Recent federal energy efficiency standards for appliances
and other end-use equipment

Release Date: 4/30/14

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 [39] gave the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) authority to develop, revise, and implement minimum energy conservation standards for appliances and equipment. The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 [40] first established minimum efficiency standards for 13 consumer products. Since 1988, DOE has issued many energy efficiency standards for residential and commercial appliances. DOE’s Buildings Technologies Office currently sets minimum energy conservation standards for more than 60 categories of appliances and equipment. For most products, Congress has passed laws that set initial federal energy efficiency standards and test procedures and has established schedules for DOE to review and update the standards and test procedures (Table LR4-1) [41]. Based on the laws, DOE maintains a rulemaking schedule and provides reports on its rulemakings to Congress every six months.

A key component of the AEO2016 residential and commercial sector projections is the inclusion of federal equipment efficiency standards. The AEO2016 Reference case includes only promulgated standards and comprehensive consensus agreements; the Extended Policies case includes optional updates and future standards. When DOE promulgates a new or updated efficiency standard, AEO assumptions are adjusted to include only compliant equipment choices after the new standards have taken effect.

Some individual states have mandated their own efficiency standards for certain appliances not covered by federal efficiency standards. The state standards are not explicitly represented in the AEO projections. If several states have adopted standards for a product, manufacturers often negotiate with the states and with efficiency advocates to develop recommendations for national standards, which in most cases would preempt state standards.

The passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) in December 2007 [42] provided additional minimum efficiency standards for various types of residential equipment. The EISA standards include: reductions of nearly 30% in the wattage of general service lighting in 2012–14 and about 65% by 2020; boiler standards in 2012; wattage reductions for external power supplies after 2008; and standards for clothes washers, dishwashers, and dehumidifiers to be implemented between 2010 and 2012. Determination of an updated federal residential furnace standard is still in progress. Stakeholder input halted implementation of an earlier regional standard that was issued in 2011 and slated to go into effect in 2015.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires that, if the commercial equipment efficiency standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) are amended, DOE must establish either standards at ASHRAE levels or more stringent standards if the additional energy savings are cost-effective. Recently, ASHRAE amended standards for commercial central air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces. As a result, DOE set new standards that will take effect in 2018 and 2023. Other recently promulgated standards incorporated in the AEO2016 Reference case include standards for commercial
vending machines, ice makers, and oil-fired water heaters.

Endnotes

39. U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, "Public Law 94-163, 94th Congress, Energy Policy and Conservation Act" (Washington, DC: December 22, 1975), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg871.pdf.
40. U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, "National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987" (Washington, DC: March 17, 1987), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-101/pdf/STATUTE-101-Pg103.pdf.
41. Key legislation addressing energy conservation standards for residential and commercial equipment includes the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987, the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the Energy independence and Security Act of 2007.
42. U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, "H.R. 6, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007" (Washington, DC: January 4, 2007), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-110hr6enr/pdf/BILLS-110hr6enr.pdf.