Comprehensive energy
legislation that is expected to enhance the air conditioning and
commercial refrigeration industry’s role in reducing America’s
energy use was recently signed into law, providing incentives
and standards for commercial and residential users to upgrade
their heating and cooling equipment to more efficient choices.
The bill gives the Dept. of Energy the authority
to establish regional standards for residential furnaces or
central air conditioning equipment, and the standards will set
minimum efficiency levels based on different regional climates.
It gives the DOE the authority to establish up
to three U.S. regions for cooling and two regions for heating.
“We commend Congress for passing it and President Bush for
signing it into law,” said Stephen R. Yurek, president of
the
Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute.
Before the DOE can establish regional standards,
it must demonstrate that it will:
• Achieve substantially greater savings than
that of a single national standard;
• Be technologically feasible and economically
justified; and
• Result in no significant burden on
manufacturing, marketing, distribution, sale or servicing of
covered product on a national basis.
“The air conditioning and heating industry is
pleased to have played an integral role in developing and
raising standards for its equipment, which will result in
significant energy savings for the country,” Yurek said. “We
hope Americans will embrace this new law and take advantage of
the array of energy-efficient heating, cooling and commercial
refrigeration equipment manufactured by our members.”
The bill also enacts into law a consensus
agreement between ARI and the American Council for an Energy
Efficient Economy (ACEEE) that for the first time establishes
federal standards for walk-in refrigerators and freezers,
effective Jan. 1, 2009.
“Inclusion of this standard will result in
significant energy-use reductions for America’s businesses that
use these products,” Yurek said. “It also is a perfect example
of the benefit of industry and energy efficiency advocates
working together for the good of the nation.”
The bill also corrects a technical error in the
2005 energy bill by allowing implementation of federal standards
raising the efficiency level for three-phase, lessthan-65,000
BTU to 13 SEER, and implementing the ASHRAE 90.1 standard for
single-package vertical units; both by June 15, 2008.
As energy prices continue to climb around the
globe and measures to conserve energy become even more
imperative for government regulators, the assurance of HVACR
equipment performance has become essential to building owners.
Building service and facility
maintenance managers should ensure their system design is based
on accurate performance ratings, said Yurek. That is why they
should consider HVACR equipment and components listed in the ARI
Directory of Certified Product Performance, found at
www.aridirectory.org.
For more than 50 years, the
majority of HVACR equipment manufacturers have participated in
the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute’s voluntary
certification programs. On Jan. 1, 2008, ARI merged with the Gas
Appliance Manufacturers Association to form the
Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
While the two organizations’ certification programs will now be
administered by AHRI, the programs will retain their current
certification marks in 2008 until further notice.
Consumers of commercial
cooling equipment can still be assured that products bearing the
ARI Performance Certified mark have undergone rigorous, annual
testing by an independent laboratory to verify the accuracy of
performance claims.
The ARI Directory of Certified
Product Performance, a real-time, online data database
provides valuable tools to conduct performance comparisons of
similar products offered by multiple manufacturers. The ability
to compare product performance ratings allows building service
contractors and facility maintenance managers to easily select
the appropriate equipment and components for a particular job
with the assurance that the product will perform as indicated.
Directory users can search by
product lines, certified ratings, or manufacturers. ARI’s merger
with the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA) was
approved by both organizations members in December. The merged
association is now known as the Air-Conditioning, Heating and
Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and will be headquartered in
Arlington, VA.
The merger creates a single,
influential entity to more effectively represent their
interests, while continuing the work of both associations in
establishing industry standards and certifying the performance
of heating, cooling and commercial refrigeration equipment.
The AHRI Board of Directors
has appointed Johnson Controls Vice President C. David Myers as
chairman of the combined organization. The AHRI Board consists
of the current directors of the two constituent associations and
is representative of the membership and its different product
areas.
“The merger will create a more
efficient and influential organization to serve the needs of
cooling, heating, and commercial refrigeration equipment
manufacturers and their customers,” said Myers. “The interests
of the memberships of the two associations are so closely
aligned that we expect a seamless integration.”
“By coming together in one
organization, the manufacturers of heating and cooling equipment
will increase their collective power and significantly increase
the effectiveness of our advocacy domestically and abroad,” said
ARI’s Immediate Past Chairman Robert Wilkins. “We are convinced
that one association can accomplish even more than two working
separately.”
“We envision a single
organization representing HVACR manufacturers,” said Immediate
Past GAMA Chairman Patrick Quilty, a member of the new AHRI
Board.
“AHRI will speak with one
voice and one message while providing manufacturers with a
strong advocate to address issues important to the industry with
its membership of 370 manufacturers.”
