Green ratings: making sense of numbers, stars and logos

Words by Bette Flagler.

It seems as if just about everything has one eco-label or another plastered on to it. While some labelling is mandatory (for example, the New Zealand government requires appliances to be rated through the Energy Star scheme described previously), most is optional. Even so, company claims must comply with the Fair Trading Act.

Last December the Commerce Commission released its Guidelines for Green Marketing so that businesses understand their obligations for accuracy and usefulness when labelling products “green”. Among other things, the guidelines state that claims must be accurate, specific, written in plain language and able to be substantiated. In addition, claims must not overstate a benefit.

Power

New Zealand and Australia work together on minimum-energy performance standards (MEPS) for consumer electrical products. These standards establish energy guidelines that new products must meet or exceed in order to be sold in either country. Products such as whiteware and heat pumps must have an energy-rating label affixed that shows consumers how much electricity the appliance is likely to use in a year (typically given in kilowatt hours/year) and a star rating that shows the energy efficiency of the appliance. These ratings allow consumers to compare products and the programmes are managed through the E3 (Equipment Energy Efficiency) Committee which has representatives from New Zealand as well as the states, territories and central government of Australia. Some electrical products also have an Energy Star label. This is an independent, international mark of energy efficiency which was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1992. Equipment with an Energy Star uses less electricity than other products in its category – the label is given only to the top 25 percent most-energy-efficient items in each category of home appliances, electronic products and office equipment.

Rating a life cycle

Labels that measure consumption of electricity and water are great but they tell the consumer very little about how well the product was made, how it will perform across its life or what impact it has on the environment. In fact, most of a product’s environmental and social impacts occur well outside the consumer’s experience, during manufacture and disposal. In 1995 United States-based McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry launched the concept of Cradle to Cradle design. By being awarded a Cradle to Cradle certificate, covering the full life cycle of the product, an organization has shown that it not only uses environmentally safe and healthy materials but also meets standards for recycling or composting, efficient use of water and energy and has strategies for social responsibility. Mokum Textiles, which is now based in Sydney but was founded in Auckland in the 1980s, has achieved this certification; in August it launched a line of 100-percent-recycled outdoor fabric.

Water

The Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS) is coming into force this year. Similar to energy labels, these ratings show an appliance’s consumption in litres of water per minute per cycle and its overall water-use efficiency represented by one to six stars. Like energy labels, the more stars an item has, the more efficient it is in terms of using less water. Products covered by the scheme are taps, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, toilets and urinals. More products may be added to the list as the New Zealand scheme evolves. The scheme requires all new products to be tested and labelled by 1 July 2010.

Homes

The Home Energy Rating Scheme (HERS) measures the energy-efficiency of a home and ranks it on a scale of one to 10. Taken into consideration are factors such as the building design, its orientation to the sun, construction and building materials as well as the water and space-heating systems. HERS ratings are conducted by independent assessors who are trained and certified by the Australian-based Association of Building Sustainability Assessors. Assessors use a software modelling tool called AccuRate which was originally developed in Australia by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); AccuRate NZ was modified for New Zealand’s climate and construction techniques. Auckland-based Paul Stock is one of 10 certified assessors in New Zealand and he says most of his clients are at the design stage of building or are considering large renovations. With the software, a HERS assessor can model different elements of the house – change the thermal mass, for example, or turn its orientation – and determine whether or not the change will be advantageous from a thermal-efficiency point of view. In New Zealand, the HERS programme is promoted by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

Design help

Energy evaluation software is available for architects to allow them to project and control the energy consumption of a building, estimate the building’s carbon footprint and even determine how many and what kinds of trees and shrubs should be planted.

Televisions

Voluntary labelling for television energy use and efficiency was introduced in New Zealand and Australia in 2008. In October of this year it will become compulsory in Australia; the issue of whether it should become mandatory in New Zealand is still under discussion.

More than power

Energy isn’t the only thing that matters when trying to determine your home’s shade of green or when creating a sustainable building. The United States Green Building Council established its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System in 1998. When making a rating, LEED considers six areas: the building site, the structure’s water efficiency, its energy use, construction materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and the innovation and design process. Buildings achieving the minimum requirement are considered LEED certified; as buildings progress up the chain they are awarded a silver, gold or platinum certification. In the United Kingdom, the Code for Sustainable Homes was established in 2007 and measures houses in similar ways and awards stars based on a building’s total score. Such details as composting facilities and management of construction waste are considered alongside the amount of insulation installed and the ecological value of the building site.

Whole of house

In May the New Zealand Green Building Council, together with research organization Beacon Pathway and the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), announced plans to develop a whole-of-house home-performance rating scheme for new and existing New Zealand houses. Based on a similar philosophy to that of the British and American programmes, the scheme would award up to 10 stars, depending on the assessment of a home. Nick Collins, general manager of Beacon Pathway, expects a pilot programme for home-owner self-assessment use to be available as early as September 2009 with a full programme – utilizing trained and certified assessors – available during the first quarter of next year. Beacon Pathway was formed in 2003 with the goal of researching affordable ways to make New Zealand homes sustainable. It is a consortium of Fletcher Building, Waitakere City Council, Building Research, New Zealand Steel and Scion, a Crown Research Institute.