This week, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) United for Efficiency (U4E) initiative launched a prototype national product registration system (PRS) which can be customised by countries to implement their own national system.

A PRS is an essential component of a programme to transform a market to more energy-efficient lighting, appliances or equipment. It is used to capture specific information on the products to underpin policies or programmes and to provide an initial compliance gateway for products to enter the market. It thus serves as a product data repository, market monitoring platform, and communication interface with the various stakeholders and, as such, market surveillance and enforcement mechanisms, market transformation programmes, and financing mechanisms benefit enormously from a trusted and centrally managed PRS.

In addition, policymakers can also use the database to access baseline data and track efficiency trends and improvements which can, for example, be used in the reporting for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Another key benefit of a PRS is that trade barriers are reduced by creating transparent market regulations and by protecting manufacturers that comply with requirements.

As well as the benefits for policymakers, manufacturers/suppliers and other stakeholders, a PRS can also directly benefit consumers. By enabling them to access the underlying product database, they are able to compare market offerings to make informed choices about the energy efficiency of products and lifetime cost.

The new U4E prototype PRS is a fully functional system which is based on global best practices and contains the essential elements of a registration system, including user input forms, data tables and output reports. It is based on open-source software (built on the Node JS platform, with a MySQL database and a Bootstrap front end) and can be deployed flexibly on Windows, Linux or cloud/on-site. It is designed to work with slow connections and data requests.

The prototype includes lighting, air conditioners and refrigerators and uses the U4E model regulation guidelines as the default legislative framework. However, this framework can be modified according to the implementing country’s needs and, because of the modular design of the prototype, the product categories can also be customised. For cooling products, in addition to energy-efficiency requirements, the prototype is also designed to allow regulators to collect information from applicants on the refrigerants in their products.

Once implemented by a country, only authorized users are able to access the PRS, with their identity being authenticated using a username and password. However, various levels of authorization are built into the prototype PRS permitting different levels of data sharing and privacy according to the needs of the project stakeholders. This allows them to access data, but ensures that it can only be shared based on the correct authorization protocols being followed. Any changes made to the database are immediately reflected to all user levels and the data is same for all users viewing the database, ensuring data consistency across the system.

The prototype also contains a built-in application programming interface, or API. This means that the system is set up and ready should countries wish to share the product information stored in their national PRS, for example, as part of a regional database project.

The development of the prototype PRS was completed by U4E and its partner, the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), who followed a seven-step development process:

1. Gathering and analysing the requirements
2. Designing and creating a mock-up
3. Testing and evaluating initial user feedback
4. Refining the mock-up
5. Building and coding of the prototype
6. Refining, debugging and retesting
7. Releasing and maintaining

This structured methodology ensured a robust and transparent development process and that the final prototype fully meets the requirements of potential users.

Development of the prototype PRS was a core part of a joint U4E and ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) regional harmonisation project. A further output of this project was a regional database system that draws data from the PRS in each participating country and aims to facilitate the energy efficiency monitoring of appliances in the region. This database can be also implemented and individualized by policymakers of any other region.

For further information on implementing either the prototype PRS or the regional product registration database, contact Madeleine Edl at madeleine.edl@un.org or visit the prototype PRS page on the U4E website.