Updating standards:
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) requires that if the equipment efficiency levels for certain products in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (a commercial building energy code) are amended, DOE must establish amended standards for the products at the levels specified in ASHRAE 90.1 not later than 18 months after the updated 90.1 is published. DOE may, instead, establish more stringent standards if “clear and convincing evidence” supports a determination that stronger standards would result in significant additional energy savings and are technologically feasible and economically justified, within 30 months. An update to ASHRAE 90.1 is some referred to as the “ASHRAE trigger” by DOE.
If the DOE test procedure has been updated such that the measured efficiency would change or a new metric is defined, DOE may perform a “crosswalk” to translate the ASHRAE 90.1 levels expressed in one energy efficiency metric to the updated energy efficiency metric.
List of ASHRAE products:
Small, large, and very large commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment
Including:
–Air-Cooled Unitary Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps (65,000 Btu/hr to 760,000 Btu/hr)
–Water and evaporatively-cooled unitary air conditioners
–Commercial CAC and HP (<65,000 Btu/hr)
–Packaged terminal air conditioners and heat pumps
–Single package vertical air conditioners and heat pumps
–Variable refrigerant flow multi-split systems
–Computer room air conditioners
–Direct expansion outdoor air systems
–Warm-air furnaces
–Storage water heaters, instantaneous water heaters, and unfired hot water storage tanks