State Energy Code Criteria for Residential AC and HP Preempted January 23, 2006

The Department of Energy has issued residential appliance manufacturing standards for central air-conditioners and heat pumps that will take effect on January 23, 2006. These standards preempt state and local building codes and regulations that differ from these standards. (See 10 CFR 430.33). States are encouraged to review their residential building energy codes, regulations, compliance materials, and software and, should they contain requirements for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps, update them to reflect the appliance manufacturing standards that will take effect on January 23, 2006.

The Federal appliance manufacturing standards (10 CFR 430) will require all residential-sized central air conditioners and heat pumps, manufactured or imported on or after January 23, 2006, to have an increased minimum Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) and minimum Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF). Equipment manufactured to the current standard, before the January 23, 2006 effective date, can continue to be sold. We believe that the 1998, 2000, and 2003 editions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the 2000 and 2003 editions of the International Residential Code (IRC), and the 1995 and earlier editions of the Model Energy Code (MEC) contain minimum equipment performance requirements that, if included in state codes, will be superseded by these new standards (see table ).

The Department of Energy is in the process of revising its code compliance software, REScheck, to reflect the increased efficiencies required by the appliance manufacturing standards that will take effect on January 23, 2006. A number of States permit the use of REScheck to demonstrate compliance with their building energy code. This software will be available by January 23, 2006, should states and local jurisdictions wish to make it available for use by building designers and code officials in your state. Updated versions of the software will be able to be downloaded from our web site at http://www.energycodes.gov/rescheck/download.stm. A web based version of REScheck is also available at that site. Both versions permit the electronic submission of compliance forms to building officials, should code offices in your state have the ability to receive them.

Should a state or local residential building energy code contain requirements for central air-conditioners and heat pumps similar to those in the 1998, 2000, or 2003 editions of the International Energy Conservation Code, Table 503.2 below, it is recommended that it be revised to reflect the new appliance efficiency standards for central air-conditioners and heat pumps, which become effective on January 23, 2006. These appliance standards preempt state standards and requirements that are not identical to them. (See 10 CFR 430.33 and 42 USC 6297 (b) through (d).) The Subcategories and Minimum Performance numbers that will change in January are highlighted in red in the table. The existing subcategories have been combined and two new subcategories have been added, Through-the-Wall Split Systems and Through-the-Wall Single Package.

For SI: 1 British thermal unit per hour = 0.2931 W.

A state or local jurisdiction that has adopted the IECC for their building energy code can use amending language similar to the following:

Delete Table 503.2, Minimum Equipment Performance and replace it with the following table.

A state or local jurisdiction that has adopted the IECC for their building energy code can use amending language similar to the following:
The amended subcategories of equipment and minimum performance numbers are shown in red in the table. Note that two new categories have been established for through-the-wall units. It is not necessary to include these two new categories in an amended table. The designation of "single phase" should be added to the residential Equipment Category to distinguish it from three phase commercial equipment of the same designation, which is not covered by the residential appliance manufacturing standards.

Manufacturers and distributors will continue to sell units manufactured to the current standards prior to the effective date of the new standards, as the DOE appliance standards are manufacturing standards, not standards limiting the sale of products. Distributors and contractors will have inventories of this pre-January 23 manufactured equipment and could be financially impacted if this equipment is suddenly not permitted to be installed. We therefore recommend that provision be made to permit installation of that previously manufactured equipment which is sold subsequent to the effective date of the standard. One way this can be done is by inserting footnote (f) to specifically allow such equipment. However, since NAECA requires the baseline for codes to be the NAECA equivalent, it is recommended that trade-offs not be allowed for equipment that does not exceed the minimums listed in the table. This will avoid penalizing installation of equipment manufactured to the current standard, and sold after the effective date of the new standard. Otherwise, with the new higher baseline, use of equipment manufactured to the current standard in an envelope trade-off would result in requiring a better performing envelope to offset the lower performing equipment.

Should a state or local jurisdiction maintain compliance manuals, software, or other materials that reference central air conditioning efficiency levels in connection to building energy code compliance, we recommend that these materials be updated to reflect the new SEER and HSPF standard as the specification to use in all baseline or reference building designs.