Energy Saving Trust Lacklustre?
I had wondered why the Energy Saving Trust, the organisation charged with delivering and promoting energy efficiency, appeared so lacklustre in its support of energy rated windows. At a recent meeting with EST, charged with compliance of the proper use of the energy saving recommended (ESR) logo - the blue swing tag – they confirmed to me that it's only the products that are important to EST not their installation.
Indeed there is a fundamental obstacle for installers selling energy rated windows to the consumer: they are prohibited from using the swing tag logo in conjunction with their name. Installers cannot be licensed to use the logo, because ‘installations’ aren’t covered in the wording of the ESR document. The license only covers manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers. The explanation is that installation is not part of the EST brief from DEFRA, its principal funding authority.
Approved manufacturers can produce brochures with the swing tag logo for customers’ use, just as Masterframe provides a Bygone Collection brochure for its approved retailers; it’s an immensely valuable marketing tool.
EST considers an installer’s use of a manufacturer’s brochure, far more preferable to brochures produced by installers themselves, let alone the industry tradition of allowing product brochures to be over-stamped by the installers, which is illegal under the terms of the EST scheme rules.
It gets even more complicated, as some manufacturers (who also install) can use the logo, but not in connection with installed products (even those with EST certification). Again it’s against the terms of the trade mark. This may seem petty but the EST is required to prosecute offenders who use the trade mark (the EST swing tag logo) without permission.
Until the EST has an installer approved endorsement scheme, manufacturers must lead the way, publicising their products and promoting energy saving recommended windows to homeowners. This raises the importance of approved networks like Bygone and Network Veka etc for controlled distribution of certified products, whilst the public remains largely uneducated and confused about the benefits of certified energy efficient products and the impact on climate change that windows such as ours will make.
I do have some sympathy with EST. However, as their life is dictated by the scheme rules, and DEFRA seems unwilling to promote (or fund) an installers registration scheme, surely the public should be told just how beneficial energy efficient product are (especially when they can save all the heat lost through windows), irrespective of whether they’ve made them or not?
Alan Burgess
Masterframe Windows Ltd
GO5 & GO7 Energy Efficiency Award Winner
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