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Commercial Refrigeration Equipment

Last Updated: October 2007
See the federal standards main page to view current status

Refrigeration accounts for about 5% of the total energy consumed by commercial buildings. About two thirds of this is used by packaged equipment, which includes walk-in refrigerators and freezers, vending machines, reach-in refrigerator and freezer cases, ice-makers, ice cream freezers, and beverage merchandisers. The remaining third of the energy is used by "built-up" supermarket refrigation systems, also called "remote-condensing" or "centralized."

Congress adopted a standard for commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers in the Energy Policy Act 2005 (effective 2010), building on previous state standards and Consortium for Energy Efficiency specifications. The bill also required DOE to set additional standards for ice cream freezers and packaged refrigerators without doors, and supermarket refrigerators by 2009.  In the interim California put standards in place for ice cream freezers only. There are no state standards on supermarket refrigeration equipment.

Another category of equipment subject to standards is walk-in coolers and freezers, which account for 18% of all commercial refrigeration energy use and are not covered under federal law. In 2004, California became the first of five states (Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon and Rhode Island) to adopt a standard, reducing average walk-in energy use by over 40% through requirements for insulation levels, motor types, and use of automatic door-closers.

• Federal Documentation (DOE Web site)

Update
In 2007, ACEEE reached an agreement with walk-in cooler and freezer manufacturers on a national standard for walk-ins that builds upon the California standard but adds some provisions and modifies others. This agreement was incorporated into the energy law (H.R.6) enacted in December 2007.  It includes prescriptive requirements affecting the thermal enclosure, motors and lights, effective January 1st, 2009.  DOE must conclude a rulemaking to set performance based standards no later than January 1st, 2012, with any amended standard effective January 1st, 2015.  A second round of revision is due by January 1st, 2020 and would be effective January 1st, 2023.   (February 2008)

Filing
Comments on DOE’s April 25, 2006 Federal Register notice and Rulemaking Framework document commercial refrigeration equipment standards
May 30, 2006