Chris Granda of VEIC (above) and TXU’s Mike Stockard described approaches used in their respective programs.

CEE’s Residential HVAC Committee and the Air-Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) have proposed an agreement on the licensing of ACCA’s quality installation specification.

Pending approval by the CEE Board of Directors, who will consider this issue in mid-May, all CEE members will have permission to download, reproduce and use the ACCA specification in their programs – free of charge.

The licensing agreement secures the right for CEE members to use the technical requirements of the ACCA quality installation specification which attained American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recognition. With Board approval, this specification will also be incorporated into CEE’s residential and commercial HVAC initiatives later this year.

The ACCA specification represents a consensus definition of all necessary aspects of a quality HVAC installation for both residential and small commercial equipment.

In addition to identifying the necessary attributes of a quality installation, the specification stipulates acceptable verification methods and evidence that should be kept on record for possible third-party review.

“We now have a single definition for a quality installation of HVAC equipment that has been developed by a diverse group of key stakeholders,” said CEE Program Manager John Taylor. “This consensus specification can be a cornerstone for industry and CEE members to transform the HVAC market.”

Two-year project
Finalization of the ACCA specification, and subsequent licensing agreement, culminates more than two years of work by CEE and its members.

In March 2005, CEE hosted a Quality Installation Workshop, bringing together members, industry representatives, EPA staff and other key stakeholders to develop an action plan for quality installation.

ACCA then formed a committee to develop and fine-tune the specification. Six CEE members served on the ACCA committee and 14 other members reviewed draft versions of the specification and provided comments.

Implementer viewpoint
During a presentation at the Market Transformation Symposium, Chris Granda of the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation underscored the value of a quality installation while noting that a specification is just one step in the process.

“When the minimum standard [for HVAC equipment] changed, the available savings were chopped in half,” said Granda, who has provided consulting for HVAC programs in New Jersey and Long Island. “The place where the savings remained was in installation. But good contractors with the right equipment and adequate training may still choose not to optimize equipment efficiency during installation.”

That’s because a quality installation takes more time and effort, and consumers don’t always understand the benefit.

In the long run, an energy-efficient installation provides many benefits to the homeowner, including monetary savings, but contractors generally compete with low prices rather than high quality.

“In order for this to change, customers need to be educated about quality installation and ask for it,” said Granda.

Verification
Another issue, and the next step in transforming the installation market, is verification. If a customer is paying more for a higher-quality service, there must be a method to verify the increased performance.

TXU Electric’s quality installation program includes contractor training, customer education and a “validation” process for the completed work. “Inspections are done on a random basis,” explained Mike Stockard, Manager of Energy-Efficiency Programs at TXU Electric.

“And we call it ‘validating’ not ‘inspecting.’ A neutral third party does the validation and the contractor is usually present when the installation is checked.”

Stockard noted that the validation process is necessary but is “time and money intensive. We’re reviewing alternate verification processes and technologies.”

New ACCA committee
ACCA will convene a Quality Installation Verification Committee to develop consensus protocols for verifying that installation work meets the requirements laid out in its QI specification.

Having a credible verification program that minimizes costs will also be useful for the proposed ENERGY STAR quality installation program. ACCA has indicated it would consult with CEE when determining the composition of this committee.

“We anticipate energy-efficiency program administrators will have much to offer this process, and should have a good presence on the committee,” said Taylor.

ACCA will announce a request for volunteers shortly. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact John Taylor.

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