The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a request for information to assess whether the existing energy-conservation standards for commercial warm-air furnaces should be amended.

Several working groups of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee (TC) 72 recently met at Honeywell Intl.’s Morristown, N.J., location.

Though the bill has broad support in both the House and Senate, as well as from numerous organizations nationwide, it still faces many hurdles before it reaches President Obama’s desk. 

ASHRAE’s newly-published residential IAQ standard removes the default leakage-rate assumption and also requires carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.

The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association is actively supporting bipartisan Senate legislation introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to deter metal theft.

While contractors are admittedly embracing this temporary sense of certainty, they’re still left with more questions than answers.

While some industry leaders and organizations are cooperating with the DOE to develop the standards, others claim fan and blower regulation is unnecessary, redundant, and could negatively impact the industry. 

Representatives from many of the industry’s manufacturers recently congregated in Washington, D.C., for two days of networking, lobbying, and discussing industry issues at this year’s annual Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Public Policy Symposium.