On Jan. 19, the CEE Board of Directors approved an addition to the Residential Central Air Conditioner and Air Source Heat Pump Initiative specification. Effective April 1, 2007, the CEE specification will now include a Tier 3 (Advanced Tier) for split-system air conditioners.

This tier is designated “Advanced” to acknowledge that these systems are not commonly available, but are technologically feasible in a complete range of sizes. Minimum requirements for this tier are SEER 16, EER 13.

“In promoting this new tier, CEE members will continue to focus the HVAC industry’s attention on supplying systems that save energy during peak demand,” explained CEE Residential Program Manager John Taylor.

The reference level for federal tax credits under EPAct 2005, which had been established at CEE’s Tier 2 (15 SEER, 12.5 EER), will remain unchanged though 2007.

In related news, the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) is now listing precise EER values for all HVAC equipment on the CEE HVAC Directory and on the ARI Certified Performance Directory. ARI has not made this information publicly available since 2002. Precise EER values for all HVAC systems should be a significant boost for evaluation of program impacts.

ARI’s willingness to provide the data on the CEE HVAC Directory underscores the success of CEE’s residential HVAC initiative. “It’s great for efficiency program administrators who are determined to save energy during peak,” said Taylor.

“It should result in increased promotion of high-efficiency HVAC systems as they are able to claim more precise deemed savings and will be able to calculate an accurate baseline rather than use conservative estimates.”

For further information about CEE’s Residential HVAC Initiative, contact John Taylor at 617-589-3949, ext. 228.

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