Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program

CLASP (Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program)

Established	1999
Type	Non-Profit 501(c)3 Organization
Purpose	Energy efficiency standards and labeling for appliances, equipment, and lighting
Headquarters	Washington, DC, USA
Founding Organizations	Alliance to Save Energy; the International Institute for Energy Conservation; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Board Chair	Stephen Wiel
Executive Director	Christine Egan
Website	clasp.ngo

CLASP, formerly the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program, improves the energy and environmental performance of the appliances & equipment we use every day, accelerating our transition to a more sustainable world.

CLASP serves as the leading international voice & resource for appliance energy efficiency policies and market acceleration initiatives. From advancing the off-grid solar technologies bringing power to energy-impoverished people, to cutting the catastrophic climate impacts of air conditioning, CLASP programs increase uptake of affordable, low-impact, high-quality appliances.

Appliances are a big part of our lives. Smart phones keep us connected. Heating, cooling, and lighting improve productivity and safety. Refrigeration protects the food we harvest and eat.  Without much thought, we interact with energy- and resource-consuming products every day.

Though appliances improve lives and livelihoods, they also use energy and other essential resources. Recent analyses indicate that air conditioning, not cars, pose the greatest threat to our planet. As millions of households in developing and emerging economies have the financial resources to control their indoor climate for the first time, the world is poised to install 700 million new room air conditioners by 2030 and 1.6 billion by 2050.  In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, that’s like adding several large countries to the planet.

Meanwhile, nearly 3 billion people prepare their meals on inefficient, pre-modern cookstoves, or over open fires, using charcoal and biomass. An estimated 1.2 billion people around the globe lack access to electricity entirely—another billion have only unreliable access. Energy poverty is a major barrier to social and economic development, and the emissions generated by inefficient and dirty cooking and lighting methods pose serious health risks, especially to women and children, and are powerful climate forcers. For most households living beyond the grid, electrification is too long coming, and for most governments, total electrification is far too expensive and resource-intensive.

On the grid, energy efficient appliances are one of the most cost-effective methods for mitigating climate change. They save money for governments and consumers alike, reduce peak energy demand, and bolster economic and energy security. Off the grid, energy efficient appliances pair with solar-home systems or mini-grids to increase the availability and affordability of energy. Radically reducing the cost of off-grid energy through efficient appliances improves educational, health, and economic outcomes for the world’s poorest people, while moving all of us closer to a cleaner, renewably-powered energy economy.   

The organization was created in 1999 as a strategic cooperation of three organization – the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). It became an independent, non profit 501(c)3 organization in 2005.

Programs

Since 1999, CLASP has worked in over 100 countries on six continents.

History

• 1999 – CLASP was established by three founding organizations – the Alliance to Save Energy, the International Institute for Energy Conservation, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
• 2000 – CLASP’s first website launched in July, 2000.
• 2002 – CLASP was registered as a World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) partnership.
• 2004 – From 2000 to 2004, CLASP provided assistance for the development and implementation of 21 new minimum energy performance standards, energy efficiency endorsement labels, and energy information labels that will save 250 megatons of CO2 by 2014.
• 2005 – CLASP became an independent 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
• 2007 – CLASP became the Secretariat of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Energy Standards Information System (APEC ESIS) under direction of the APEC ESIS Project Overseers (now Japan) and Expert Group on Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EGEE&C).
• 2009 – CLASP joined the ClimateWorks Foundation’s network as a Best Practice Network (BPN) in March.
• 2011 – CLASP was appointed as the Operating Agent of Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD), a government-led international market transformation initiative for highly efficient appliances and equipment.
• 2012 – CLASP website was selected by the 16th Annual Webby Awards as an Official Honoree in the Green category.

Publications and Tools

Publications

• Cooling Benchmarking Study

CLASP's Global Research team embarked on the development of a series of benchmarking studies in 2010. The first analysis in the series, the Cooling Benchmarking Study, was carried out in partnership with Econoler, Navigant, Centro de Ensayos Innovación y Servicios (CEIS) and the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE), and provides an international comparison of energy efficiency performance and policy measures for room air conditioners used in the residential sector. The study, which was finalized in July 2011, delivers first-of-their-kind conversion formulas to compare seasonal performance metrics of room air conditioners across economies that use different test methods. These formulas enable countries and experts a means to compare the stringency of various S&L programs and to identify opportunities to adopt S&L best practices.

• Opportunities for Success and CO2 Savings from Appliance Energy Efficiency Harmonization

The study, published in collaboration with Paul Waide of Navigant Consulting, Lloyd Harrington of Energy Efficiency Strategies, and Michael Scholand, conducts an extensive investigation of the energy efficiency standards and labeling programs in place in China, the European Union, India, Japan, and the US. It documents Minimum Energy Performance Requirements for 24 types of residential, commercial, and industrial appliances and equipment in these economies and identifies products with the greatest potential for global harmonization. The study also highlights economy-specific gap analyses, which illustrate gaps in policy coverage and estimate potential energy savings achieved through the adoption of world’s most comprehensive standards.

• Compliance Counts: A Practitioners Guidebook on Best Practice Monitoring, Verification, and Enforcement (MV&E) for Appliance Standards &Labeling

The Guidebook, published in collaboration with Mark Ellis & Associates, is designed as a step-by-step manual for policymakers and S&L program administrators to design and implement a successful compliance regime. Drawing on the experiences of existing S&L programs worldwide, the Guidebook provides different approaches to implementing and improving all aspects of a compliance framework, including establishment of a legal basis for MV&E activities and enforcement options for non-compliance. According to the guidebook, effective compliance regimes: ensure that consumers receive the products they expect when making purchasing decisions; provide industry participants a fair market in which to operate; and safeguard current and future energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings from S&L programs, among other benefits.

• Energy Efficiency Labels and Standards: A Guidebook for Appliances, Equipment, And Lighting (also available in Chinese, Spanish and Korean)

This guidebook is designed as a manual for government officials and others around the world responsible for developing, implementing, enforcing, monitoring, and maintaining energy efficiency labeling and standard-setting programs.

Tools

• Policy Analysis Modeling System (PAMS)

CLASP and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed the Policy Analysis Modeling System as an easy-to-use software tool to help local policymakers assess the benefit of standards and labeling programs, and to identify the most attractive targets for appliances and efficiency levels.

• Global S&L Database

CLASP’s Global S&L Database is an online resource that allows policy makers and S&L practitioners to compare appliance, lighting, and equipment efficiency policies and regulations across countries and by product; to explore specific information about those policies; and to view and understand the legislative framework and history of S&L by country and economic region.