Minutes
Air-conditioner and Commercial Refrigeration Advisory Committee Meeting 8
3 April 2014 9.30am – 1.00 pm
Vipac Engineers and Scientists Port Melbourne facilities
Chair: Sara Williams (DoI)
Attendees and Apologies See Attachment A
Secretariat David Rochford (DoI)
Agenda Item 1: Administration
1.1 Welcome and housekeeping
The meeting was opened at 9.30am. The Chair welcomed all attendees and introduced the Department of Industry (DoI) staff. She thanked Vipac for hosting the event.
1.2 Apologies and attendees
See Attachment A
1.3 Acceptance of agenda
The agenda was accepted with the addition of an update in regard to DoI contact details and work by the Department on a flexible duct product profile.
1.4 Acceptance of previous meeting minutes
The previous meeting minutes were moved by Colin Doyle (CESA) and seconded by Mark Padwick (AREMA).
1.5 Action Items from Meeting 7
The measures taken to address the Action Items from the last meeting were provided. Heidi Irion explained EECA’s response to Action Item 5. She advised that EECA are still investigating if developing a code of practise for packaged remote refrigeration condenser units has government support. In other EECA news, Heidi informed the group that Nick Smith would be leaving and that new EnergyStar requirements for air conditioners in New Zealand were available on the Energywise website. She also pointed out that EECA had published an air conditioner/heat pump installation guide on the EECA website.
Action Item 3, an update on the issue of being able to hide ‘private’ registrations from public view on the Energy Ratings Comparison Tool, was still being looked at by the DoI, but an update will be emailed to the group ASAP. All other Action Items had been completed.
The Chair explained again that all the DoI staff had new email addresses and phone numbers. While the Secretariat had already distributed the new contact details for the Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Team (HART), she reiterated that the old email addresses where not being forwarded. She also noted that further changes were expected in the near future. This includes the imminent additions of Ben Costello and Bonn Paige (nee Maguire) to HART along with the appliance category of electric motors. Meeting participants were encouraged to contact HART staff if they needed assistance contacting other DoI staff.
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Action Item 1: DoI to place Minutes of Meeting 7 on the Energy Rating Website.Action Item 2: DoI to distribute an update on the issue of private registrations to ACRAC as soon as possible.
Agenda Item 2: Update – portable test standard
David Rochford (DoI) updated the group on the progress of developing a portable air conditioner test standard. He explained that Vipac are currently testing 10 different models to provide data to help inform the final points of the test standard. Three of these units will then be sent to CSIRO for comparative testing to ensure the draft test standard yields reproducible results. Performance data is also being collected for the air conditioner Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), noting that E3 agreed to include these products in the RIS in March 2013. The draft is currently with the Standards Australia Room Air Conditioner committee (EL-056) and it is envisioned that a draft Australian and New Zealand test standard will be released for public comment around mid-year, with a published standard due by the end of the year.
Agenda Item 3: Update - seasonal test standard
David Rochford (DoI) updated the group on the progress of adopting an Australian/New Zealand version of ISO16358 Air-cooled air conditioners and air-to-air heat pumps – Testing and calculating methods for seasonal performance factors. He explained that EL-056 had decided on a handful of amendments that meant that a draft would be released for public comment in about May. The main changes were the inclusion of new temperature bins for the representative climates for hot/humid, cold and mixed. These would be further explained in agenda item 10.
Agenda Item 4: Update - provision of sales data
The Chair gave an update on the current consultation process in regards to the provision of sales data under the GEMS Act. Ben Costello (DoI) provided information that 12 stakeholders gave formal submissions in reply to the consultation process of December 2013. A number of submission suggestions revolved around using the data that is already supplied to the Department of Environment under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989. This is currently being investigated and David Walker (DoI) will seek further industry comment before any proposal is finalised.
Agenda Item 5: Update - Refrigerated Display Cabinet (RDC) Product Profile
Heidi Irion (EECA) updated the group on the next step for considering a revision of RDC regulation. EECA is currently in the process of hiring a consultant to start the consultation RIS in about June.
Agenda Item 6: Discussion & follow up questions - air conditioner RIS
The group raised a number of issues arising from the air conditioner RIS workshop the previous day. Several key issues were noted:
· Industry desire as much forewarning about the next MEPS as possible. Although the Chair explained the long and complex process that needs to be followed before a MEPS can be introduced, there was still concern at the vagueness of the current ‘from 2015’ statement.
· There was also concern noted that the easiest efficiency gains had already been made and claims that a further increases in MEPS would be costly and difficult. Therefore, effort could be more productively spent looking at installation and maintenance issues. The Chair noted that the GEMS Act didn’t cover these areas.
· There were also concerns noted about how the price/efficiency (PE) ratios that would be used for the RIS were being determined. Paul Ryan (EnergyConsult), lead consultant working for E3 on the air conditioner RIS, reiterated that more information is still being sort on this issue and encouraged further feedback. The Chair also confirmed that the slides from the workshop would be circulated to the attendees for further consideration.
Questions were asked about the achievements of the E3 program, and the Chair directed the group to a new report, Impacts of the E3 program: Projected energy, cost and emission savings available on the Energyrating website.
Agenda Item 7: Opportunities for deregulation and regulatory simplicity
The Chair explained that the Appliance Energy Efficiency Branch was still looking at options for fulfilling the Federal Government’s commitments to a deregulation agenda. She pointed out that the current air conditioner RIS will explore regulatory simplicity options and the possibility of setting a two stage MEPS to save going through the RIS process again as soon. She also noted that RISs now had to comply with the Office of Best Practice Regulation’s (OBPR) Business Cost Calculator. This will make the cost benefit analysis for changing air conditioner regulations, even changes that industry wants, such as SEER, more challenging. She suggested that members look at the Cost Calculator on the OBPR website.
Agenda Item 8: Multi-split regulation
The Chair was pleased to note that multi-split regulation had come into effect earlier in the week. She thanked the group and acknowledged the many people present that had played important roles in helping implement this decision from the 2010 RIS process.
Several members of the group acknowledged that registrations had proceeded relatively smoothly, however, it was suggested that minor improvements to the online registration form could make the process easier. The Secretariat encouraged members to pass this feedback and any suggestions through to the E3 Service Delivery Team via the Energy Ratings inbox. Several members noted that they had been experiencing delays in receiving responses through this channel. The Secretariat gave an undertaking to pass these concerns onto the E3 Service Delivery Team.
Action Item 3: Secretariat to pass on concerns of the slowness of response to some Energy Ratings Inbox enquiries.Agenda Item 9: Update – seasonal rating label
Gemma Godwin (DoI) gave the group an update on the latest draft seasonal rating labels and the quantitative testing that was about to commence. Overall, the group gave favourable feedback. Two areas of industry concern with the draft labels were noted:
· Several issues with using a square metre metric for sizing instead of a kilowatt rating were raised. These included the number of variables that need to be considered for the correct sizing of an installation and therefore the high probability that it will be misleading. A desire to keep this label as a comparative energy efficiency tool, not a sizing tool was expressed.
· There was concern that the current draft label only had one, unspecified noise rating. While the intention was for outdoor noise to be displayed, industry felt that consumers are more interested in indoor noise levels, and either both should be given, or at least the label should make clear which one it was referring to.
Agenda Item 10: Update – climate map report
David Rochford (DoI) gave a presentation on the project to develop the three zone climate map for the seasonal rating label. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) and New Zealand House Energy Rating Scheme (NZHERS) maps were used as a starting point. Each of these 82 HERS zones were analysed for evaporator frosting potential, humidity and annual heating and cooling loads to classify them as hot/humid, cold or mixed.
He then explained the process for choosing a representative annual climate file for each of the three zones. The ‘hot/humid’ zone file is based on Rockhampton, Queensland. Rockhampton is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn and is located geographically and meteorologically between the milder climates of the heavily populated south-east of the zone and the sparsely populated northern tropical areas.
The ‘mixed’ zone file is based on Richmond, New South Wales. The mixed zone covers a large population and represents areas where both very hot and very cold weather can be encountered. As heating performance at H2 is important for determining seasonal performance, it is desirable to have a representative location that has an adequate number of bin hours at lower temperatures for this performance to be demonstrated. Coastal locations tend to have milder temperatures, so Richmond, which is slightly inland, allows the calculation of seasonal performance at both low and high temperatures.
The ‘cold’ zone file is based on Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In addition to a high annual heating load, Canberra experiences many bin hours within the critical frosting temperature range. Locations closer to the coast, while still having a high annual heating load, will not adequately demonstrate seasonal energy consumption that reflects H2 performance. Canberra also has a sufficient number of cooling hours to allow meaningful cooling performance to be demonstrated. This is not the case for the colder, largely unpopulated alpine and sub-alpine regions or New Zealand.
Action Item 4: Secretariat to email copies of the climate label and climate map presentations to the group.Agenda Item 11: Other items
The Chair explained that the Building Products Team, headed up by Dwayne Purdy, is looking at the non-energy using products of flexible ducting, glazing and insulation. They are currently in the early stages of developing a product profile for flexible ducting.
Meeting closed: 1.00 pm
Action Items
Action Item 1: DoI to place Minutes of Meeting 7 on the Energy Rating Website.Action Item 2: DoI to distribute an update on the issue of private registrations to ACRAC as soon as possible.
Action Item 3: Secretariat to pass on concerns of the slowness of response to some Energy Ratings Inbox enquiries.
Action Item 4: Secretariat to email copies of the climate label and climate map presentations to the group.
Attachment A
Colin Doyle / CESA / Mark Peristy / CSIRO / Peter Cashel / Fujitsu
Ken Ball / Teco/AREMA / Robert Beggs / Daikin/AIG/CESA / David Rochford / DoI
Ben Price / LG Electronics / Keith Edwards / Temperzone NZ / Milton Kaloudis / LG Electronics
Mark Padwick / AREMA / David Chaplin / Electrolux / Scott Sarkies / Heatcraft Aus.
Paul Ryan / EnergyConsult / Heidi Irion / EECA / Gemma Godwin / DoI
Greg Picker / AREMA / Peter Wilkinson / Mitsubishi Electric / Satya Mavuri / VIPAC
Michael Ott / Heatcraft Aus. / Ian Forte / Electrolux, AIG / Sara Williams / DoI
Patrick Corcoran / GWA Heating & Cooling / Greg Groppenbacher
Apologies / N/A
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