COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 10, 2023– Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8) has introduced the SMART Energy Efficiency Standards Act, which would change the compliance deadline for future regional HVAC standards from the date of installation to the date of manufacture. Heating, Air-conditioning, & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) CEO Talbot Gee applauded the introduction, “HARDI has pushed for a fix for this unequal treatment of distributors and contractors since the bill became law in 2007. Regional HVAC standards are the only Department of Energy efficiency standard that uses date of installation to determine compliance. Distributors are asked to risk millions of dollars to have the products the market demands in inventory and this flaw in the statute directly penalizes HVAC distributors and ultimately hurts consumers while doing nothing to actually improve energy efficiency or carbon emission savings. This deep inequality between the implementation of HVAC efficiency standards and every other DOE-covered product should not continue. HARDI thanks Congresswoman Lesko for her leadership on this issue.”
HARDI Director of Government Affairs, Alex Ayers, added, “Using the date of installation is a failed policy that does more to hurt the goals of energy efficiency than it helps. Anyone opposed to ensuring all DOE standards use the date of manufacture is unwilling to see the reality that this equipment does not simply disappear when the compliance deadline passes, the equipment is shipped to an unaffected state, increasing the carbon used to produce and ship the equipment where it is still installed. Congress should look to ensure smart energy efficiency standards are implemented, not wasteful policies that hurt distributors, contractors, consumers and the goal of increased energy efficiency.”
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Thanks,
Allison
Allison Greene
614-345-4328
agreene@hardinet.org
