2015 pdf digital newsletter dec 2015 by European Association of Electrical Contractors

© PDF _ DIGITAL NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2015 • EYE CATCHER: Commissioner reveals political and legislative initiatives for 2016. • EUROPEAN NEWS [Directive/Project / Events] • SECTOR RELATED NEWS • FUTURE EVENTS: Save the dates 2016 • PUBLICATIONS [Position Papers/Press Release]

01_Eye catcher: Energy Union: Commissioner reveals political and legislative initiatives for 2016. Ahead of an imminent publication of the Commission’s political communication on the Energy Union, which includes progress achieved, plans for the future and policy conclusions, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič unveiled the political messages and executive's legislative plans for 2016. Politically, the EU wants to continue its leadership in the transition toward low-carbon societies and in the framework of the on-going COP 21. This transition should be socially fair and consumer-centered, meaning that a lot of attention would be devoted to tackling the energy poverty issue, as well as the issue of professions linked to energy transition that are disappearing. As frequently mentioned, also by the AIE, investors need stability. The Commissioner’s message is that the EU is establishing a mechanism that brings transparency and predictability to investors. Mr Šefčovič said that for his services, 2016 was “very clearly the year of delivery”. - In February 2016, the security of supply package will likely be presented which will include the heating and cooling strategy. - In summer 2016, the Commission will present the percentage by which Member States will have to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the non-ETS sector, meaning in transport, buildings and agriculture. The review of the EPBD would be included at this stage as well as a Commission communication on decarbonisation of transport. - In autumn 2016, the European Commission plans to present its comprehensive strategy in the field of innovation in the field of energy. The last package would be centered around the new electricity market design, together with a new directive on renewables. After the efficient work of the AIE Energy Task Force regarding the review of the EPBD, the Task Force will continue its work over the next coming months!

02_European news [Directives / Projects / Events] 02-01: AIE's response to the EPBD consultation! On 30 October 2015, the AIE response to the consultation has been introduced to the EC. The AIE would like to warmly thank all AIE members who have spent time on this topic and contributed actively. The AIE communicated that certainly the EPBD is an effective tool to raise awareness, in particular for new buildings but also acknowledges some shortfalls and shortcomings: > The Directive doesn’t give the right stimulus for existing buildings and the retrofit market. The Directive should enhance the potential of renovation and focus on the drivers for consumers and financial triggers. > To be coherent with the overall EU Climate Strategy and Energy targets, the EC must avoid today’s discrimination of use of electricity in buildings, for heating and other purposes. This problem is caused by the introduction of a Primary Energy conversion Factor (PEF) for electricity. In its current format, the PEF discriminates electrical products and systems, compared to fossil fuel products and systems. Public opinion therefore in many countries does not trust or value the Energy Performance Certificates anymore (especially for existing buildings), because the use of the primary energy conversion factor in EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates) distorts the reality. The AIE therefore strongly supports the current analysis undertaken by the Commission to review the PEF. > A lot more attention should be given to the potential energy savings further to the installation of active control systems, Building Automation Controls (BAC’s) and energy management technologies, which are also cheaper solutions and have a short payback time. A prior inspection of the existing technical systems in buildings should be added to ensure the highest and best efficiency level when renovating. > Today’s electro technical and electrical technologies allow the individual measurement, displaying and monitoring of the energy use by type of energy and thus are able to rapidly change the consumers’ behavior. These should be better promoted. > The AIE has always advocated that investors need a stable and long term financial policy at EU, national, regional level. Moreover better and urgent communication about support at European, national and local levels should meet the lack of information and raise awareness of the public on financial support schemes. In this context there is a need to first support highly profitable technologies and systems first with a short return on investment time and only then support deep renovations. To view the entire AIE response, click here.

02-02: Consultation on the Review of Directive 2012/27/EU on Energy Efficiency Just after the closure of the consultation on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive on 31 October, the EC launched on 4 November the review on the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). An updated analysis on how Member States are achieving the 20% 2020 target on energy efficiency has just been published as part of the State of the Energy Union package on 18 November 2015. The review of the EED is foreseen for the second half of 2016. Given the recent implementation date of the EED, this consultation focuses on only some elements of the Directive: - Article 1: the scope and the EE targets - Article 6: purchasing by public bodies of energy efficient buildings, goods and services - Article 7: the energy efficiency obligation schemes - Articles 9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;11: consumer aspects related to metering, billing information and cost of access to metering and billing information - Article 20: investments and energy efficiency national fund, financing and technical support - Article 24: reporting, monitoring and review of implementation The AIE Energy Task Force will proceed in the same way as for the EPBD through conference calls and a meeting - possibly in January - as to have an AIE position paper ready in due time! Deadline for response: 29 January 2015.

02-03: Preparation of a new Renewable Energy Directive for the period after 2020 As mentioned supra, the Commission is planning a new Directive on RES in autumn 2016. In view of this exercise, the Commission just released another consultation to prepare a new Directive on Renewable Energy on 18 November 2015 open until 10 February 2016. The consultation is available here or the consultation document can be asked in word or pdf at the AIE secretariat. Simultaneously with the review of the EED, the AIE Task Force Energy is equally contributing to this consultation and will give input. AIE members will be posted on the draft working papers.

ÂŠ AIE | DIGITAL NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2015 3

02-04: Energy labelling for heating devices - a challenge for dealers and installers As announced, energy labelling of space heating systems, hot water devices and storage tanks and packages of combination heater, temperature control and solar device has become mandatory for manufacturers, dealers and installers since 26 September 2015. This means the launch of a new type of label on the market: the package label, a process which requires a more active involvement from dealers and installers. The product and package labels will rate heaters from the lowest efficiency G to the highest A+++, which can only be reached with renewable energy solutions, highlighting the added value these technologies bring to the heating market. The project Label Pack A+ offers specialized support, from a package labelling online tool to training material and consumer information to support professionals, especially dealers and installers. Manufacturers, dealers and installers must now assign and make available to the end consumer the relevant energy label to space heating systems, water heaters and combinations of both for systems up to 70 kW or packages with solar thermal systems, temperature controllers with up to 70 kW and 2000 liter tank. While single products already have a label provided by the manufacturer, the label for packages of components from different suppliers has to be calculated and issued by the professional selling to the end-consumer. According to European regulations, prior to the sale and when assembling packages made up of components from different manufacturers, all dealers and installers will have to use the data sheets provided by the manufacturers with the products to calculate the efficiency of the package. The AIE has always and will continue to be against package labels and ‘installers’ labels’ for electrical installation systems. Indeed an Electrical Installation is impossible to define and is designed for specific customer needs to respond to specific consumer requirements i.e. a tailor-made solution. To apply equal and fair calculations and comparison methods for tailor-made systems is nearly impossible and certainly not benefitting SME’s!

03_ Sector related news 03-01: AIE skeptical about ESCO platform The Commission launched on the 14th of October 2015 the online consultation to finalize the content of the classification of European Skills, Competences, Occupations and Qualifications (ESCO) and now asks for stakeholders' views on the remaining 16 economic sectors of the ESCO classification, amongst which construction and the electricians before 9 December.

ESCO is a multilingual classification of occupations, skills, competences and qualifications designed by the European Commission to help jobseekers and employers to match skills to jobs. The first consultation on the platform invites stakeholders to ‘rate’ the description of trade occupations to skills and competences. In 2018 all national classification systems are supposed to match this EU ESCO platform (but without modifying the national classification system). The AIE has been asked as a stakeholder to give its feedback and rating on the classification of occupations, skills, competences and knowledge for the electricians (section: construction\ utilities installation). In this context the AIE participated on the 19th of October 2015 to an information session and met with a representative of DG Employment. The AIE expressed its skepticism and concerns about the entire initiative because: > The definition at European level of occupations and categories of electricians in our sector is very difficult further to the different cultures and interpretations of the ‘electrician’ in the Member States. In the report of the Commission itself (see infra) on the access to the profession of ‘electrician’ it is stated that: “The multitude of categories, the unclear delimitation between categories and the overlap between different categories of the profession not only makes it difficult to understand and compare how these different professions are regulated”. Therefore it is impossible for the AIE to give one rating on behalf of all its members. > Matching skills and occupations still remains the employer’s decision! Other factors can intervene such as experience. Therefore the classification could only be meant as an indication and used as an informative tool for employers. If the aim is increasing workers’ mobility and employment in the EU, the AIE expressed that in the current economic situation in Europe, companies are not always eager to enhance the mobility of workers between Member States. > To describe behind the occupation, a required skill and qualification is even more difficult at EU level and will encounter major and strong opposition from AIE national members (even if it is informative); > Actually the sector is rather thinking about filling in future profiles and skills to meet tomorrow’s markets than existing ones; > The whole exercise is only in English which makes it very difficult for national associations or companies to participate to the exercise if they would wish so. These and other arguments were strongly supported by other representatives of the construction sector. The AIE decided to write to the Commission along these lines. For those who want to have a look at the online consultation platform. Deadline: 9 December 2015

03-02: Report on the mutual evaluation of regulated professions of the European Commission now available Further to the discussions the AIE had with the Commission on the profession ‘electrician’, the European Commission informed us about the availability of the draft final report on the regulated profession of ‘electrician’. To have a comprehensive overview of regulated professions in the EU and conditions to access these professions, EU countries agreed to conduct a transparency and mutual evaluation exercise between 2014 and 2016. The main focus is on Member States and the analysis they had to make in order to present a report to the Commission, as foreseen by Directive 2005/36/EC, by 18 January 2016. The reports on specific professions are being updated and the one for the electricians has been published on the Commission’s website here.

03-03: IEA World Energy Outlook Latest World Energy Outlook also sees clear signs that the energy transition is underway, but warns strong direction is needed from the Paris climate summit. Overall, world energy demand grows by nearly one-third between 2013 and 2040 in the central scenario of WEO-2015, with the net growth driven entirely by developing countries. In the framework of the COP21 climate summit in Paris, there are clear signs that an energy transition is underway: renewables contributed almost half of the world's new power generation capacity in 2014 and have already become the second-largest source of electricity (after coal). The coverage of mandatory energy efficiency regulation has expanded to more than one-quarter of global energy consumption. The climate pledges submitted in advance of COP21 are rich in commitments on renewables and energy efficiency, and this is reflected in the WEO-2015 finding that renewables are set to become the leading source of new energy supply from now to 2040. Their deployment grows worldwide with a strong concentration in the power sector where renewables overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by the early-2030s.

03-04: NEW terms / technology: ‘All IP’ in Switzerland All IP provides the technical basis for the Digitalization of communication. The switch to All IP is taking place around the world and means that fixed networks, TV, mobile telephony and the Internet, as well as all the services linked to them, will communicate universally, in a common language, via Internet Protocol (IP). An example: Swisscom is planning to transfer all services to future-oriented Internet Protocol (IP) technology by the end of 2017. Special applications can pose a particular challenge as part of this switch to IP. These include remote controls, remote monitoring, building automation systems, franking machines, emergency telephones in lifts and alarm systems that communicate via traditional landline-based connections (analogue/ISDN). © AIE | DIGITAL NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2015 6

04_ Future events http://www.aie.eu/aie/page/Events Please don’t forget to take a look on the AIE website for more future AIE meetings in 2016 and save the following dates: > 11-18.03.2016 | Light and Building 2016: 'When modern spaces come to live' [6 days edition] | Frankfurt am Main, Germany The top themes at Light + Building 2016 reflect perfectly the main themes of digitalisation, intelligent building networks, safety and security technology, trends in the lighting market and the impact of light on humans. More info: Light-Building/Messe Frankfurt

> 15.03.2016 | [AM] PCC meeting / [PM] TTF meeting at Light and Building | Frankfurt am Main AIE members will attend the KNX Award 2016 on 15.03.2016 during L+B. The KNX Award rewards the smartest KNX projects in home and building control around the world, which stand out as regards innovation and technical progress and five categories will be granted at the Light+Building fair 2016 in Frankfurt (Germany): International / Publicity Award / Special Award / Energy Efficiency Award / Young Award. More info: KNX Award | 25 years of KNX video | KNX ETS Apps

> 20-24.06.2016 EU PVSEC | Munich, Germany The 32nd EU PVSEC takes place from Monday to Friday, at ICM - International Congress Center, in Munich, Germany. The experts of the PV solar branch meet in Munich to discuss new concepts, trends and developments in science and industry. The EU PVSEC provides the most inspiring platform for dialogue and information exchange across the World. The Call for papers is open until 5 February 2016! More info: https://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/

> 01-03.12.2016 EUROSKILLS | Gothenburg, Sweden On 1–3 December 2016, young people up to the age of 25 from all over Europe will meet in Gothenburg to compete for the European title in vocational skills. This is the first time that the competition will be held in Scandinavia. EuroSkills is Europe’s biggest skills competition and aims to improve the quality, status and attraction of vocational training. So many member countries of AIE will have young, sharply skilled representation again, competing in the single trade of ‘Electrical Installations’! So surely save the date and visit the competition booth! In preparation of the next ‘Electrical Installations Single trade’, the experts of the EU Platform CYE-WSE will meet in Brussels on 10.03.2016 to further prepare and discuss on the practical competition design, theoretical test and other related topics of the competition. They are the stimulating and technical creative force behind the young performers’ stage at EuroSkills. AIE is associate member of WorldSkills Europe and reports lively on the competition through Blog and Facebook. View our info pages at the AIE website. More info on the competitions’ official site: http://euroskills2016.com/en/

05_ Publications – check new AIE and related publications at our library on ISSUU AIE members and other related organisations from the electrical value chain are invited to inform us on interesting articles, brochures, scientific reports that can be added to our AIE online ISSUU Library!

European Association of Electrical Contractors “ELECTRICITY SURROUNDS US – TOUCHES EVERY ONE OF US, EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE. Who we are: The AIE – the European Association of electrical contracting companies - represents through its 18 national member associations about 137,000 specialist contracting companies employing about 1,300,000 workers in the EU-countries and beyond. The AIE represents companies from all sizes, the big majors and a majority of small and medium size enterprises [SME]. AIE member companies have an in-depth knowledge and high-quality expert skills to carry out all kind of electrical engineering and infrastructure works [high, medium and low voltage]. The overall turnover of the sector is approximately 158 billion Euros. Monitoring the EU agenda/Directives relevant for the electrical sector, the AIE points out the key strategies and main priorities for the modern electrical contractor. With the increasing complexity of technical installations, the private consumer and house owners are becoming more and more dependent on the knowledge and creativity of the electrical contractor. He is an expert adviser who is able to explain to the client the possibilities and advantages of new technology in a technical and environmental way. Kindly visit our website: www.aie.eu or contact us at info@aie.eu.