Posted on October, 12 2006

Brussels, Belgium – A new web portal to help consumers find the most energy-efficient appliances and cars in Europe has been launched today by WWF, together with a group of partner organisations across Europe.

The website www.topten.info rates the top-ten selection in terms of energy efficiency for a number of products, such as refrigerators, TVs, cars and appliances, in several European countries. For each product, information such as price, energy consumption, average cost over product life, functions and pictures are included. Such data allow consumers and large buyers to choose the most energy-efficient products available on the market.

Energy efficiency, together with impact on the environment, health and quality are the key assessment criteria for the products found on the website. At present a special “Best of Europe” category rates the most efficient refrigerators, tumble dryers and cars currently available across Europe. By the end of the year, new categories will be added.

The portal gives access to national “Top Ten” websites, which are already online in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the coming months, other “Top Ten” websites will also be launched in Finland, Hungary, Italy and Poland.

“Topten” is independent from producers and commercial distributors as it rely on tests and analysis carried out by independent institutions, labels and standardised declarations of manufacturers. The methodology for selection is transparent and available online.

For more information on the new WWF-supported website, visit: www.topten.info  

For further information
• Mariangiola Fabbri, Energy Policy Officer at WWF European Policy Office
Tel. +32 2 7400934
Email mfabbri@wwfepo.org
• Sophie Attali, Topten International Group,
Tel. +33 1 49220064
Email sophie.attali@topten.info
• Eric Bush, Topten International Group
Tel. +41 81 2526364
Email info@topten.info

Notes to the editors
• The Eurotopten team is made of energy specialists, environmental NGOs and consumer organisations. Technical data are provided by Encodex, appliance manufacturers and ATE for cars.

• The website www.topten.info is supported by the EU programme “Intelligent Energy Europe”. Partners include: WWF, Austrian Energy Agency (AEA), Energy Efficiency Centre (SEVEn), Motiva (Finnish agency for the promotion of efficient energy use and renewable energy sources), French Agency for Environment and Energy (ADEME), Wuppertal Institute, Ecofys (Research and consultancy on renewable energy, energy savings and climate policies), Polish Foundation for Energy Efficiency (FEWE) and Toptest GmbH.

• WWF offices participating in the project are: WWF European Policy Office, WWF-Austria, WWF-Belgium, WWF-France, WWF-Hungary and WWF-Italy. WWF-Finland and WWF-Poland support the activities of national partners involved in the project.