 1, paragraph 3 goes on to exclude specific product groups including: blade system and components, server appliances, multi-node servers, computer servers with more than four processor sockets, game consoles, and docking stations.

Regulation 617/2013 employs a product categorization taxonomy similar to the US Energy Star Version 5.2 specification. For example, both documents categorize desktop computers as either category A, category B, category C, or category D depending on the performance characteristics of the system – category D is the highest performance desktop computer with a minimum of four physical cores in the CPU and other performance enhancing features as specified in the regulation. Similarly, notebook computers are categorized as Category A, Category B, or Category C based on the performance features. Energy Star moved away from this taxonomy in the Version 6.0 computer specification which makes a direct comparison more difficult.

With respect to energy efficiency targets, Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 is generally more frugal than Energy Star (particularly the 5.2 specification). For example, Desktop category A computers must have a total annual energy consumption (ETEC) of no more than 133 kWh/year (starting July 1, 2014) and 94 kWh/year (starting January 1, 2016). This is aggressive in comparison to the 148 kWh/year specified in the Energy Star 5.2 specification.