AGA and the American Public Gas Association (APGA) File Comments on the Adoption of Energy Efficiency Codes and Standards for New Construction of HUD and USDA Financed Housing.

In the June 16 Update on End Use Codes and Standards, we reported that in the May 18, 2023  Federal Register, HUD had issued a notice announcing a “preliminary determination of HUD and USDA Financed Housing , as required under section 481(d)(1) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), that the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1–2019 will not negatively affect the affordability and availability of housing covered by EISA”. The Notice states that “In making this preliminary determination, the first step to ultimately requiring compliance with these standards in HUD and USDA housing covered by EISA, this Notice relies on several studies that show that these codes are cost effective in that the incremental cost of the additional efficiency measures pays for themselves with energy cost savings on a life-cycle basis.”  Of particular concern to the natural gas industry and other stakeholders is the statement: “Building Electrification. While the 2021 IECC did not include building electrification provisions in the final version of the code, provisions are available for adoption by states as amendments to the 2021 IECC: RE147–19, Electrification-Ready; RE126–19. Energy Efficient Water Heating, RE107–19, Eliminate Continuous Burning Pilot Light.”  There were other provisions in the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1–2019 that were reviewed and identified as not adding to energy efficiency improvements or are not cost effective that we contend should be amended prior to HUD and USDA adopting the codes as a basis for funding by these federal agency programs.

This past Monday, AGA and APGA filed timely comments (attached) providing our opposition of including “electrification” and provisions that were not cost effective in the 2021 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1–2019 standard. We cited the June, 2021 Home Innovations Research Labs study for the National Association of Home Builders titled 2021 IECC Residential Cost Effectiveness Analysis that identified those specific provisions in the 2021 IECC. We will provide the HUD response when available.

Summary List and Status of Current Department of Energy (DOE) Appliance Efficiency Rulemakings.

Over the past month, we have been reporting on a number of DOE proposed and final minimum efficiency activities impacting natural gas appliances and equipment.  For your ready reference, attached is a list of the 4 recent publications from DOE including 2 Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NOPR)

on consumer (residential) water heaters and residential boilers, one final rule on commercial water heaters and a notice of data availability on consumer cooking products (also attached). The list includes a Summary, Initial AGA Analysis, Timeline and Deadlines and AGA Action on each of these DOE proposals, final rule, and data availability.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on the summary.

AHRI Releases the June 2023 Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data.

For those interested in shipment trends for residential and commercial gas and electric storage type water heaters, residential gas and oil furnaces, electric heat pumps and air-conditioners, click here for the August 11, 2023 Air-Conditioning Heating, & Refrigeration (AHRI) Press Release that provides the June,  2023 U.S. Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipment Data. For previous monthly shipment releases and historical data, please click here . You may also wish to share this information with other groups or individuals within your organization that would be interested in this shipment data.