Energy Conservation Program for Certain Commercial and Industrial Equipment: Test Procedure for Certain Categories of Commercial Air Conditioning and Heating Equipment

In response to statutory requirements to review its test procedures in response to any updates of the relevant industry test procedures, as referenced in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1 (ASHRAE Standard 90.1), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is initiating a data collection process to consider amendments to DOE's test procedures for commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment with test procedure updates included in ASHRAE Standard 90.1- 2016--specifically, those evaporatively-cooled commercial unitary air conditioners (ECUACs), water-cooled commercial unitary air conditioners (WCUACs), and air-cooled commercial unitary air conditioners (ACUACs) which have a rated cooling capacity greater than or equal to 65,000 Btu/h and less than 760,000 Btu/h; and all classes of computer room air conditioners (CRACs); as well as to consider adopting a new test procedure for dedicated outdoor air systems (DOASes), equipment covered by ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for the first time. In response to other statutory requirements for DOE to review its test procedures at least once every seven years, DOE is also reviewing its test procedures for ECUACs and WCUACs with a rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/h, as well as all classes of variable refrigerant flow multi-split air conditioners and heat pumps (VRF multi-split systems) but excluding single-phase systems with a rated cooling capacity less than 65,000 Btu/h, which are covered as consumer products. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has gathered data and has identified several issues that might warrant modifications to the currently applicable Federal test procedures, topics on which DOE is particularly interested in receiving comment. In overview, the issues outlined in this document mainly concern incorporation by reference of the most recent version of the relevant industry standard(s); efficiency metrics and calculations; clarification of test methods; and any additional topics that may inform DOE's decisions in a future test procedure rulemaking, including methods to reduce regulatory burden while ensuring the procedures' accuracy. These topics (and others identified by commenters) are ones which may be addressed in proposed test procedure amendments in a subsequent notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR). DOE welcomes written comments and data from the public on any subject related to the test procedures for this equipment, including topics not specifically raised in this RFI.