Revision of "Blue Angel" regulations in the field of heating rooms and buildings

The German ecolabel “Blue Angel” (“Der Blaue Engel”) has been applied to environmentally friendly products since 1978. Space heating systems that have been awarded the Blue Angel are particularly efficient and low on emissions and thus make an important contribution to climate protection.

To assure the permanently superior environmental performance of those products, reviews and corrections of the Blue Angel basic criteria have to be conducted on a regular basis. The scientific basis for the revision of the basic criteria for wood pellet ovens/boilers, heat pumps, hot water storage tanks, micro-CHPs and gas condensing boilers was prepared by IÖW in close consultation with stakeholders and the German Environmental Protection Agency (UBA).

The most important results of this project are:
 

• Benchmarks for adjusting the requirements for energy efficiency and emissions
• Improvement of the TEWI-concept for assessing heat pumps
• Adaptation to current standards in the light of European activities concerning ecodesign and energy labelling
• Introduction of the Blue Angel for wood chips boilers

 
The revised basic criteria and the underlying IÖW reports are available on the website of the Blue Angel (www.blauer-engel.de).