Are energy-saving settings bad for the environment?

本文首先发表恩斯尼亚。

Volkswagen’s deceptive engine controls,几个月前发现了，使其汽车具有双重个性：一个用于日常操作的人物，一个秘密的绿色绿色，曾经在车辆排放测试中排名高于保证。美国和欧洲的监管机构现在正在检查某些电视制造商是否同样行为不当, programming their screens to detect a standard video test clip, dial down their brightness and thus cheat on energy consumption tests.

While action deliberately aimed at providing deceptively favorable information about environmental impacts obviously could make a person cynical about a company’s claims, efficiency advocates see similar risk hiding in the open in the "eco" buttons popping up on a wide array of products, from automobiles and TVs to dishwashers and water heaters.

这multiple energy personalities in today’s devices present complex, ill-defined and often confusing options for consumers and regulators to consider. "It’s not simply on and off anymore," said Noah Horowitz, who runs the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Center for Energy Efficiency.

虽然生态按钮和模式使消费者可以为降低功耗设置设备，但在许多情况下，它们还会降低产品提供的服务质量。结果，生态按钮在部署时可以保证节省10％或以上的生态按钮可能对能源消耗几乎没有影响。德国波恩大学的能源专家Rainer Stamminger说：“出售产品以提供生态模式是一件好事。”“但是实际上，我担心它们并不经常被使用。”

And much as the cheat devices made VW car buyers think the product they were purchasing was more environmentally friendly than it really was in actual use, consumers may be misled when eco buttons and modes enable manufacturers to score top marks in government-mandated energy labeling programs. "You may not see the energy savings that you were expecting to see because the tests are done in conditions that don’t reflect reality," said Christoforos Spiliotopoulos, an energy policy officer with Brussels-based product standards advocacy groupECO。

Eco-button loophole

两年前，当我设立了带有能源之星徽标的新电视时，我对Spiliotopoulous和他的同事称之为“ Eco-Button漏洞”的最初瞥见，这是美国环境保护局维持的卓越标志。实际上，为我的电视赢得了电视的能源之星证书的预设节能模式带来了严重的昏暗图片。当我将电视设置为另一种称为“电影”的预设模式时，它的效率承诺就消失了，该模式使用了大约10％的功率。

It turns out that my experience is widely shared. Consumer Reports noted in 2014 that many TVs qualify for ENERGY STAR by employing a power-saving mode that“可能会导致昏暗或被洗净的图片。”该杂志认可了我的解决方案，建议切换到“自然图片”的“电影”模式。HometheaterReview.com在9月份同意，建议读者dump the "ridiculously dim Standard mode"为能量之星创建。

如果Eco标签在性能方面取决于权衡，那么公众就不会购买。

凯瑟琳·卡普兰（Katharine Kaplan）领导了开发能源明星规格的EPA团队的凯瑟琳·卡普兰（Katharine Kaplan）表示，这令人担忧的反馈，因为她计划的创始宗旨之一是，经过认证的产品应比竞争对手提供优秀或更好的全能性能。卡普兰说，EPA做出了回应，在过去三年中两次调整其电视规格，以防止制造商使用DIM设置来赢得效率评级。EPA的十月更新首次定义了标准家庭观看的绝对最小亮度。

驱动器和烘干机

生态模式性能降解也是其他产品的一个差异。考虑汽车，其中越来越多的型号配备了控制台按钮，可以通过抑制车辆加速度来节省燃油。

Jack Barkenbus, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University’sClimate Change Research Network他说，很少承认在他的日产叶子上按下Eco按钮：按下按钮的驾驶类似于“试图开车穿过糖蜜”。他怀疑，与我的电视体验一样，他并不是唯一一个放弃Eco选择的人，可以节省能源。

巴肯布斯说：“如果Eco标签以性能权衡取舍，那么公众就不会购买。”

这good news with eco buttons in cars is that no one is being misled. EPA rules require buttons-off operation when testing cars’ fuel economy. And if people do press cars’ eco buttons, they really can save fuel.

That wasn’t the case with clothes dryers, according to 2011 tests by the NRDC: They discovered two dryers’ eco modes left clothes damp, requiring a second run through, which negated any energy savings.

Consumer distrust

这种令人失望的经历会带来消费者不信任，有时具有讽刺意味的结果。考虑欧洲使洗碗机更加高效的努力。这欧盟委员会的生态设计计划mandates that each dishwasher offer a "reference" cycle that cleans an average load of dishes with minimum energy and water use. But a sudsy debate has erupted since 2011, when European standards bodyCENELECinstructed manufacturers to name that official reference cycle "Eco" on their dishwasher control panels.

消费者群体说，问题是用户可能不信任标签并选择另一个周期。

捍卫洗碗机的受监管的ECO按钮是意大利能源研究局的高级研究员Milena PresuttoEnea他起草了欧洲的立法，涵盖洗碗机。她说，虽然过去的生态模式并不能总是处理正常污染的菜肴，但当今的标准可以确保消费者按下Eco按钮，可以通过机器能量标签上承诺的效率清洁日常菜肴。Presutto说：“这就是我们要解决的问题。”

消费者群体说，问题是用户可能不信任标签并选择另一个周期。这ir concern is supported by a大型市场研究by Stamminger and his colleagues published this year — one of the few to date examining how consumers relate to eco modes. The survey of dishwasher use in several thousand German households found that most shy away from eco cycles. "They are used for less than 20 percent of dishwashing cycles," said Stamminger.

最终结果可能是欧洲洗碗机正在使用比必要更多的能量，因为制造商将工程工作集中在完善法律规定的参考周期上。

Topten International Group这是一个基于苏黎世的消费产品评级和倡导组织，提出了一种解决方案：基于标有“正常”或“标准”的周期的测试和调节洗碗机，而不是Topten称为“相当异国情调的生态周期”。

这same eco button that takes the fun out of driving for some, or renders a TV lifeless for me, may be just fine to others. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of context.

Stamminger提出了另一种解决方案：更好的教育。他呼吁欧洲政府通过广告来支持Ecodesign计划，以鼓励消费者按ECO按钮。他说：“如果不使用生态模式，则不够。”“需要的是标准化生态模式，并进行大型公共运动。”

Worth saving

NRDC’s Horowitz said eco modes that actually reduce energy use are worth saving, even when they trade a bit of convenience for enhanced energy efficiency. The same eco button that takes the fun out of driving for some, or renders a TV lifeless for me, may be just fine to others. Sometimes, he said, it’s simply a matter of context. An eco cycle on a clothes dryer that runs for two hours at low temperature to save kilowatts may be a nonstarter if one is running multiple laundry loads to keep a family clean, but it could work great for a single load. "If you’re going out to a movie, you don’t care [if the laundry’s done quickly] and you should have the option to save energy," Horowitz said.

Household energy consumption already is beginning to decline in many countries, thanks to better insulation and more efficient appliances. Eco modes, said Horowitz, can help accelerate that. "We can drive that trend even further if we take proper advantage of these settings and capabilities," said Horowitz.

对于负责任的消费者，这意味着在可用时为这些生态按钮提供公平的尝试，以查看结果是否符合您的期望。您甚至可以进行一些测量，以查看有多少能量。（我通过将其插入一个易于使用的设备中，检查了模式打开电视的影响Kill A Watt meter。)

And what if the eco buttons come up short? Think about letting the world know about it. One of the biggest challenges facing rating programs such as EPA’s ENERGY STAR, academic researchers and consumer advocates alike is a dearth of feedback on how consumers actually use products. Those efficiency wonks are dying to hear from you.