Environmental Performance
Because of the ever present threat of climate change manufacturers are under a great deal of pressure to improve the energy efficiency of their goods. The public has a significantly increased level of environmental awareness and there is a trend to purchase goods that are perceived as being 'green' and less harmful to the environment. As a result many electrical goods, particularly white goods are now equipped with environmental performance certificates and reports which detail the energy consumption of the units. On these certificates products are banded according to their environmental performance and as a result consumers are then able to make a more informed decision about purchasing the product.
However, environmental performance reports and certificates are not limited to electrical products. Landlords are now being encourages to produce similar environmental performance reports for any properties that they intend to lease out. These reports are then made available to prospective tenants and they will then be able to make a decision on whether to live in the property or rent it dependent upon its environmental performance.
Since the widespread introduction of these environmental performance reports there has been a reported increase in the number of people making more environmental aware purchases. This is arguably because environmental performance reports make this information much easier to access for members of the public. In many cases purchasing products that are more energy efficient will often have the secondary advantage of lowering your electricity bills through their lower power consumption.