WASHINGTON — In the year since the new regional energy conservation standards for split-system and single package central air conditioners took effect Jan. 1, 2015, the HVACR industry has adapted as best it can to the new energy conservation standards in the absence of any enforcement guidance from the DOE. But, on Nov. 19, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finally released the long-awaited notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) regarding enforcement of the standards, tentatively ending a yearlong period of uncertainty for the industry.
The announcement comes more than a year after the Regional Standards Enforcement Working Group submitted a negotiated plan of enforcement to DOE — a year during which many HVACR distributors struggled with how, when, or even if they should prepare for the record-keeping and record-retention requirements in the working group’s proposed plan. Industry stakeholders were given until Jan. 4, 2016, to submit comments, data, and information to the DOE, which will likely release its final rule sometime in 2016.