Information for manufacturers

Since 2015, information requirements affect all bids regarding space heaters, water heaters and hot water storage tanks. Installers, being the point of sale, are obliged to provide the customer with information regarding the efficiency of the system along with the initial bid. The information must be supplied in the form of a datasheet and an energy efficiency label, also called “product label”. In most cases, installers also offer composite heating systems. They have to calculate the “package label” for the system manually.

VdZ-Platform HEATINGlabel

Since the manual preparation of the “package label” by the installer implies a substantial work effort, the industry has gone for an IT-based solution, i.e. a central database with a connection to wholesale shop systems and installer software.
To establish this database, suppliers feed relevant data for the calculation of the package label into the VdZ-portal. The data is added via simple Excel sheets. The effort required from the supply-side is therefore minor. The portal’s calculation tool then generates the package label from the individual data.

The portal makes the data available to the relevant recipients via different interfaces, i.e. web services. The data can be retrieved as an individually generated label, e.g. via a commercial installer software. This process is enabled by the data interface “IDS-Connect”, an established interface solution for communication between installer software and databases in Germany. Particularly this connection is of essential importance, since approx. 90% of craft businesses use commercial software. When preparing the bid proposal, the software can automatically issue the package label as an extra page. Also, the individual usage of the portal by the installer is possible.

The advantages:

• Open Platform: Product data from all suppliers active on the German market can be included and the database can be connected to any software.

• Suppliers of both systems and components profit equally.

• Simple input via Excel sheets.

• Implementation for commercial software systems. To fulfil label guideline, label calculation is required during phase of bid proposal, i.e., in the commercial context.

• No additional effort for software producers due to application of established IDS-Connect interface.

• High market; open platform; usage free of charge for installers, wholesale and their software suppliers.

• The solution addresses the German market but can be adopted in other European countries.

Notification: Working languages of HEATINGlabel are English and German (regarding communication between manufacturers and HEATINGlabel).