According to an announcement, Environment and Water Minister, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd has officially launched Emirates Energy-Efficient Scheme for the domestic air conditioning sector.

Bin Fahd, who is also Chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), reportedly said that the move was in line with the international practices for rationalising power consumption by formulating appropriate legislations and standards for air conditioning systems. He cited recent studies as proving that 70% of power supply in the UAE was consumed by the HVAC sector. He also revealed that the UAE imported over 400,000 air conditioners in 2010.

“Alarmed by these numbers, ESMA started a programme to encourage the use of highly efficient home appliances,” the minister said. “The first phase of the programme will see it implemented on air conditioners. Other phases will witness the programme implementation on refrigerators and freezers in 2012 and washing machines in 2013.”

He added that a new “Energy Efficiency Rating” label would be placed on air conditioners, using the one to five stars rating. He explained that the higher the number of stars, the more efficient an air conditioner was deemed to be, and that air conditioners which did not comply with the new requirements would not be allowed into the country.