Green Mechanical Contractor

ARE REGIONAL EFFICIENCY
STANDARDS A GOOD THING?

We report in our neWs section of this issue that HVAC manufacturers have made a deal with the u.s. Department of energy (Doe) to create regional efficiency standards for heating and cooling equipment. the agreement was reportedly made to head off more draconian rules that Doe might have come up with on its own. The deal, however, has contractors and wholesalers feeling like they’re left holding the bag. But first, the details.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating & refrigeration institute (AHri) negotiated with Doe and a host of efficiency organizations, including American Council for an energy efficient economy, the Alliance to save energy, the natural resources Defense Council, and the California energy Commission.

The agreement calls for regional efficiency standards to replace national standards, and it also recommends more stringent building code provisions for new construction. The agreement sets different standard levels in three climate regions — north, south, and southwest. The agreement also allows states to include even higher efficiency levels for heating and cooling systems in new homes.

According to a summary provided by the Heating, Air-conditioning & refrigeration Distributors international (HArDi), the agreement establishes the basis for three regions along state lines. The first would be all states north of the 5,000 heating degree day (HDD) line with an unchanged split system air conditioning standard at 13.0 seer and a higher gas furnace standard of 90% AFue. A southeastern region with states east of new Mexico and south of the 5,000 HDD line would have a residential split system air conditioning standard of 14.0 seer and gas furnace standard of 80% AFue. A southwestern region consisting of California, nevada, Arizona, and new Mexico would also have a gas furnace standard of 80% AFue but would have multiple efficiency standards on split system air conditioners of 14.0 seer, 12.2 eer on systems less than 45,000 Btuh and 14.0 seer, 11. 7 eer on systems greater than 45,000 Btuh and less than 65,000 Btuh. national standards for split and packaged air source heat pumps, weatherized furnaces, oil furnaces, and packaged air conditioners also will increase (with an eer standard established in the southwestern region). The new non-weatherized furnace standards will take effect in 2013 and all other standards changes will take effect in 2015.

Finalization of the agreement depends on Doe rulemaking.

HArDi, Air Conditioning Contractors of America, and plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – national Asso-

ciation were taken off-guard by AHri’s action and none too pleased.

“We questioned AHri's decision to enter into these negotiations without the input and involvement of any other industry stakeholders such as distributors or contractors and stressed that regionalized efficiency standards would argu-ably affect HVAC distributors and border-state contractors more than equipment manufacturers,” said David Mcilwaine, HArDi president and Karen Madonia, HArDi government relations committee chair. “Despite these and a host of other concerns from HArDi and ACCA, AHri remained committed to finalizing this agreement on their own.”

We have mixed emotions about the agreement. on the one hand, anybody who expected energy-efficiency rules to remain static was being unrealistic. A national 80% AFue for heating equipment was way too low. There’s logic to the argument that a higher seer for cooling equipment makes sense in the south.

We can, however, sympathize with contractors and wholesalers who believe they’re going to get blamed for whatever goes wrong. plumbing contractors will remember the switch to 1.6-gallon/flush toilets back in 1993. Homeowners called their plumbers, not the manufacturers, when the toilets clogged and there was, at least for a while, a black market in 3.5- and 5.0-gpf toilets.

Contractors and wholesalers expect similar problems with regional efficiency standards with cheaper lower efficiency equipment being smuggled across state lines. A lot of homeowners will howl at the price of the equipment and choose to fix what they have instead of buying new. they already are, HArDi reports, because of the 13.0-seer air conditioning standard.

it remains to be seen how this is going to be done.

Here’s hoping that Doe can come up with a sensible rulemaking that doesn’t turn this into a debacle for green mechanical contractors.

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