Energy labels and The green value = ?

Some time ago i was conducting a small deskresearch on finding a topic for some researching within my bachalorprogram. At one point in time we (me and a fellow student) became interested by the various energy labels that exist to attend consumers on the energy consumption off various products. In Europe these products include Cars, most white goods and light bulbs. Most of these ratings are constructed like this;

The rating of a product is determited by a standarised test, it the case of a washing machine this is a 6 kg cycle cotton at 60*C (140*F). A power meter is set up between the power cable and the electrical outlet and power consumption is calculated. Thus giving the particular machine a B label for example.

However this method only takes into account the power consumption while in working order. What about constructing the machine? and transportation? and what about reclycling?

None of these variables seem to be applied to the testing method.

What actuale got me thinking was a guy who told me a Toyota Prius is actually more energy inefficient than a modern reasonable priced petrol car. He said the battery's in these vehicles only last for several years and building en reclycling them takes a big toll on the environment.

I do not know if his story is true, though i did saw a research of some kind recently that if 20% of german car owners switched to hybrids, the greenhouse gasses emitted by the energy plants would actually decrease the situation over nowadays. ( i recon Germany has many coal plants that are not very green)

What about the following model?:

Description of factor's:

Factor	Description	Calculation	Unit
T	Transport	Mass*Volume*Number of Kilometers	Y
A	Recylefactor	Precentage of whole product that is re-usable ea. possible to reclycle	%
Ep	Energy consumption for production	Sommage of total energy needed to produce single product.	Joule
L	Life expectancy	Life expectancy of product given normal use	years
Ev	Energy consumption	Mean energy consumption, compensated for electrical phase and normal use of product.	KWh/Use

The equation fully writen out;

If i am not mistaken, this sums up all the elements whom are at play from production to end of life and reclycling of a product. The output of the equation is a value which can be directly compared to any other product. Even if Ev is zero (ea. the product is non electric) the value is useable!

Technorati tags: #energylabel #green #greenhouse #innovation