The future of standards

In this paper, we discuss the future of efficiency standards, including revisions of existing standards, the spread of standards to other countries and other products, the use of voluntary standards and other complements to mandatory efficiency standards, international harmonization of standards, manufacturersʹ reactions to standards, how standards may be used to promote classes of products that save energy, and evaluation and documentation of standards. We conclude that trends towards increased use of standards in terms of number of countries and number of products covered are likely to continue, along with periodic updates to standards and growth in programs that complement standards.