December 6, 2004—Air conditioner manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates have reached an agreement on consensus federal equipment efficiency standards for air conditioners and heat pumps used in many commercial buildings that, if enacted by federal regulators and Congress, will avoid the need for 25 new power plants.
The current federal standard was established by Congress in 1992 and calls for the most common type of equipment to have an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 8.9. Under the agreement, the standard for the most common units will rise to 11.2 EER as of January 1, 2010, a 26% improvement in efficiency. In addition, the agreement calls for extending the federal standards program to large package commercial air conditioners and heat pumps (up to 760,000 Btu/hour cooling capacity).
An analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) found that the agreement will result in net benefits to building owners of about $2.4 billion for commercial air conditioners purchased over the 2010-2030 period, considering the value of the energy savings and subtracting the moderate additional cost of the improved equipment.
The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) says that the agreement gives manufacturers “regulatory certainty to develop new models for 2010 that will meet both the new efficiency standards and EPA regulations to phase-out the use of HCFC refrigerants that can deplete the ozone layer.”
The agreement is now being provided to both the US Department of Energy (DOE) and members of Congress. Many aspects of the agreement can be adopted by DOE but some aspects will require Congressional action.
