Blue Angel ecolabel requires wood stoves with automated air controls

Blue Angel, the German government equivalent of the US Energy Star label, approved a new eco-label for wood stoves that includes stoves with automated air control, “separating technologies” such as electrostatic precipitators and the ability to meet strict emission standards.

The Blue Angel label is also part of a trend that is exploring and adopting test procedures that more closely resembles how stoves are used in homes.  The label emerged in part from lessons learned by the BeReal initiative that involved extensive round-robin testing in multiple European countries. The Clean Heat initiative is promoting the label to help towns and cities to reduce air pollution.

Marius Wohler of BeReal presents
findings at Brookhaven National Lab
 in 2016

The label gives a boost to efforts by the Alliance for Green Heat which has worked with American state and federal agencies and American stove manufacturers to develop automated stove technology and bring them to the US market.

German Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said in a press statement that "The Blue Angel standard for stoves for wood is a real step forward. The authorities can now take more effective action against particulate matter pollution, for example by only allowing the operation of stoves bearing the eco-label.”

Blue Angel says that cities and municipalities are introducing regional bans on conventional stoves (ban on the use of these stoves and ban on installing these devices in new housing developments) but there would be exceptions for those appliances holding the Blue Angel label. The city of Berlin has expressed interest in using the ecolabel.

Maria Krautzberger, President of the Federal Environment Agency said “With the Blue Angel requirements that have now been decided upon, we are showing that it is possible to go even further [to make wood stoves clean]. This boosts innovation in the industry, gives guidance to consumers and is good for our air".

SBI won an award for their automated
stove design and will be launching a series
of automated stoves in North America

The label is voluntary for manufacturers, as a number of other European eco-labels, but this one is stricter than others. Several European countries have developed eco-labels for wood stoves with varying degrees of success. The US Energy Star program has never covered wood stoves and US stove industry blocked an initiative by Washington State to explore a state-led label. The Alliance for Green Heat has been an advocate for ecolabels and urges stakeholders in the US to revisit the idea.

It is not yet known how many stoves will qualify for the label over the coming months and years, and how well they will work in the field. Automated stoves gained some visibility in the United States through the Wood Stove Design Challenge and subsequently the Department of Energy provided $3 million in funding for automated stove R&D in 2019 and are now offering an additional $5 million in 2020.

Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) have long been used in commercial wood burning applications, and their use in residential applications has grown rapidly in Europe. In the US, an initiative in Alaska is using ESPs, and is hoping a review by the EPA will determine that change out funding can be used on a wider scale to install ESPs on wood stoves.  As prices come down under $2,000 the cost of adding an ESP may result in far more PM reductions than replacing an old stove.

This ESP made by Swiss
company Oekosolve was
also showcased by AGH
in Wash. DC in 2018.

Excerpts of the details of the Blue Angel label are reproduced below. The full criteria can be found here.

Excerpts

The environmental label may be awarded to stoves that use the fuel … in an efficient manner and have significantly lower pollutant emissions. In addition to the statutory regulations for the type testing process [lab testing of a sample stove] for the stoves, the special requirements stipulated by the Blue Angel mean that stoves have to comply with significantly lower particulate and CO limit values and this must also be verified during the ignition [start-up] phase that involves a particularly high level of emissions. In the case of organic gaseous carbon (OGC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), emissions of these substances must already be below the limits defined in the EU Ecodesign requirements that will be generally applicable from January 2022.

When purchasing a new innovative stove, the environmental label will thus act as a decision- making aid for the reduction of air pollutants. It is a voluntary label that is designed to motivate manufacturers to develop efficient and low- emission heating appliances. The label will allow manufacturers to highlight the environmental benefits offered by their heating appliance in a simple way.

Therefore, the following benefits for the environment and health are stated in the explanatory box:

3.1 Emission requirements

Stoves, where relevant in combination with an integrated or downstream particle separator, must comply with the maximum limits stated in Table 1, Column 3 for the particle content, carbon monoxide (CO), organic gaseous carbon (OGC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The particle count concentration must be determined (see Appendix C for the measurement method). In addition, the limit for the particle count concentration stated in Table 1, Column 3 must also be observed from 01/01/2022.

The requirements can be complied with in two ways:

1. a) Testing the overall system

The requirements will have been fulfilled if the mean values from the individual measurements described in Appendix B that were carried out on the tested stove, including all of the intended fixtures and attachments, do not exceed the relevant limits specified in Table 1, Column 3.

Spare parts are those parts which, typically, may develop a fault within the scope of the ordinary use of a product. Whereas those parts which normally exceed the life of the product are not to be considered as spare parts.

2. b) In combination with an efficient particle separator

§ The requirements will have been fulfilled if the mean values from the individual measurements described in Appendix B that were carried out on the stove do not exceed the relevant limits specified in Table 1, Column 4 and the stove is sold and installed together with a particle separator. For particle separators, a minimum separating efficiency of 75% of the particle mass and (from 01/01/2022) 90% of the particle count must be verified. The limit value in Table 1, Column 3 must be complied with reliably when taking into account the separating efficiency.

§ If a particle separator for which this minimum separating efficiency has been verified is already integrated into a chimney, the manufacturer can also sell the stove without the separator. The fact that the stove must be installed together with the associated particle separator that is integrated into the chimney must be indicated during the sale of the product and also in the installation instructions. The particle separator integrated into the chimney must already have been named and tested when submitting the application for the stove.

The measurement of the flue gas temperature, the flue gas sampling process and the measurement of the static pressure for the stove must be completed in a measurement circuit according to DIN EN 16510-1:2018-01 (D), Section A.2.3 as well as Diagrams 13 and 14 of this standard.

The measurement uncertainty stated in the test method is neither added nor subtracted.

3.11 Future revision of the environmental label

Furthermore, the revision will examine whether the applicant can offer a 5-year guarantee for the secondary reduction technology if it is sold in combination with the stove. 

To determine the particle count emissions from stoves, it has only been possible up to now to evaluate individual test results using the methods described in Appendix C. Round robin tests that could be used as the basis for defining a limit for the particle count emissions from the stove have not been available. 

Nevertheless, the measurement of the particle count in accordance with the new methods is being introduced as an obligatory requirement. Due to the unavailability of round robin tests, it is necessary to allow a transition period for the introduction of the particle count limit. Compliance with the particle count limit will be obligatory for the award of the Blue Angel from 01/01/2022. 

3.4 Air regulation

To ensure that the user has as little influence over the emissions as possible, it is not permitted for the air supply to be manually adjustable during intended operation. This is usually achieved through the automatic regulation of the air supply.

3.5 Combustion monitor

A display must be provided for the user to indicate any deviation from the optimal operating state and to request that the user stokes the fire with wood.

3.8.1 Repairability and provision of spare parts

The stove must be designed so that it can be repaired by replacing individual parts that are no longer working. The applicant undertakes to guarantee the provision of spare parts for the repair of the appliances for at least 10 years following the termination of production.

The product documentation must include information about the repairability and the guaranteed supply of spare parts.

3.8.2 Recyclable design

In terms of the recyclable design of those appliances issued with the environmental label, the following is valid:

· The appliances must be designed in such a way that they can be dismantled and separated into recyclable materials by specialist companies using standard tools or that this process is simplified by intelligently designed connections.

· The appliances must be designed so that it is possible to separate metals into single materials and, where possible, recycle them separately.

3.10.3 Quick user guide

· In addition, another guide covering a maximum of two pages must be provided that includes the most important instructions for the fuel to be used (size of the pieces, max. water content, quantity) for the ignition process, controlling the air flow, stoking the fire and cleaning/maintenance in a clearly visible and easy to understand form. This quick user guide must be permanently legible and abrasion-resistant and must not suffer from discolouration during normal use.

· The instructions must include easy to understand illustrations

5. Use of the Environmental Label

The use of the Environmental Label by the applicant is governed by a contract on the use of the Environmental Label concluded with RAL gGmbH.

Contracts on the Use of the Environmental Label are concluded to fix the terms for the certification of products under Paragraph 2. Such contracts shall run until December 31, 2023. They shall be extended by periods of one year each, unless terminated in writing by March 31, 2023 or March 31 of the respective year of extension.

Related stories

Alaska building list of cleaner, properly certified wood and pellet stoves (Oct. 2020)

The US needs an eco label for wood and pellet heaters (Dec. 2018)

The US needs an eco label for wood and pellet heaters

Europe’s extensive experience with stove eco-labels shows clear benefits

While Europe is far behind the US when it comes to national stove emission standards, European wood stove and wood smoke regulation is far ahead of the US in some ways.  Much of the credit is due to Europe’s history of using eco labels.  National regulations in the US, such as the 1988 and 2015 EPA regulations, only provide a floor below which stoves cannot go.  And efforts to keep that floor as low as possible to allow the sales of low-performing technology allows the entire industry to play by same low standards.

Jan. 2020 update: Germany's Blue Angel eco-label announces a innovative new standard primarily for stoves that have automated air supply and electrostatic precipitators.

Eco labels provide incentives to make stoves cleaner and more efficient.  In turn, those higher standards can influence the entire market. Eco-labels also provide a ready-made structure for change out and incentive programs to move the market toward cleaner and more efficient devices.  In the US, virtually all new stoves qualify for the federal tax credit and change out programs, abdicating one of the best opportunities to improve the stock of stoves in the country.   

Europe is battling the same problem as the US with wood stoves that perform far worse in the field than they did in the lab.  A recent German report concluded that “there aren’t enough incentives to develop more sophisticated technical solutions to reduce emissions in the real-world.”  One of the only solutions is to include sensors and microprocessors so that stoves can optimize combustion on their own. European stove producers have undertaken R&D with automated functions far more than US producers, leading to promising designs.  An eco-label could recognize these advances and help these stoves gain a foothold in the market.  

Without an effective eco-label, R&D support, and meaningful incentives, stove technology could easily languish again, as it did after the minimum 1990 NSPS and 1995 Washington State regulations were met.  While pellet stoves were far cleaner, their efficiencies were often very poor, because there was no motivation to produce cleaner or higher efficiency units.  

The increase of stove sales and usage since 2000 has resulted in greater air pollution in both Europe and the US, leading to outright bans in some areas and a much harder road for stoves to be accepted as a top tier renewable energy technology.  Without a way for consumers and policy makers to easily distinguish between the best available technology and mediocre technology that just meets the minimum national emission standards, the fate of even the best stove technology is uncertain.

A recent workshop hosted by International Cryosphere Climate Initiative in Amsterdam for European stove producers highlighted the threats that existing stove technology and testing regimes face, as European nations take more aggressive stances against wood stoves without turning to pellet technology as a solution.  

In Europe, there is a new push for a pan-European eco label that would recognize the cleanest and most advanced units.  Progressive members of the European industry association, CEFACD, are pushing for this label to counter public perceptions that stoves are simply too dirty for the modern world.  Currently, the required EU labelling scheme only looks at efficiency, similar to the Energy Star program in the US.  But efficiency is not as important as cleanliness in the field.  The Alliance for Green Heat has tried to reform the federal tax credit to consider both PM and efficiency, but we are only making progress on the efficiency front.  After years of campaigning, the efficiency listings on the EPA stove list may finally be used, ending a decade of widespread industry misinformation.

Eco labels are not a silver bullet, and weak ones can even be a form of greenwashing.  Several European labels have struggled to only recognize the top of the market instead of the broad majority of units, a problem that the US Energy Star label has also faced.  To keep eco labels effective and relevant, their eligibility criteria needs to be updated as technology improves.

Eco labels can also help advance pellet stove technology which has proved to be relatively clean in the field.  Few nations have capitalized on advanced pellet stove and boiler technology to tackle the fossil fuel domination of the heating sector.  In the meantime, the electrification of heating is advancing quickly though heat pumps.  

Efficient cold climate heat pumps are an excellent technology and can be paired with pellet units.  In other cases, pellet technology is still preferable.  Austria has made great strides in pellet boilers, and regional R&D and incentives are helping the nation accept the technology.  But the only country in the world to embrace advanced pellet stove technology is, surprisingly, Italy.  In the US, New England states provide incentives for expensive pellet boilers, but have largely ignored pellet stoves, which still have huge potential. 

Industry wants sales but the periodic surge of wood stoves sales can backfire.  In the UK, the government foolishly gave incentives for basic, manually operated wood stoves, which helped fuel a rapid rise in wood smoke that is now causing a legitimate backlash.  In Denmark, a surge of sales occurred when the Baltics became part of the European Union, allowing cheap imported cord wood to make wood heating more affordable than renewable district heating.  In the US, the surge happened from 2000 – 2008, leading to an increased use of burn bans and a push for a stricter NSPS.  And local events like the Montreal ice storm of 1998, ended up motivating the city of Montreal to take one of the most radical steps of banning the use of existing stoves, including many certified stoves that emit more than 2.7 grams an hour.   Now many European cities are looking at Montreal style solutions.  All of these examples could have been avoided, or at least mitigated, if federal, state, and local agencies created a better foundation for pellet heating.  

The slow sales of pellet stoves and boilers would benefit from a recognizable eco label that identified the top performers.  However, when wood and pellet equipment producers are represented by the same industry association, the producers of wood stoves and boilers that just meet the minimum standards can be a powerful force in opposing eco-labels.  And this leads us back to where we are today, without sufficient recognition and incentives for the very best wood and pellet technology. 

A lack of leadership and interest from the EPA, DOE, and wood stove industry has prevented Energy Star from developing a program for wood and pellet stoves.  And, Energy Star is founded on the goal of reducing fossil fuel usage, so reducing the use of wood and pellets doesn’t easily fit.  If a new eco label emerges in Europe, it could be adopted and used in the US and Canada if it had the backing of enough stakeholders. Or, European brands could simply start using a European label and try to gain recognition among North American consumers.

Wood and pellet stoves sales in the US are declining, and this decline is likely to continue with winters gradually warming, fossil fuel prices staying relatively low, and greater awareness of the health impacts of wood smoke.  If the status quo isn’t working, maybe it’s time to try something different.  Think eco label.