BRUSSELS, Belgium – The Energy Measurement Protocol, developed by EVA technical experts, has provided a reliable method for over 10 years for vending manufacturers to test the energy consumption of their machines, and to present their results to both customers as well as procurement tenders.
Due to its replacement by official European standard EN 50597, the EVA has now decided to withdraw the Energy Measurement Protocol 3.1a for refrigerated vending machines as an industry protocol on 1st July 2019.
Although a voluntary standard, the EMP is widely used in the vending industry, and has undoubtedly aided manufacturers to develop more efficient machines up to now. With the imminent EU Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulations for refrigerated vending machines introducing a legal requirement to test and display the energy consumption according to the EN 50597:2018 protocol, the EMP 3.1 has effectively become obsolete.
Since the first version of the EN 50597 was published at the end 2015, there has been a period of ambiguity whereby the EVA recommended that both the EVA EMP 3.1a and EN 50597 protocols could be used simultaneously, as until the new EU Regulations were approved the EMP remained the only protocol with an easy way to compare energy performance (via its unofficial energy comparison scale). Now that the EU Energy Labelling Regulation has received final approval, and the Ecodesign Regulation is due to be approved on 7 June, there is no rationale for continuing to use the EMP 3.1a as the method to measure energy consumption of refrigerated vending machines. Further to this, the new EU Energy Label for vending is based on an A to G scale in contrast to the very different EMP comparison scale of A++ to G; a situation that could clearly cause confusion and industry uncertainty in the near future if the EMP was permitted to continue.
EVA Technical experts decided to withdraw the EMP 3.1a earlier this year, with the European Vending Machine Manufacturers Association (EVMMA) – a sub group of the EVA – formally deciding at their recent meeting that the protocol will be withdrawn on 1st July 2019.
Until the EU Energy Labelling Regulation comes into force in March 2021, it will therefore not be possible for manufacturers or operators to provide an energy rating to customers or clients, only the test result of EN 50597.
As of 1 July, the decision to with draw the EMP means specifically that:
- EMP energy consumption declarations should be removed from websites, online brochures and all other marketing materials. Websites and machine brochures should not mention things like ‘rated A,’ ‘this machine has a high energy efficiency rating’ as this can no longer be substantiated.
- All machine model brochures/PDFs should have EMP references and result declarations removed and replaced with EN 50597 testing results.
- While the EMP already made clear that it was not permitted, the EMP energy scale – or partial versions of the scale – cannot appear as a label directly on a machine.
EVA strongly recommends that all machine manufacturers follow the specific rules set out above and take the required action to remove all references from their publications and websites.
The information should also be disseminated to vending operators and to any relevant public administrations and during calls for tender, informing them that the EMP has been replaced and asking them not to request machines with old EMP ratings. If the above compliance is not adhered to, this will only create confusion for operators, public administrations, and disingenuous messages in the industry.
As an example, if an operator or tender request an A+ machine, they should be informed that it does not exist. The EN 50597 test result should be provided ahead of the official energy label coming into force.
Important Note: The Energy Measurement Protocol version 3.1b (for hot drinks machines) still remains valid and will continue to do so. The information provided above does not apply to the EMP 3.1b.
