Energy Conservation Program for Certain Industrial Equipment: Energy Conservation Standards and Test Procedures for Commercial Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Water-Heating Equipment

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is amending its energy conservation standards for small, large, and very large water-cooled and evaporatively-cooled commercial package air conditioners, and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) water-source heat pumps less than 17,000 Btu/h. DOE is adopting new energy conservation standards for computer room air conditioners and VRF water-source heat pumps with a cooling capacity at or greater than 135,000 Btu/h and less than 760,000 Btu/h. Pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended, DOE must assess whether the uniform national standards for these covered equipment need to be updated each time the corresponding industry standard--the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1 (ASHRAE Standard 90.1)--is amended, which most recently occurred on October 29, 2010. The levels DOE is adopting are the same as the efficiency levels specified in ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010. DOE has determined that the ASHRAE Standard 90.1- 2010 efficiency levels for the equipment types listed above are more stringent than existing Federal energy conservation standards and will result in economic and energy savings compared existing energy conservation standards. Furthermore, DOE has concluded that clear and convincing evidence does not exist, as would justify more-stringent standard levels than the efficiency levels in ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 for any of the equipment classes. DOE is also updating the current Federal test procedures or, for certain equipment, adopting new test procedures to incorporate by reference the most current versions of the relevant industry test procedures specified in ASHRAE Standard 90.1- 2010. Furthermore, DOE is adopting additional test procedure provisions to include with modification certain instructions from Air- Conditioning, Heating, and