The 30 percent federal tax credit for residential geothermal heating and cooling installations (as well as solar and wind) is set to expire at the end of 2016. This is an irrefutable fact, but everything else surrounding the tax credit remains in a state that is best described as limbo.
Regardless of the strategy employed, many contractors are chafing at the new government-imposed regulations, noting that proper installation is far more important than mandated efficiency ratings.
The Air Conditioning Contractors of America Educational Institute (ACCA-EI) Standards Task Team announced that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has recognized the updated ANSI/ACCA 6 QR - 2015 (Restoring the Cleanliness of HVAC Systems) standard.
The settlement is a victory for the manufacturers and contractors who may have been substantially harmed by the standards had they remained in place. Yet, many in the industry are concerned about the growing need to litigate in order to ensure regulations are developed properly and fairly.
The revised OSHA Hazard Communication Standard now incorporates portions of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, which, according to OSHA, will benefit workers at more than 5 million workplaces in the U.S. by reducing confusion about chemical hazards, facilitating safety training, and improving knowledge of the hazards, especially for low-literacy workers.
Twenty-three addenda to the energy standard published by ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) — ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings — are currently open for public comment.
While many building rating programs exist, there is not anything in the industry that standardizes the contents of those programs, ensuring users are knowledgeable about what impacts their ratings. A proposed standard from ASHRAE, now open for public comment, would serve as the “backbone” of such rating systems.
While it remains to be seen how the new minimum-efficiency standards will impact the industry as a whole, most distributors are breathing a sigh of relief that their decision to stock more 13-SEER equipment is paying off, leaving them time to start thinking about what to do with the next round of minimum-efficiency standards, which the DOE is considering right now for residential furnaces.
As demand and support for energy efficiency, long-term cost reductions, and other benefits provided by solar installations grow, so does concern over how solar will look after current federal tax credits expire at the end of 2016.