September’s Industry Partners Meeting will provide a forum for stakeholders interested in CEE’s revised specification for the High-Efficiency Commercial Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Initiative (HECAC). In April, CEE distributed a draft specification for industry review and the response from manufacturers (and their trade associations) has been significant, both in volume and content.
Click here to view the draft specification.
“We’ve heard from several major manufacturers and we’ve received good feedback,” said CEE Commercial Program Manager Afroz Khan.
Two main areas of discussion have emerged: 1) alignment of specifications for small commercial equipment (less than 65,000 Btuh) with residential equipment of the same size and 2) addressing the efficiency of large unitary equipment with system optimization rather than increasingly stringent specifications. Stakeholders from efficiency programs and industry will discuss these items at the Industry Partners Meeting in Dallas Sept. 19-20.
Although there are some differences, such as single-phase vs. three-phase, manufacturers claim that small commercial HVAC equipment is very similar to residential equipment; thus, from their perspective, it makes sense to align the specifications.
CEE is also in the process of revising its residential HVAC specification to address an advanced tier. Both HVAC committees would like to finalize these recommendations to the Board as soon as possible. An early decision would help members plan for their 2007 programs. It is hoped that the residential and commercial HVAC specifications will be finalized by Jan. 1, 2007.
As far as optimizing the performance of large unitary HVAC systems, both industry and the efficiency program community recognize that increasingly stringent specifications may not be the answer.
“We’re reaching a ceiling for the performance levels,” explained Khan. “It’s getting to the point where we can’t achieve reasonable and cost-effective efficiency gains by continuing to make the specifications more stringent.
“So we’re looking at performance-based measures, such as controls, maintenance and system management.”
When the federal minimum standard increased in 2002, CEE eliminated its Tier 1 specification for commercial equipment, leaving just one tier (Tier 2). The proposed revision would rename Tier 2, calling it Tier 1, and would add two higher tiers, 2 and 3, for air conditioning and small commercial heat pump equipment.
For large commercial heat pumps, there will be no additional tiers added to the proposed specification. “There is just not enough equipment available at the higher levels to justify a new specification,” Khan said.
After these discussions with industry, the Commercial HVAC Committee is expected to make a recommendation to the CEE Board for its earliest consideration.
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