ARLINGTON, Va. — The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) “expressed relief” after being granted a 12-month extension by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for certification of all covered commercial equipment, except automatic commercial ice makers, but will continue to work with DOE to make sure the agency’s testing, certification, and reporting requirements do not unduly burden manufacturers.

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, to be listed in the Federal Register, will extend the Dec. 31, 2012 deadline by 12 months for manufacturers to certify and file specific performance information with the DOE for federally covered commercial equipment. The DOE proposed not to extend the compliance date for automatic commercial ice makers as it is not aware of any issues that would prevent manufacturers from complying with the certification requirements by the end of the year.

“The proposed extension is six-months shorter than we had requested,” said Stephen Yurek, president & CEO, AHRI. “So, while we are relieved that our members will have additional time to comply, we will continue to work with DOE to issue as soon as possible a final rule on requirements for developing and maintaining an alternative efficiency determination method (AEDM) for commercial equipment, along with sufficient time for manufacturers to develop and implement a DOE-compliant AEDM for their equipment.”