SPE-7003-13

Consumer interest in sustainability is forcing manufacturers, retailers and others to identify the environmental impacts of their products. To guide them through the process, CSA Group, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) and UL Environment have collaborated to develop a series sustainable standards that will help identify environmentally preferable products. These standards are based on a lifecycle approach for identifying the environmental impacts of home appliances.

AHAM 7003-2013/CSA SPE-7003-12/UL 7003 -- Sustainability Standard for Household Clothes Washing Appliances – is the second voluntary sustainability standard in the series. This standard will serve as an objective and practical measurement tool to assist clothes washer manufacturers in evaluating the environmental sustainability of home appliances.

Highlights of AHAM 7003-2013/CSA SPE-7003-12/UL 7003 Include:

The standard is based on a lifecycle approach for identifying the environmental impacts of household clothes washers in six key areas:

• Materials
• Manufacturing and operations
• Energy and water consumption during use
• End-of-life
• Consumables
• Innovation

The three organizations intend to seek accreditation of the sustainability standards in the U.S. and Canada following the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).

Preface

This is the first edition of AHAM 7003/CSA SPE-7003/UL 7003, Sustainability Standard for household clothes washing appliances. This is a non-consensus document; it will be processed in accordance with procedures accredited by ANSI and SCC with the intent of being published as a consensus document in the near future.

The environmental performance of clothes washing home appliances is commonly evaluated on the single environmental attribute of electricity and water consumption during use. This Standard takes a broader, multi-attribute, and more holistic approach to assessing the environmental impacts of clothes washing home appliances. The multi-attribute approach was developed using life-cycle assessment (LCA) information along with other key factors such as hot-spot or hot-button analyses influencing product environmental performance. This approach, detailed in Annex A, determined the environmental attributes of clothes washing appliances for inclusion in this Standard.
 

Scope

1.1
This Standard covers clothes washing appliances for household and residential style commercial use (e.g., a coin-operated appliance in an apartment building) included within the scope of the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) minimum energy performance requirements. This includes the following product categories:
(a) top loading, compact (less than 1.6 cubic feet capacity);
(b) top loading, standard;
(c) front loading, standard; and
(d) front loading, compact (less than 1.6 cubic feet capacity).

Note: The Task Force intends to expand the scope to include combination all-in-one washer-dryers in future editions. New product categories and information on the environmental performance of the additional categories might be considered in order to determine the scope of future editions. DOE standards cover stacked washer-dryer units, and therefore they are within the scope of this Standard.

1.2
This Standard does not cover semi-automatic or suds-saving clothes washers, as the U.S. Department of Energy is unaware of any models currently on the market.

1.3
This Standard does not include directions for conformity assessment or the use of a mark/seal of conformity assessment.

1.4
In this Standard, shall is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the Standard; should is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and may is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.

Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.