Keywords

Abstract

The energy efficiency of many products has increased markedly over the past decade. A conspicuous exception to this trend is commercial packaged rooftop air conditioners, which have experienced little to no efficiency improvement since 1992 when the Energy Policy Act of 1992 imposed federal minimum standards. Packaged rooftop units have been estimated to use on the order of 76 billion kWh annually in the US, at a cost of roughly $5.6 billion. Sales of these units are growing, and the majority of units sold have energy efficiency ratios (EERs) at or just above the current national minimum efficiency standards. In this paper we document the static efficiencies of commercial packaged air conditioners, explore the reasons behind this efficiency gap, and assess opportunities for overcoming the barriers to efficiency improvements in these products.

Paper

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Panels of the 2000 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Panel 1. Residential Buildings: Technologies, Design, and Performance Analysis

Panel 2. Residential Buildings: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Panel 3. Commercial Buildings: Technologies, Design, and Performance Analysis

Panel 4. Commercial Buildings: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Panel 5. Deregulation of the Utility Industry and Role of Energy Services Companies (ESCOs)

Panel 6. Market Transformation

Panel 7. Information and Electronic Technologies

Panel 8. Consumer Behavior and Non-Energy Effects

Panel 9. Energy and Environmental Polics

Panel 10. Building Industry Trends