Appliance & Commercial Equipment Standards Team
"Saving Consumers and Businesses Energy and Money by Supporting the Development of Energy Efficiency Standards and Test Procedures"
The PNNL Appliance & Commercial Equipment Standards (ACES) team is composed of policy, economics, engineering, and support staff who are focused on helping develop energy efficiency standards and test procedures for a wide range of residential and commercial appliances and equipment that hold the potential to significantly reduce national energy consumption.
The ACES team staff have significant unique experience and capability in developing congressionally mandated energy efficiency standards and regulations through each of the four phases of the process that include:
- Framework Phase -In the framework phase, ACES staff develop the regulatory framework document that presents the basic analytical and procedural principles and legal authority that will guide the rulemaking. The framework document also typically solicits feedback from stakeholders on specific questions.
- Preliminary Analysis Phase - In the preliminary analysis phase, staff gather available data and information about the product's technical, economic, and market characteristics and make preliminary determinations concerning methods of improving efficiencies and the impacts of doing so. PNNL working with DOE then publishes this analysis and solicits public input.
- Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) Phase - In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) phase, ACES staff consider public input from the preliminary analysis phase, revises its analysis, and proposes to the public an efficiency level that it has determined would result in the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is both technological feasible and economically justified.
- Final Rule Phase- In the final rule phase, the ACES team considers public input from the NOPR phase, further revises its analysis, and in support of DOE, issues the final rule which establishes any mandatory minimum energy conservation standard.
In addition to energy efficiency standards and regulations, the team has significant experience, expertise, labs and test equipment to support the development of energy efficiency test procedures and equipment testing. This work requires a unique combination of economic analysis, testing, engineering, market assessment, and regulatory writing expertise that the ACES staff possess
