On January 19, CEE’s Board of Directors approved specification revisions for CEE initiatives addressing residential HVAC, commercial HVAC and commercial clothes washers.

Residential HVAC
Effective April 1, 2007, the specifications for CEE's Residential Central Air Conditioner and Air Source Heat Pump Initiativewill now include a Tier 3 (Advanced Tier) for split-system air conditioners.

This tier is designated “Advanced” to acknowledge that these systems are not commonly available, but are technologically feasible in a complete range of sizes. Minimum requirements for this tier are SEER 16, EER 13.

The reference level for federal tax credits under EPAct 2005, which had been established at CEE’s Tier 2 (15 SEER, 12.5 EER), will remain unchanged though 2007.

Click here for the revised specifications.

Commercial HVAC
With new federal minimum standards set to take place in January 2008 for small commercial unitary equipment (and January 2010 for larger unitary equipment), CEE’s Commercial HVAC committee determined that a specification revision was appropriate at this time.

After a review of the latest performance data from the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) directory and manufacturer correspondence, two additional tiers for unitary air Conditioning and heat pump efficiency levels were developed.

For unitary heat pumps rated at 65,000 Btu/hr. or greater, the Commercial HVAC Committee did not develop a performance level in Tiers 2 and 3 because of limited equipment availability.

Click here for the revised specifications.

Commercial clothes washers
The new specifications for commercial washers are now identical to those applying to residential clothes washers in CEE’s Super-Efficient Appliances Initiative. The change also coincides with a revision to the ENERGY STAR^® specification for commercial clothes washers.

In many cases, the same manufacturers make commercial, family-sized washers and residential washers, which are often based on the same technology platforms and are similar products (with the exception of an added coin box or card reader).

Thus it is now easier for manufacturers to work with a single set of consistent clothes washer specifications.

Some models and brands on CEE's 2006 qualifying products list no longer qualify for the revised list.

No current commercial models meet CEE’s Tier 3 specifications. Many residential clothes washers qualify at the Tier 3 level, however, so the levels were deemed technically feasible.

Click here for the revised specifications. A qualifying products list is also available.

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