REVIEW OF METHODS USED BY THE U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY IN SETTING APPLIANCE
AND EQUIPMENT STANDARDS
Committee on Review of Methods for Setting Building and Equipment Performance Standards
Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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This activity was supported by task order 89243419F-EE400089 of contract DE-EP0000026 with the U.S. Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-68545-0
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-68545-1
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25992
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Review of Methods Used by the U.S. Department of Energy in Setting Appliance and Equipment Standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25992.
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COMMITTEE ON REVIEW OF METHODS FOR SETTING BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
LINDA COHEN, University of California, Irvine, Chair
CHARLES CULP, Texas A&M University
SUSAN DUDLEY, George Washington University
CLARK GELLINGS, NAE,1 Electric Power Research Institute
W. MICHAEL HANEMANN, NAS,2 Arizona State University
DALIA PATINO-ECHEVERRI, Duke University
ANAND PATWARDHAN, University of Maryland
JAMES SALLEE, University of California, Berkeley
Staff
PEYTON GIBSON, Associate Program Officer, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE)
MARTIN C. OFFUTT, Senior Program Officer, BICE, Study Director
JOSEPH L. PALMER, Senior Project Assistant, BICE
CAMERON OSKVIG, Director, BICE
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
BOARD ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT
THOMAS P. BOSTICK, NAE,1 Bostick Global Strategies, Chair
BURCA AKINCI, Carnegie Mellon University
STEPHEN T. AYERS, The Ayers Group, LLC
BURCIN BERCERIK-GERBER, University of Southern California
LEAH BROOKS, George Washington University
JACK DEMPSEY, Definitive Logic
LEONARDO AUGUST DUEÑAS-OSORIO, Rice University
SANJIV GOKHALE, Vanderbilt University
DAVID GOODYEAR, NAE, Independent Consultant
DAVID J. HAUN, Haun Consulting, Inc.
CHRISTOPHER MOSSEY, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
ANDREW PERSILY, National Institute of Standards and Technology
CHRIS D. POLAND, NAE, Chris D Poland Consulting Engineer
JAMES RISPOLI, North Carolina State University
DOROTHY ROBYN, Boston Institute for Sustainable Energy
SHARON L. WOOD, NAE, The University of Texas at Austin
Staff
CAMERON OSKVIG, Director
MARTIN OFFUTT, Senior Program Officer
JOSEPH PALMER, Senior Program Assistant
PEYTON GIBSON, Associate Program Officer
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
Preface
The consumption of energy and water in buildings has been the subject of programs, policies, and financing by government and civil society since the 1970s. Buildings use more than one-third of the final energy consumed in the United States, the balance taken up by transportation and industry. At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have taken responsibility, along with other agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for designing and executing programs to support national goals aimed at lowering energy consumption and reducing the environmental impact of energy use.
This study report of the Committee on Review of Methods for Setting Building and Equipment Performance Standards is focused on DOE’s program of mandatory standards for some commercial and residential appliances that dictate minimum energy performance and maximum water consumption. DOE’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) manages the standards program within a portfolio that includes research and development, technology validation, field and laboratory testing, decision tools, market integration, and codes and standards. There are also appliance-labeling programs such as those of the Federal Trade Commission and of the Energy Star program, which DOE runs jointly with the EPA.
In addition to saving significant energy and/or water, DOE standards are required to be technologically feasible and economically justified and to not unduly burden either small domestic manufacturers or low income consumers. This report assesses the analyses BTO conducts when setting standards for a category of appliance or equipment. These analyses estimate the effectiveness of the standards at achieving the stated goal, their net impact compared to the baseline of current policies, and the cost effectiveness with which that goal has been achieved. This report discusses the methods used in these analyses and considers potentially useful modifications.
The rest of the programs of the BTO portfolio, listed earlier, are known to the committee, and while the report mentions these non-standards programs to provide context, it does not take a position on them. Furthermore, in writing the report, the committee has accepted the goals of the standards program as given by DOE and refrains from making any judgments about them. The report instead answers the narrower question of how best to conduct the analyses that support the development of minimum energy and water efficiency standards.
Many individuals volunteered significant time and effort to address and educate the committee during its public information sessions. John Cymbalski, Manager of the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program for DOE’s Building Technologies Office, provided several substantive briefings and coordinated responses to the committee’s written queries. Michael Kido, an attorney with DOE’s Office of the General Counsel, provided important explanations of the legal underpinning of the program. Numerous individuals whose work is supported by the BTO provided descriptions of the analytical methods supporting the standards. They engaged with the committee in valuable discussions. The committee is grateful to these individuals and to others not named here.
The committee has been pleased to provide DOE with this review of its methods and believes such periodic reviews to be essential to a robust standards program. The committee hopes the observations, findings, and recommendations of the report will be embraced by DOE.
Linda Cohen, Chair
Committee on Review of Methods for Setting Building and Equipment Performance Standards
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Marilyn A. Brown, NAS/NAE, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Charles D. Kolstad, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
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Contents
Committee’s Approach to the Statement of Task
2 FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING REGULATIONS
Context—Statutory Requirements
Requirements for Regulatory Analysis
Criteria and Principles Guiding This Review
3 ASSESSING CURRENT MODELS: ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY COST AND TECHNOLOGY PERFORMANCE
Screening and Analysis of Design Options
4 THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF STANDARDS
The Effect of Standards on Producers
The Effect of Standards on Consumers
Pollutant Emissions from Energy Use
Market Failures That Rationalize Standards
ANNEX 4A: Detailed Comments on the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis for Residential Dishwashers
5 CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES TO A NATIONAL STANDARDS PROGRAM
Energy Efficiency Standards and the Built Environment
Energy Efficiency and Consumer Behavior
Appliance and Equipment Standards and Electric Power Generation
Exogenous Factors That Complement the National Standards Program
6 ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF A CHANGING WORLD
Changes in Electricty Regulation and Business Models
Pattern and Amount of Consumption