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Waiting For the Spring Thaw
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Not-So-Happy Anniversary for Several Products Frozen at OMB
Proposed rules for commercial refrigeration, metal halide lamp fixtures and ER/BR and small diameter incandescent reflector lamps reached their one-year anniversary at the White House OMB (Office of Management and Budget) and nobody is celebrating. They join walk-in coolers which achieved that dubious distinction over 5 months ago and relative newcomer distribution transformers which was added to the OMB queue in November 2012. 
OMB is a new standard's final stop, providing a final review before DOE (or any other agency) can publish a major new rule. Reviews are supposed to take no more than 90 days, but have grown interminable. The reasons are unclear but the results are very clear - consumers and businesses are losing savings by the day (click here for details). President Obama noted in his State of the Union address that he plans to "cut in half the energy our homes and businesses are wasting over the next 20 years." Putting a halt to holdups at his own OMB would be a great place to start...and there's no need to wait 20 years for savings that are available today.
The long delays at OMB along with other deadlines for new standards which DOE has missed work out to $3.7 billion in lost savings. Each additional month of delay in setting standards means consumers and businesses will lose another $300 million to higher energy bills. Each additional month also adds a year's worth of power plant CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (if you're counting, that's 4.4 million metric tons a month.) |
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A 'Chilling' Settlement for Long- Overdue Furnace Standards...
 Nothing puts a chill on efforts to increase furnace efficiency standards like an out-of-court settlement between parties. On January 14th, DOE and the American Public Gas Association (APGA) filed a proposed settlement to vacate the furnace standards set by DOE in September 2011. This proposed settlement continues a long string of actions (and inaction) that have essentially kept furnace standards at a standstill since the early 90s. |
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Great Reports Think Alike
Two recently released reports - one by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and the other by the Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency - agree that efficiency standards should play a key role in increasing the energy productivity of our nation. We couldn't agree more.
A February 2013 report from the BPC Strategic Energy Policy Initiative notes that efficiency standards have "translated into substantial energy savings since their inception." They recommend that DOE should "assign high priority to the timely issuance  of and upgrades to all its statutorily authorized performance-based efficiency standards for appliance, lighting and equipment" (p. 85). For the industrial sector, they recommend accelerating the "development and adoption of cost-effective DOE efficiency standards" and note that "DOE should move forward on cost-effective industrial efficiency standards for pumps and other homogeneous mass-produced equipment" (p.90). Former Senators Byron Dorgan and Trent Lott co-chair the BPC.
The Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency 'Energy 2030' report adopts the go  al of doubling energy productivity in the U.S. by 2030. Toward that end, the Commission recommends: "End current delays and update federal appliance and equipment, vehicle, and manufactured housing efficiency standards to maximum technologically feasible and economically justified levels." They further recommend that both federal and state governments set efficiency standards for electronics, industrial, and other products provided they are justified by the energy savings. Senator Mark Warner and Tom King, President of National Grid US, co-chair the Alliance Commission. |
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Ducks In a Row for Energy Bill
 The lame duck Congress passed and President Obama signed a modest bipartisan energy bill which includes several small changes to the appliance standards program. Steve Nadel, Executive Director of ACEEE notes: "The bill makes a number of technical corrections to equipment efficiency standards previously enacted by Congress, helping to make the program function better."
- Technical corrections and specific fixes to recently enacted standards;
- Uniform descriptor of covered water heaters to help manufacturers and consumers make energy-efficient choices; and
- Clarification of periodic review of commercial equipment standards and of DOE's response to petitions regarding standards.
The law has already had an impact. Shortly after passage of the bill, DOE initiated two rulemakings - one to update the water heater test method and the second to update commercial air conditioner standards. The standards provisions in the bill were part of an earlier bill, the Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements Act.
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Midea Fined $4.5 Million For Failing to Meet Standards
Midea America Corp learned that it doesn't pay to ignore energy efficiency standards. In November, they were fined $4.5 million for failing to meet efficiency standards on three freezer models and one refrigerator-freezer model. One tested a whopping 55% over the standard level. This is the largest penalty levied by DOE's appliance standards enforcement office to date. DOE reports that Midea distributed more than 280,000 units of these models in the U.S. Midea is required to notify purchasers of noncompliant products and to cease distribution immediately.
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What's An ASRAC? 
DOE has formed the Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee or "ASRAC". ASRAC's purpose is to "provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy on matters concerning the DOE's Appliances and Commercial Equipment Standards Program's test procedures and rulemaking process."
The first meeting took place on February 26, 2013 and included a discussion of appliances and equipment best suited for the negotiated rulemaking process and cross-cutting topics which may merit committee attention. Committee members and public participants alike made suggestions. Specific rulemakings or topics will be addressed by workgroups that are representative of the affected stakeholders. ASRAC voted to charter its first working group which will focus on developing consensus recommendations for commercial HVAC and refrigeration product certification. Additional working groups could be chartered at later meetings. The full list of members follows:
Co-Chair - Mr. Andrew deLaski; Appliance Standards Awareness Project
Co-Chair - Mr. John Mandyck; United Technologies
Ms. Ashley Armstrong; U.S. Department of Energy
Mr. John Caskey; National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Mr. Timothy Cassidy; Best Buy Co., Inc.
Mr. Thomas Coughlin; National Grid
Mr. Steven Cousins; The Coca-Cola Company
Mr. Thomas Eckman; Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Dr. David Hungerford; California Energy Commission
Ms. Kelley Kline; General Electric, Appliances
Mr. Kent Peterson; P2S Engineering, Inc.
For more details on the committee, click here.
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What's Up at DOE? 
DOE activity has picked up considerably since the start of the year with 14 notices being issued since January 1, 2013 alone. Here is a recap of the key notices:
Standards
Residential Boilers
DOE has initiated a rulemaking to consider amended standards for four types of boilers: gas-fired hot-water and steam boilers, and oil-fired hot-water and steam boilers. DOE is also considering including combination space heating and water heating equipment.
Small, Large and Very Large Commercial Package Air Conditioning and Heating Equipment
DOE is initiating a mandatory six-year review process to determine if new standards are warranted for commercial rooftop air-cooled air conditioners and heat pumps. DOE is considering replacing the existing efficiency descriptor (energy efficiency ratio (EER)) with a new one (integrated energy efficiency ratio (IEER)). Unlike the EER metric, which is based on equipment operating at full-load conditions, IEER factors in the equipment's efficiency while operating at part-load conditions of 75%, 50%, and 25% of capacity, and can provide a more representative measure of energy consumption in the field. There is a significant opportunity to improve the IEER levels of commercial air conditioners and heat pumps. While the current minimum IEER levels in ASHRAE 90.1, a commercial building energy code, range from 9.6-11.4 depending on the equipment class, manufacturers have introduced products with IEER levels as high as 20.
Commercial and Industrial Pumps
DOE issued a framework document for commercial and industrial pumps, which are not currently covered by efficiency standards in the U.S. DOE is proposing to focus on clean water rotodynamic pumps, which are used in applications including commercial HVAC, irrigation, water supply, and food processing. The framework document indicates that DOE is considering potential approaches that could include categories of pumps sold with motors and/or variable speed drives (VSDs). VSDs can achieve significant energy savings in many pump applications by matching the pump output to actual system requirements. A standard that would increase the market penetration of pumps sold with VSDs could therefore yield significant national energy savings.
Commercial and Industrial Fans and Blowers
As with pumps, DOE issued a framework document for developing standards. Key issues addressed in the fans framework document include scope of coverage, test methods for measuring fan efficiency and the standards approach. As with Pumps, DOE is considering an extended product approach which would seek to incorporate more energy saving opportunities than an approach focused exclusively on an undriven fan.
Commercial and Industrial Compressors
In this notice, DOE proposes that commercial and industrial compressors meet the criteria to be covered under the appliance standards program. DOE estimates that about 1.3 million compressors are shipped annually and that total annual industrial compressor energy use is more than 91 billion kWh per year.
Test Procedures account for more than half of the notices issued in the last few months. Test procedures establish a method to measure how much energy a product uses. Good test procedures lay the foundation for good standards.
Residential Clothes Dryers
DOE has proposed to amend the clothes dryer test procedure to account for the  effectiveness of automatic termination controls. Currently, the test procedure stops the dryer before the end of the cycle. The proposed test procedure would let the dryer run until it automatically shuts off, thereby capturing the ability of a dryer to determine when the clothes are dry and to minimize unnecessary end-of-cycle energy use. This change to the test procedure could help achieve significant energy savings by encouraging the use of better automatic termination controls.
 Microwave Ovens Final Rule, Standby and Off Mode Power, January 18, 2013
Residential Furnaces and Boilers Final Rule, Standby and Off Mode, December 31,2012
Cooking Products with Induction Heating Technology Set-Top Boxes  DOE is proposing a federal test procedure for set-top boxes to determine energy consumption in on, sleep and off modes. DOE's test method will form the basis for the new Energy Star set top box spec, due to be released soon. DOE and California are both considering developing minimum standards after efforts to develop a broad-based voluntary agreement to improve efficiency last year failed to yield an agreement. DOE held a public hearing on proposed test methods on February 27 and will accept comments up until April 8.
Water Heaters, Commercial and Residential DOE recently initiated a rulemaking to develop a uniform efficiency descriptor and accompanying test method for residential water heaters and commercial water  heaters. DOE is required to undertake this rulemaking pursuant to the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (AEMTCA), enacted on December 18, 2012. Currently residential and commercial water heaters have different federal test procedures and efficiency metrics. AEMTCA requires DOE to identify a uniform test procedure for both water heater categories and issue a final rule by December 18, 2013.
Water Heaters, Direct Heating Equipment and Pool Heaters
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State of the States 
Several states filed standards bills this year but it's too early in the legislative season to report any results. We'll fill you in on the progress in the next newsletter. If you are interested in pursuing state standards, contact Marianne DiMascio for more information. |
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Fun Facts
You might have guessed that the iPhone 5 uses $.41 per year. But did you know that a 42-inch plasma TV uses 100x the energy at $41.13 per year? With electronic use soaring, it's good to know your facts. Take a look at the blog by OPOWER and the corresponding graph of energy use below.
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We'd love to hear from you with feedback about the newsletter and the work we do. Please send along your ideas, comments, or suggestions to: Marianne DiMascio at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project - 781-312-8999
[email protected]
www.appliance-standards.org
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: www.twitter.com/ASAPstandards
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Need Help with DOE's Revamped Website?
While we like how DOE has reorganized their Appliance and Equipment Standards web pages, it took us a while to find our favorite pages. To save you some time, here are bookmarks for the most helpful pages.
Happy Navigating! |
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ASAP Enters the Blogosphere
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New Homes Larger Yet More Efficient
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that "newer U.S. homes are 30% larger but consume about as much energy as older homes. Read why in "Today in Energy." |
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Fun Facts
Match the electronic with the yearly cost to operate.
a. Plasma TV $0.41
b. iPad $1.36
c. Set-Top Box $8.31
d. Laptop $28.21
e. iPhone 5 $30.20
f. Xbox $40.24
g. Desktop $41.13
See answer below
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