Appliance Design - August 2007 - (Page 48)

ASSOCIATION REPORT: GAMA A Likely End to a Very Good System Jack W. Klimp President Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association ublic concern about global climate change, high energy prices, U.S. energy security, and reduction of greenhouse emissions, have moved these topics to the top of the agenda in Congress, and our elected representatives appear to be intent on doing something, anything, to be seen as “green” — whether the result will achieve the desired objective or not. Twenty years ago, GAMA and other appliance trade associations negotiated with environmental advocacy groups and several states on a new approach to federal appliance efficiency standards. The negotiations resulted in an agreement whereby products are subject to one, uniform, national, minimum-efficiency standard, with a schedule for periodic updating of the standard by the Department of Energy (DOE) and strong federal preemption of state and local regulation. For 20 years, that agreement by all accounts has saved consumers an enormous amount of energy, as well as helping appliance manufacturers avoid marketplace disruption and uncertainty. Sadly, all that is about to change, thanks to actions Congress is taking in energy bills that are working their way through both chambers. An assault on the one, uniform, national, minimum standard approach was launched earlier this year by some of the very same organizations that helped negotiate it in 1987, and the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate now have bills before them that will authorize DOE to prescribe regional standards for HVAC appliances. The energy-efficiency standards for heating and cooling systems could actually be higher or lower in adjacent states because they are located in different regions designated by DOE. GAMA strongly opposes regional standards as contrary to the letter and spirit of the 20-year old agreement, and for the same reasons we negotiated it in the first place. Regional standards will complicate product distribution, create additional bureaucratic red tape, and be extremely difficult to enforce. Today, enforcement of the national standard is directed at the manufacturing level and is fairly simple. A product offered for sale in this country that does not meet the applicable federal standard is unlawful on its face. GAMA’s efficiency certification programs assist DOE standards enforcement by verifying that products covered by those programs satisfy applicable federal standards. If uniform national standards are replaced by regional standards, standards enforcement will shift to the retail level (contractors and installers), where they will P be much more difficult to enforce, certainly beyond the resources of DOE. This will be true especially in states that border an adjacent standards region. Ineffective or inconsistent standards enforcement will result in market uncertainty for manufacturers, making rational product planning and distribution far more difficult. And, if the current, proven system of a uniform, national standard for energy efficiency is scrapped, imposing regional standards might well result in more energy being used, not less. Products that exceed the current minimum efficiency standard for gas furnaces, for instance, are already widely sold throughout the U.S., especially in the Northern states. In 2006, ENERGY STAR-qualified gas furnaces that exceed the minimum standard comprised more than 70 percent of shipments in many Northern states. Yet, DOE itself acknowledges that 20 percent to 24 percent of households in Northern states would be economically disadvantaged if their only choice was to purchase an ENERGY STAR-level furnace. The installed cost of these products can be significantly higher than that of standard gas furnaces being sold today. While the purchase of an ENERGY STAR-level furnace is a sound economic choice for some consumers, for others it is not. For a cautionary tale, all we need do is look at the new 13 SEER standard for central air conditioners to observe the law of unintended consequences in full force. Since January 2006, when the former 10 SEER standard was replaced by the new 13 SEER standard, manufacturers and contractors have reported a 25 percent decrease in demand for the more expensive 13 SEER products, while experiencing a 25 percent increase in the demand for parts to repair older, less-efficient systems already in consumers’ homes. Many consumers are electing to keep their older systems operating rather than replacing them with new, more efficient systems. All these arguments, however, have fallen on deaf ears in Congress. It appears virtually certain that any final energy bill Congress passes this year will provide some form of regional standards authorization to replace the one, uniform national standard approach that has served our country well. It is unfortunate that Congress seems determined to ignore market success, eliminate consumer choice, and discourage appliance replacement by authorizing regional standards whose enforcement may prove impossible in any event. < www.applianceDESIGN.com 48 applianceDESIGN August 2007 http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - August 2007

Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch A Reed Switch is Simople, yet Versatile, and Designers are Finding New Uses for this Time-Tested Technology A Novel Actuation and Sensing Technology can Register a Light Touch, but Resist Blows from a Hammer Tracing the Source of Noise is Made Easier with Noise Source Identification Methods Appliance Noise can be Annoying, but Designers have Many Material Choices to Help Rein in the Racket Nanocomposites are No Longer a Technology for the Future. These Plastic Materials are Already on the Job A New High-Strength, Low-Density Glass-Microsphere Additive can Improve Plastic Part and Molding Performance A New Electromagnetic Weld/Bonding Process Helps Ensure Long-Term Integrity of Joints in Plastic Parts Snap-Based Technology Eases Installation and Makes Products More Serviceable Two-Part Silicone Adhesives Provide a Rapid-Cure Alternative to Traditional One-Part Silicones Classified DesignMart Advertiser’s Index Association Report: GAMA

Appliance Design - August 2007

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