Air-Cooled Unitary Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps
As defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps are air-cooled, water-cooled, evaporatively-cooled, or water source unitary air conditioners and heat pumps that are used for space conditioning of commercial and industrial buildings. 10 CFR 431.92. Manufacturers have been required to comply with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) energy conservation standards for small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps since 1992.
Current Standard | Current Test Procedure |
Ongoing Rulemaking for Standards | Ongoing Rulemaking for Test Procedure |
Helpful Links
Recent and Ongoing Activities
DOE has published a Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to amend the test procedures for air-cooled commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps with a rated cooling capacity greater than or equal to 65,000 Btu/h, evaporatively-cooled commercial package air conditioners, and water-cooled commercial package air conditioners to incorporate by reference the latest versions of the applicable industry test standards. Specifically, DOE proposes: to amend the current test procedure for this equipment for measuring the current cooling and heating metrics – integrated energy efficiency ratio (IEER) and coefficient of performance (COP), respectively; and to establish a new test procedure for this equipment that would adopt two new metrics—integrated ventilation, economizer, and cooling (IVEC) and integrated ventilation and heating efficiency (IVHE). Additionally, DOE proposes to amend certain provisions of DOE’s regulations related to representations and enforcement for the subject equipment.
- DOE will accept comments, data, and information regarding this NOPR until October 16, 2023.
- Interested persons may submit comments identified by docket number EERE-2023-BT-TP-0014, by email (CUACHP2023TP0014@ee.doe.gov), Federal eRulemaking portal (http://www.regulations.gov).
- DOE will hold a webinar on Thursday, September 7, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Click here to register for the webinar.
- Foreign Nationals interested in participating in this webinar, must be screened by DOE Headquarters Security prior to being granted access. Please email Regina.Washington@ee.doe.gov to complete the necessary documentation at least two weeks prior to scheduled meeting date.
- Additional webinar registration information, participant instructions, and information about the capabilities available to webinar participants will be published on DOE’s website: https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/public-meetings-and-comment-deadlines
On August 2, 2022 DOE published a notice of intent to establish a working group for Commercial Unitary Air Conditioner and Commercial Unitary Heat Pumps to negotiate a notice of proposed rulemaking for test procedures and energy conservation standards. Information regarding the CUAC and CUHP working group is located on the working group webpage. The commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps energy conservation standards and test procedures rulemaking docket EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015 contains all notices, public comments, working group and public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
For the latest information on the planned timing of future DOE regulatory milestones, see the current Office of Management and Budget Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. All planned dates are preliminary and subject to change.
Standards
Final Rule |
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Request for Information |
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Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
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Notification of Data Availability
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- Federal Register, 85FR60642 (September 25, 2021)
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Request for Information; Reopening of the Public Comment Period
Request for information; Air-Cooled Commercial Package Air Conditioning and Heating Equipment and Commercial Warm Air Furnaces
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The small air-cooled commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps energy conservation standard rulemaking docket EERE-2022-BT-STD-0008 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
Public Meeting Information:
There is no public meeting scheduled at this time.
Submitting Public Comments
Test Procedure
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
- Federal Register, 88FR56392 (August 17, 2023)
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The commercial package air conditioners and heat pumps test procedure rulemaking docket EERE-2022-BT-STD-0015 contains all notices, public comments, public meeting transcripts, and supporting documents pertaining to this rulemaking.
Public Meeting Information
There is no public meeting scheduled at this time.
Submitting Public Comments
Current Standard
Air-cooled unitary air-conditioners and heat pumps manufactured and distributed in commerce, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 6291(16), must meet the energy conservation standards specified in the Code of Federal Regulations at 10 CFR 431.97.
To determine that air-cooled unitary air-conditioners and heat pumps that are currently manufactured or distributed into commerce are in compliance with DOE standards, manufacturers must follow the test procedure methods specified at 10 CFR 431.96.
Helpful Links
Compliance
DOE has established regulations on certification, compliance, and enforcement in the CFR at 10 CFR Part 429. These regulations cover statistical sampling plans, certified ratings, certification reports, record retention, and enforcement. More information on these regulations is available here.
Waivers
For information on current test procedure waivers, see DOE’s Waivers webpage.
For information about obtaining test procedure waivers, see 10 CFR part 431, subpart V.
Exceptions
DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals has not authorized exception relief for air-cooled unitary air-conditioners and heat pumps.
For information about obtaining exception relief, see 10 CFR part 1003.
Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions
For information on further guidance and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on all covered products, see DOE’s Further Guidance database.
State Exemptions to Federal Pre-emption
DOE has not exempted any state from this energy conservation standard. States may petition DOE to exempt a state regulation from preemption by the Federal energy conservation standard. States may also petition DOE to withdraw such exemptions. For details, see 10 CFR part 431, subpart W.
For more information related to this product, please email:
ApplianceStandardsQuestions@ee.doe.gov
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