U.S. Department of Energy Issues Nation’s First Pump Efficiency Standards

The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) celebrated the run up to New Year’s Eve by issuing new efficiency standards for commercial and industrial pumps. Building on those established in the European Union, these first-ever U.S. pump efficiency standards reflect levels agreed to by manufacturers, efficiency advocates, pump users, and utilities as part of a negotiated rulemaking.

Although these standards won’t take effect until 2020, as issued Dec. 31, 2015, the final rule provides a mechanism for energy efficiency programs to incentivize high-efficiency pump packages.

Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), explained the new pump standards in a recent post on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy website (aceee.org) and elsewhere. Among other things:

• They apply to clean water pumps between 1 and 200 hp used in a range of applications, including: irrigation, circulation of hot and cold water in commercial buildings for heating and cooling, and pressure boosting in high-rise apartment buildings.
• They will require the least-efficient 25% of pumps in today’s market to be redesigned to improve efficiency and reduce energy losses.

Pumps meeting the new standards sold over 30 years would reduce electricity consumption by about 30 billion kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to the annual electricity use of 2.8 million U.S. households, and save customers $0.4-1.1 billion.

To read deLaski’s complete post, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE to download a PDF copy of USDOE’s “Issuance 2015-12-31: Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Pumps, Final Rule.”

Editor’s Note: Headquartered in Washington, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) acts as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors. For information about the organization and its programs, publications, and conferences, visit aceee.org