Industry News

Energy Star Update 3.0

Energy Star and the U.S. EPA have updated the geothermal specifications for the Energy Star program.  The new changes take affect December 1st 2009 with no retroactive installations qualifying under this new program.

• There are now three efficiency tiers to allow manufacturers time to increase equipment efficiencies.
• Tier 1 includes the same efficiencies as the current 2.0 program for water-to-air units, but adds water-to-water units to the program.
• Tier 2 increases the efficiencies for water-to-air units (no change for water-to-water units), and takes effect January 1st, 2011.
• Tier 3 increases efficiencies for water-to-air and water-to-water units, and takes effect January 1st, 2012.
• The desuperheater is no longer a requirement for Energy Star, but must be offered as an option.
• A requirement has been added for AHRI certification or 3rd party verification by an EPA approved agency for manufacturers and the ratings of the heat pumps.
• The cap on capacities has been removed in favor of language that states that units must be single phase voltage.

Energy Star 3.0 Efficiencies are as follows:

Tier 2 Requirements (August 1, 2010):

Product Type                                            EER            COP

Closed Loop Water-Air                              16.1               3.5

Open Loop Water-Air                                 18.2               3.8

Closed loop Water-Water                          15.1               3.0

Open Loop Water-Water                            19.1               3.4

Tier 3 Requirements (January 1, 2012):

Product Type                                            EER            COP

Closed Loop Water-Air                              17.1               3.6

Open Loop Water-Air                                 21.1               4.1

Closed loop Water-Water                          16.1               3.1

Open Loop Water-Water                            20.1               3.5

For more information please visit www.energystar.gov

Additional Industry News from IGSHPA and GEO:

National Certification Standard for the Geothermal Heat Pump Industry

IGSHPA is soliciting input and interest in possible participation from members in this project funded by U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE project is a collaborative effort between the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium, the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The project objective is to create a national certification standard for all primary personnel involved in the installation of geothermal heat pump (GHP) systems.