US heating and ventilation equipment manufacturers agree new standards

clipped from www.energyefficiencynews.com Leading US heating and ventilation equipment manufacturers have joined forces with energy efficiency organisations to agree on new performance standards. Under the agreement, energy efficiency standards for air conditioners, furnaces and heat pumps will be set according to the region of the US in which they are being used. For the first time, national standards will be replaced by regional – North, South and Southwest – standards that reflect the climatic conditions in those areas. States will also be able to set higher energy efficiency standards for heating and cooling in new homes under the new arrangement. The new standards will increase the minimum efficiency of air conditioners by around 8% and furnaces by 13%. The improvement in efficiency could save US consumers as much as $13 billion and 3.7 quadrillion Btu of energy – enough to power 18 million homes – between 2013, when they come into force, and 2030.