1-i

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT....................................................................................... 1-1

1.2 OVERVIEW OF APPLIANCE STANDARDS.................................................................... 1-1

1.3 PROCESS FOR SETTING ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS.......................... 1-2

1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT ................................................................................. 1-4

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.3.1 Analyses Under the Process Rule ............................................................................. 1-3
1-1

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT

This preliminary technical support document (preliminary TSD) is a standalone report 

that documents the technical analyses and results supporting the preliminary analysis for 

establishing energy conservation standards for miscellaneous refrigeration products. The 

products included in the rulemaking include cooled cabinets, non-compressor refrigeration 

products, hybrid refrigeration products, and ice makers.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NOPR) for test procedures for miscellaneous refrigeration products (“2014 MREF TP NOPR”). 

The 2014 MREF TP NOPR proposed definitions for all of the products that are the subject of 

this rulemaking. The definitions are not repeated in this chapter. Please refer to the 2014 MREF 

TP NOPR for more discussion of the definitions.

This is the first DOE rulemaking to establish standards for these products. There are 

currently no current Federal energy conservation standards for them.

1.2 OVERVIEW OF APPLIANCE STANDARDS

Title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6291, et seq.; 

“EPCA” or, “the Act”) sets forth a variety of provisions designed to improve energy efficiency. 

(All references to EPCA refer to the statute as amended through the American Energy 

Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (AEMTCA), Pub. L. 112-210 (Dec. 18, 2012).) Part B 

of title III, which for editorial reasons was redesignated as Part A upon incorporation into the 

U.S. Code (42 U.S.C. 6291–6309, as codified), establishes the “Energy Conservation Program 

for Consumer Products Other Than Automobiles.” These include the consumer products that are 

subjects of this TSD: hybrid refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers, (i.e., products that

include warm compartments such as wine storage compartments in products that otherwise 

provide the functions of refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, or freezers); cooled cabinets 

(including wine chillers); refrigeration products that do not use vapor-compression systems; and 

ice makers. DOE proposed in an October 31, 2013 notice to add all of these as covered products 

under EPCA. 78 FR 65223 (referred to in this TSD as the “October 2013 Coverage Proposal”).a

Pursuant to EPCA, DOE is required to design each standard for these products to (1) 

achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and 

economically justified; and (2) result in significant conservation of energy. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(o)(2)(A) and (o)(3)(B), 42 U.S.C. 6313(d)(4)) To determine whether a proposed standard is 

economically justified, DOE will, after receiving comments on the proposed standard, determine 

 a Although DOE has previously indicated its belief that wine chillers, and therefore cooled cabinets, that use 

compressor and condenser systems are covered under EPCA, it nevertheless has recently proposed to add them as 

covered products.
1-2

whether the benefits of the standard exceed its burdens to the greatest extent practicable, 

considering the following seven factors: 

1. The economic impact of the standard on the manufacturers and on the consumers of 

the products subject to such standard; 

2. The savings in operating costs throughout the estimated average life of the covered 

product in the type (or class) compared to any increase in the price of, or in the initial 

charges for maintenance expenses of, the covered products that are likely to result from 

the imposition of the standard; 

3. The total projected amount of energy savings likely to result directly from the 

imposition of the standard; 

4. Any lessening of the utility or the performance of the covered products likely to result 

from the imposition of the standard; 

5. The impact of any lessening of competition, as determined in writing by the Attorney 

General, that is likely to result from the imposition of the standard; 

6. The need for national energy conservation; and 

7. Other factors the Secretary considers relevant. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(i)) 

EPCA also directs that DOE may not prescribe an amended or new standard if the 

standard is likely to result in the unavailability in the United States of performance 

characteristics (including reliability), features, sizes, capacities, and volumes that are 

substantially the same as those generally available in the United States at the time that the 

standard is prescribed. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(4)) 

For cooled cabinets, ice makers, non-compressor refrigerators, and hybrid refrigeration 

products, DOE is applying those factors in a manner consistent with its other energy 

conservation standards rulemakings to ascertain the maximum improvement in energy efficiency 

that is technologically feasible and economically justified for these products.

1.3 PROCESS FOR SETTING ENERGY CONSERVATION STANDARDS

As discussed in section 1.2, EPCA grants DOE authority to set standards for additional 

types of products, and requires DOE to review and, if appropriate, amend existing standards. 

Because no standards exist for these newly covered products, DOE initiated this rulemaking to 

set standards for them.

After the publication of the Framework Document, the energy conservation standards 

rulemaking process involves three additional, formal public notices, which DOE publishes in the 

Federal Register. The first of the rulemaking notices is a notice of public meeting (NOPM), 

which is designed to publicly vet the models and tools used in the preliminary rulemaking and to 
1-3

facilitate public participation before the NOPR stage. The second notice is the NOPR, which 

presents a discussion of comments received in response to the NOPM and the preliminary 

analyses and analytical tools; analyses of the impacts of potential amended energy conservation 

standards on consumers, manufacturers, and the Nation; DOE’s weighting of these impacts of 

amended energy conservation standards; and the proposed energy conservation standards for 

each product. The third notice is the final rule, which presents a discussion of the comments 

received in response to the NOPR; the revised analyses; DOE’s weighting of these impacts; the 

amended energy conservation standards DOE is adopting for each product; and the effective 

dates of the amended energy conservation standards.

In February 2012, DOE published a notice of public meeting and availability of the 

Framework Document for the products covered in this rulemaking. 77 FR 7547, 7549 (Feb. 13, 

2012). The Framework Document, Rulemaking Framework for Wine Chillers and Miscellaneous 

Refrigeration Products, describes the procedural and analytical approaches DOE anticipated 

using to evaluate the establishment of amended energy conservation standards for these products. 

This document is available at:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/pdfs/wc_misc_refr_framework_02_

06_12.pdf. 

Subsequently, DOE held a public meeting on February 22, 2012 to discuss procedural 

and analytical approaches to the rulemaking. In addition, DOE used the public meeting to inform 

and facilitate involvement of interested parties in the rulemaking process. The analytical 

framework presented at the public meeting described the different analyses, such as the 

engineering analysis and the consumer economic analyses (i.e., the life-cycle cost analysis

(LCC), payback period analysis (PBP), and the national impact analysis (NIA)), the methods 

proposed for conducting them, and the relationships among the various analyses. 

During the February 2012 public meeting, interested parties commented about numerous 

issues relating to each one of the analyses listed in Table 1.3.1. Comments from interested parties 

submitted during the Framework Document comment period elaborated on the issues raised 

during the public meeting. DOE attempted to address these issues during its preliminary analysis 

and summarized the comments and DOE’s responses in chapter 2 of the preliminary TSD.

Table 1.3.1 Analyses Under the Process Rule

Preliminary Analyses NOPR Final Rule

Market and technology assessment Revised preliminary analysis Revised analyses

Screening analysis Consumer sub-group analysis

Engineering analysis Manufacturer impact analysis

Energy use analysis Emissions analysis

Markups analysis Monetization of emissions 

reduction benefits

Life-cycle cost and payback period analysis Utility impact analysis

Shipments analysis Employment impact analysis

National impact analysis Regulatory impact analysis

Preliminary manufacturer impact analysis
1-4

As part of the information gathering and sharing process of the engineering and 

preliminary manufacturer impact analyses, DOE organized and held interviews with 

manufacturers of the products considered in this rulemaking. DOE selected companies that 

represented production of all types of these products, ranging from small to large manufacturers. 

DOE had four objectives for these interviews: (1) solicit manufacturer feedback on the draft 

inputs to the engineering analysis; (2) solicit feedback on topics related to the preliminary 

manufacturer impact analysis; (3) provide an opportunity, early in the rulemaking process, to 

express manufacturers’ concerns to DOE; and (4) foster cooperation between manufacturers and 

DOE. 

DOE incorporated the information gathered during the manufacturer interviews into its 

engineering analysis (chapter 5) and preliminary manufacturer impact analysis (Preliminary 

MIA, chapter 12). Following the preliminary analysis comment period, DOE intends to hold 

additional meetings with manufacturers as part of the consultative process for the MIA 

conducted during the NOPR phase.

DOE conducted the LCC, PBP, and NIA to determine the consumer economic impact of 

potential standards. Each of these analyses estimated an annual energy expense using regional 

average electric costs and projections from the Energy Information Agency (EIA). DOE 

developed spreadsheets for the each of these analyses. All of the spreadsheets are available on 

the DOE rulemaking website for miscellaneous refrigeration products at: 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/rulemaking.aspx/ruleid/71.

1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT

This preliminary TSD outlines the analytical approaches used in this rulemaking. The 

TSD consists of 17 chapters as well as appendices.

• Chapter 1, Introduction: provides an overview of the appliance standards program and 

how it applies to the miscellaneous refrigeration products rulemaking, and outlines the 

structure of the document.

• Chapter 2, Analytical Framework, Comments from Interested Parties, and DOE 

Responses: describes the rulemaking process step by step, summarizes comments made 

by interested parties during the Framework Document comment period, and provides 

DOE responses to those comments.

• Chapter 3, Market and Technology Assessment: characterizes the miscellaneous

refrigeration product market and the technologies available for increasing product

efficiency.

• Chapter 4, Screening Analysis: determines which technology options are viable for 

consideration in the engineering analysis.

• Chapter 5, Engineering Analysis: discusses the methods used for developing the 

relationship between increased manufacturer price and increased efficiency.

• Chapter 6, Markups for Product Price Determination: discusses the methods used for 

establishing markups for converting manufacturer prices to consumer product prices.
1-5

• Chapter 7, Energy Use Analysis: discusses the process used for generating energy use 

estimates of miscellaneous refrigeration products for a variety of product classes and 

standard levels.

• Chapter 8, Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period Analysis: discusses the economic 

effects of standards on individual consumers.

• Chapter 9, Shipments Analysis: discusses the methods used for forecasting shipments 

with and without higher efficiency standards.

• Chapter 10, National Impact Analysis: discusses the methods used for forecasting 

national energy consumption and national economic impacts based on annual product 

shipments and estimates of future product efficiency distributions in the absence and 

presence of higher efficiency standards.

• Chapter 11, Consumer Subgroup Analysis: discusses the analysis that will be 

performed at the NOPR stage to determine the effects of miscellaneous refrigeration 

product standards on subgroups of consumers who are most likely to be adversely 

affected by standards. 

• Chapter 12, Preliminary Manufacturer Impact Analysis: discusses the effects of 

standards on the finances and profitability of product manufacturers.

• Chapter 13, Emissions Analysis: discusses the analysis that will be performed at the 

NOPR stage to determine the effects of standards on airborne emissions of electric 

utilities.

• Chapter 14, Monetization of Emissions Reductions Benefits: outlines the analysis that 

will be performed at the NOPR stage to determine the estimated monetary benefits likely 

to result from reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides expected to result 

from the standards.

• Chapter 15, Utility Impact Analysis: discusses the analysis that will be performed at the 

NOPR stage to determine the effects of standards on the installed generation capacity of 

electric utilities.

• Chapter 16, Employment Impact Analysis: discusses the analysis that will be 

performed at the NOPR stage to determine the effects of standards on national 

employment.

• Chapter 17, Regulatory Impact Analysis: discusses the analysis that will be performed 

at the NOPR stage to estimate the impact of non-regulatory alternatives to setting energy 

efficiency standards.

• Appendix 5A, Engineering Data: contains energy modeling and cost inputs used to 

develop cost-efficiency curves, as well as the engineering questionnaire provided to 

manufacturers.

• Appendix 5B, ERA Model Description: contains a description of the ERA energy 

modeling software used in the engineering analysis.

• Appendix 8A, User Instructions for the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Spreadsheet: 

contains a description of the spreadsheet and instructions that allow the user to examine 

and reproduce the detailed results of the LCC and PBP analyses. 

• Appendix 8B, Uncertainty and Variability in LCC Analysis: explains how the LCC 

model accounts for the uncertainty and variability of the numerical values. 
1-6

• Appendix 8C, Distributions Used for Discount Rates: presents the distribution of 

interest and return rates for each type of debt and equity that DOE sampled to derive the 

consumer discount rates for the LCC. 

• Appendix 9A, Relative Price Elasticity of Demand for Appliances: presents a detailed 

explanation of the methodology DOE used to quantify the impacts of standards on 

shipments, including the effects of decreased operating costs and changes in household 

income.

• Appendix 10A, User Instructions for Shipments and NIA Spreadsheets: contains a 

description of the NIA spreadsheet and instructions on how to use it to examine and 

reproduce the NIA results.

• Appendix 10B, National Net Present Value of Consumer Benefits using Alternative 

Product Price Forecasts: assesses the impact of altering product price projections, 

presenting the results of a high and low product price decline.

• Appendix 12A, Manufacturer Impact Analysis Interview Guide: contains the MIA 

questionnaire provided to manufacturers.