Statement

ACC Applauds Energy Efficiency Standards Agreement by Equipment Manufacturers, Efficiency Advocates

ARLINGTON, VA (October 14, 2009) — Yesterday U.S. manufacturers of residential central air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps signed a voluntary agreement with energy efficiency advocacy organizations supporting new federal standards for those products.  Executives of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), the California Energy Commission (CEC), the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC), and more than a dozen individual furnace and air conditioner manufacturers signed the agreement.  Additional information is available at Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance).  The agreement’s full text available here.

American Chemistry Council (ACC) President and CEO Cal Dooley issued the following statement:

“ACC salutes America’s air conditioning and heating equipment manufacturers and energy efficiency advocates such as the Alliance to Save Energy for this remarkable achievement.  Energy efficiency and conservation measures benefit everyone – consumers and industry, the environment and the economy.  Energy savings on the scale anticipated by this agreement are a huge win for clean energy, energy security, lower greenhouse gas emissions and more U.S. jobs.

“According to a joint press statement, the signatories agreed to submit their agreement as a legislative proposal to Congress for inclusion in the energy legislation currently under consideration.  The groups will also recommend that the Department of Energy promulgate a rule adopting the agreed-upon regions and efficiency standards.  ACC continues to advocate for sustainable, energy-efficient model commercial and residential state building codes by seeking the adoption of the latest version of ASHRAE 90.1 (2007) and IEEC (2009) and the provision of incentives for projects to exceed these codes by 30 percent.  ACC’s ‘30 percent model code’ proposal has been adopted in six states, while twelve other states have adopted legislation incorporating updated versions of the residential and commercial building codes.

“We encourage Congress to promptly review the proposed new standards.  By taking meaningful steps toward energy efficiency and conservation, lawmakers can help Americans save money and reduce emissions while stretching domestic natural gas resources needed to maintain a competitive U.S. manufacturing sector.  Equally important, Congress must move ahead with two other essential elements of a sound energy policy: advancing energy diversity by expanding low-emission energy sources and technologies such as renewable and alternatives, nuclear, carbon capture and storage and combined heat and power (CHP), and expanding domestic oil and natural gas production.  We’ll need these important domestic energy sources to meet growing energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  (Natural gas is used for cleaner electricity and transportation fuels, renewable energy production, and as a raw material for chemistry that goes into energy-saving materials.)

“The chemistry industry plays a key role in energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the United States and around the world.  In July, we announced the findings of a new study revealing that for every unit of greenhouse gases emitted by the chemical industry, society saves more than two units of greenhouse gases through use of chemistry products and technologies.  Chemistry is used in a wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy applications, including building insulation, solar panels, wind turbines, lightweight vehicle parts, compact fluorescent light bulbs and energy-efficient appliances.

“Consistent with our forward-looking approach, ACC member companies track energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions data and report it to ACC as a requirement of membership under our Responsible Care® program.  ACC reports the industry data on an aggregate basis.  Our industry has improved energy efficiency (reduced fuel and power energy consumed per unit of output) by 53 percent since 1974 and 28 percent since 1990.  Our companies’ greenhouse gas emissions fell 16 percent between 1990 and 2008, exceeding Kyoto Protocol requirements, and our industry’s greenhouse gas intensity – a measure of emissions per unit of output – fell (improved) 39.4 percent in the same time period.

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