12 Oct
2006 - Brussels, Belgium – A new web portal to
help consumers find the most energy-efficient
appliances and cars in Europe has been launched
today by WWF, together with a group of partner
organisations across Europe.
The website www.topten.info
rates the top-ten selection in terms of energy
efficiency for a number of products, such as refrigerators,
TVs, cars and appliances, in several European
countries. For each product, information such
as price, energy consumption, average cost over
product life, functions and pictures are included.
Such data allow consumers and large buyers to
choose the most energy-efficient products available
on the market.
Energy efficiency, together
with impact on the environment, health and quality
are the key assessment criteria for the products
found on the website. At present a special “Best
of Europe” category rates the most efficient refrigerators,
tumble dryers and cars currently available across
Europe. By the end of the year, new categories
will be added.
The portal gives access to national
“Top Ten” websites, which are already online in
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France,
the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the coming
months, other “Top Ten” websites will also be
launched in Finland, Hungary, Italy and Poland.
“Topten” is independent from
producers and commercial distributors as it rely
on tests and analysis carried out by independent
institutions, labels and standardised declarations
of manufacturers. The methodology for selection
is transparent and available online.
For more information on the
new WWF-supported website, visit: www.topten.info
Notes to the editors
• The Eurotopten team is made of energy specialists,
environmental NGOs and consumer organisations.
Technical data are provided by Encodex, appliance
manufacturers and ATE for cars.
• The website www.topten.info
is supported by the EU programme “Intelligent
Energy Europe”. Partners include: WWF, Austrian
Energy Agency (AEA), Energy Efficiency Centre
(SEVEn), Motiva (Finnish agency for the promotion
of efficient energy use and renewable energy sources),
French Agency for Environment and Energy (ADEME),
Wuppertal Institute, Ecofys (Research and consultancy
on renewable energy, energy savings and climate
policies), Polish Foundation for Energy Efficiency
(FEWE) and Toptest GmbH.
• WWF offices participating
in the project are: WWF European Policy Office,
WWF-Austria, WWF-Belgium, WWF-France, WWF-Hungary
and WWF-Italy. WWF-Finland and WWF-Poland support
the activities of national partners involved in
the project.
