| 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 |
| Leader Title: | Founding Organizations |
| Leader Name: | Alliance to Save Energy; the International Institute for Energy Conservation; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| Leader Title2: | Board Chairman |
| Leader Name2: | Stephen Wiel |
| Leader Title3: | Executive Director |
| Leader Name3: | Christine Egan |
| Headquarters: | Washington, DC, USA |
CLASP (the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program) is an international nonprofit organization which provides technical and policy support to governments worldwide and works to implement energy efficiency standards and labels (S&L) for appliances, lighting, and equipment. It specializes in publishing studies and analyses with relevance to S&L practitioners.[1]
The organization was created in 1999 as a strategic cooperation of three organizations – the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).[2] It became an independent, non profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2005.[3]
CLASP conducts some of its technical analysis through an international network of partners, who are experts in the various aspects of S&L. Currently, CLASP's network includes over 200 technical experts and S&L practitioners from more than 30 different countries.[4] Additionally, CLASP collaborates with various international S&L initiatives, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Energy Standards Information System (APEC ESIS) and International Energy Agency Efficient Electrical End-Use Equipment (IEA 4E), to facilitate information exchange and connect S&L experts in similar regions or areas of expertise.[5]
CLASP joined the ClimateWorks Foundation (CWF) as a Global Best Practice Network (BPN) in March 2009. ClimateWorks' BPNs are institutions staffed by technical and regulatory experts who help design, implement, and enforce policies proven to reduce emissions. The ClimateWorks Foundation focuses on the sectors and regions responsible for most of the world's carbon emissions. CLASP, as part of its partnership with ClimateWorks, moved from working exclusively in developing countries to also working in more industrialized economies including the United States and European Union.[6]
In 2011, CLASP was appointed as the Operating Agent for the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative, a multilateral collaboration initiated by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) to transform the global market toward higher energy efficiency.[7] SEAD member governments include Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. China participates as an observer.[8]
Since 1999, CLASP has worked in over 50 countries on six continents. Some of CLASP's past program locations include Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Fiji, Ghana, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uruguay.[9]
CLASP currently has programs in China, Brazil, Europe, Southeast Asia, East Africa, India, and the United States,[10] collaborating with policymakers, regulators, and their stakeholders to facilitate the development and implementation of energy efficiency S&L.
Additionally, CLASP has two global programs—Global Research and the SEAD Initiative—which create original technical research, facilitate information exchange among countries, and disseminate S&L best practices internationally.[5] In 2021, 15 countries signed SEAD's Product Efficiency Call to Action, which aims to double the efficiency of lighting, residential cooling, residential refrigeration, and industrial electric motor systems globally by 2030.[11]
Publications
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.
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.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
Tools
Based on the Policy Analysis Modeling System created by CLASP and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Mepsy is 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.[15]
The CLASP Policy Resource Center 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.[16]
VeraSol evolved from Lighting Global Quality Assurance, a quality assurance initiative for off-grid solar products supported by the World Bank. Products in the database display technical information that can be compared across appliance categories and have been undergone testing in certified laboratories.[17]