And... Action! The training on the refrigerator standard IEC 62552:2015 specifying the characteristics of household refrigerating appliances and test methods was broadcasted live from the Netherlands to the participants in Colombia.
Minimum Energy Performance standards (MEPS) are an important policy instrument to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and to reduce CO2 emissions. They therefore play an important role in protecting the environment. In September 2020, an updated version of the Technical Energy Efficiency Labelling Regulation (RETIQ) entered into force in Colombia, eliminating less efficient energy performance classes of domestic refrigerators from September 2021 onwards. With this new regulation, laboratories are requested to implement the 2015 version of the international energy performance testing standard IEC 62552. For that reason, an online training workshop was organized to strengthen capacities of Colombian domestic refrigerator producers, laboratories and national institutions in applying the standard.
Organisers
The training was organized by the NAMA Support Project (NSP) “Colombian NAMA for the domestic refrigeration sector” financed by the NAMA Facility and which is being implemented by GIZ, the Ozone Technical Unit (UTO) of the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (Minambiente) and the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy (Minenergia). The workshop was directed to representatives from the testing laboratories of domestic refrigerators’ producers such as CHALLENGER, HACEB and MABE, as well as other testing laboratories such as INDUSEL and the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB), and key members of public institutions involved in the evaluation and certification of the energy efficiency performance of the domestic refrigerators sold in Colombia.
Quote
"The training will make sure that all laboratories have a common understanding of the standard and apply the testing methods in the same way. And of course, the increase in knowledge is an excellent added value."
Objective
The objective of the training was to support Colombian domestic refrigerator producers, laboratories and national institutions in developing their analytical capacities to implement standard IEC 62552:2015 Household refrigerating appliances - Characteristics and test methods, including:
- Part 1: General requirements
- Part 2: Performance requirements
- Part 3: Energy consumption and volume.
From 28 October to 30 November 2020, a total of 40 hours of theoretical and practical sessions were held by experts from the Dutch Testing and R&D Centre Re/genT. The workshop contained theoretical and practical online training sessions with live filming on implementing test procedures according to the IEC 62552-1-2-3: 2015 standard. A major part of the online training focused on energy consumption tests and their stabilisation algorithms, but also tests related to the initial pull down, the volume, storage, temperature rise time, cooling capacity and freezing capacity were discussed. In addition to this, the participants also learned how to use the software ColApp for data analysis.
“The training will make it easier to implement the tests”, summed one participant it up. “It cleared up doubts, unified technical concepts, introduced the software and increased the knowledge of the personnel who execute the performance tests”. The training is part of the advisory activities carried out by the NSP to improve the technical capacities of national producers in designing and producing more energy efficient and climate friendly domestic refrigerators. A total of 46 participants were trained and activities in the field of energy efficiency will continue in 2021.