Mar 5, 2024

On the 6th February, delegates gathered at Le Carrousel du Louvre in Paris for the first Enerj Meeting of 2024. The event takes place twice a year, with 2024 seeing Paris host in February and Lyon in September. The Eurovent Certita Certification team joined colleagues from ProdBim in the exhibition area, on stand 75, while Sophie Bocquillon, Transverse Project Manager, took to the stage at 10.40am with Julian Tavernier, Commercial Manager for Heat Pumps in France at Ecoforest.

Enerj Meeting is a unique day dedicated to decision makers in the building industry, such as architects, owners, local authorities, contractors, engineers, property developers, manufacturers, and start-ups. The Paris leg of the event had some 4000 delegates in attendance. Famed for its extensive conference programme, this year saw some changes, including a new venue, new concept, and new dynamic. With a continued focus on seminars and workshops, the Paris Energj Meeting featured six large conference areas and five different exhibition areas including:

• EnerJ-BAT
• EnerJ-TECH
• an area showcasing “Excellence”
• an area for “Developers and carbon-zero construction experts”
• a "Compéténces 2050" zone.

As ever, the exhibition gave the Eurovent Certita Certification and ProdBim team the opportunity to catch up with certified manufactures and spread the word on certification and digitalisation to architects, engineers, building owners and developers, along with other industry professionals.

The presentation

A full house gathered for the presentation: “NF PAC certified heat pumps & new horizons.” The joint presentation between Eurovent Certita Certification and NF PAC certified manufacturer, Ecoforest, explored role of certified heat pumps in building a more sustainable future. Focusing on issues raised by changing refrigerant regulations and the pace of technological change, the presentation went on to explain how certification is fundamental in guaranteeing not only quality and performance, but also the sustainability of energy efficient systems and reduction of carbon emissions.

Ecoforest’s Julian Tavernier introduced the company and its ranges of NF PAC certified products, before touching on the future R290 products which will be launched to the market in spring 2024. Keeping on the topic of new and improved products, Julian explained the role that Eurovent Certita Certification plays in confirming product performance through its certification process. As a third-party, the certification body has supported market and regulatory developments through updating the requirements of the NF PAC certification framework.

Moving onto the industry at large, the presentation covered the revision of the F-GAS regulations and how it is shaking up the world of climate engineering. Pointing out the impositions placed on both the design of new product ranges, and new constraints in regard to safety: pressure, toxicity, flammability, etc. at the manufacturing, installation/maintenance level, this brings the need to develop new skills. 

Certification programmes must also adapt as do testing laboratories. In this global context of reducing our carbon footprint, and the lack of perspective on new fluids and their performance, it is more important than ever to know the correct performance of products, and certification provides this answer.

Moving onto the certification itself, Sophie Bocquillon focused in on the NF PAC mark, which was created in 2007. The NF residential heat pump certification covers numerous technologies including geothermal, air/water, air/air for monobloc, split and even multisplit systems. The certification is applicable to products running on electricity or gas, with a number of characteristics certified including thermal performance in heating and/or cooling, acoustics, and (where applicable) domestic hot water.

Sophie emphasised that as all Eurovent certifications are voluntary, certification shows a strong commitment from manufacturers. Explaining the background of certification, she next explained how programmes are developed by consensus with all stakeholders, who can then express their expectations and market needs in their region.

She also highlighted some of the key aspects of Eurovent certification including:

• How the sampling rules aim to guarantee the representativeness of the products.
• How admission and monitoring evaluation operations (annual and continuous) include tests in independent laboratories (ISO 17025 accredited), audits (of production sites), verifications of software, and monitoring of communication media from participants, manufacturers, and non-owners to avoid any abusive use.
• How these evaluation operations aim to strengthen market confidence, particularly regarding the reliability of data announced, reduce the risk and the level of uncertainty.
• That certified data is freely accessible on our website.
• Certification delivered by an independent and impartial third-party organisation allows products to be compared using identical rules and makes competition fair.
• Certification is also a means of supporting manufacturers in regulatory and normative developments.

Our thanks go to Julian Tavernier and everyone who attended the presentation and our stand.  

Want to find out more? You can view the presentation in full below.

Discover more at www.enerj-meeting.com

View NF certified heat pumps