Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 25627 

1For editorial reasons, upon codification in the 

U.S. Code, Part C was re-designated Part A–1. 

2All references to EPCA in this document refer 

to the statute as amended through the American 

Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act, 

Public Law 112–210 (Dec. 18, 2012). 

3These equipment types include small, large, and 

very large commercial package air-conditioning and 

heating equipment, packaged terminal air 

conditioners and heat pumps, warm air furnaces, 

packaged boilers, storage water heaters, 

instantaneous water heaters, or unfired hot water 

storage tanks (‘‘ASHRAE equipment’’). 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

10 CFR Part 431 

[Docket Number EERE–2013–BT–STD– 

0021] 

Energy Conservation Program for 

Certain Industrial Equipment: Energy 

Conservation Standards for 

Commercial Warm Air Furnaces 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Request for information (RFI). 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) is initiating a rulemaking 

to consider amended energy 

conservation standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces. Once completed, this 

rulemaking will fulfill DOE’s statutory 

obligation by December 31, 2013 to 

either propose amended energy 

conservation standards for warm air 

furnaces or to make a determination that 

the existing standards do not need to be 

amended. This notice seeks to solicit 

information to assist DOE in 

determining whether national standards 

more stringent than those that are 

currently in place would result in a 

significant amount of additional energy 

savings and whether such amended 

national standards would be 

technologically feasible and 

economically justified. In overview, this 

document presents a brief description of 

the analysis DOE plans to perform for 

this rulemaking and requests comment 

on various issues relating to each of the 

analyses (e.g., market assessment, 

engineering analysis, energy use 

analysis, life-cycle cost and payback 

period analysis, and national impact 

analysis). Although this document 

contains numerous specific topics on 

which the Department is particularly 

interested in receiving written 

comment, DOE welcomes views and 

information from the public on any 

subject within the scope of this 

rulemaking (including relevant matters 

not specifically raised in this RFI). 

DATES: Written comments and 

information are requested on or before 

June 3, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are 

encouraged to submit comments 

electronically. However, interested 

persons may submit comments, 

identified by docket number EERE– 

2013–BT–STD–0021, or by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: CommWarmAirFurn

2013STD0021@ee.doe.gov. Include 

docket number EERE–2013–BT–STD– 

0021 in the subject line of the message. 

Submit electronic comments in 

WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, PDF, or 

ASCII file format, and avoid the use of 

special characters or any form of 

encryption. 

• Postal Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–2J, 

1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. If 

possible, please submit all items on a 

compact disc (CD), in which case it is 

not necessary to include printed copies. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, 6th 

Floor, 950 L’Enfant Plaza SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. Telephone: 

(202) 586–2945. If possible, please 

submit all items on a CD, in which case 

it is not necessary to include printed 

copies. 

For detailed instructions on 

submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, 

see section III of this document (Public 

Participation). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information may 

be sent to Mr. John Cymbalsky, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, EE–2J, 

1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 286–1692. Email: 

commercial_furnaces@ee.doe.gov. 

Mr. Eric Stas, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 

GC–71, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–9507. Email: 

Eric.Stas@hq.doe.gov. 

For information on how to submit or 

review public comments, contact Ms. 

Brenda Edwards, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–2J, 

1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 586–2945. Email: 

Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Introduction 

A. Authority 

B. Background 

C. Rulemaking Process 

II. Planned Rulemaking Analyses 

A. Market Assessment 

1. Potential New Product Classes 

a. Weatherized and Non-Weatherized 

Commercial Furnaces 

b. Three-Phase Equipment With an Input 

Capacity Less Than 225,000 Btu/h 

B. Engineering Analysis 

1. Condensing Weatherized Commercial 

Warm Air Furnaces 

C. Markups Analysis 

D. Energy Use Analysis 

E. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period 

Analysis 

F. Shipment Analysis 

G. National Impact Analysis 

III. Public Participation 

I. Introduction 

A. Authority 

Title III, Part C1 of the Energy Policy 

and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA or 

the Act), Public Law 94–163 (42 U.S.C. 

6311–6317, as codified), added by 

Public Law 95–619, Title IV, § 441(a), 

established the Energy Conservation 

Program for Certain Industrial 

Equipment, which includes provisions 

covering the commercial warm air 

furnace equipment that is the subject of 

this notice.2 In general, this program 

addresses the energy efficiency of 

certain types of commercial and 

industrial equipment. Relevant 

provisions of the Act specifically 

include definitions (42 U.S.C. 6311), 

energy conservation standards (42 

U.S.C. 6313), test procedures (42 U.S.C. 

6314), labelling provisions (42 U.S.C. 

6315), and the authority to require 

information and reports from 

manufacturers (42 U.S.C. 6316). 

The initial Federal energy 

conservation standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces were added to EPCA 

by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 

(EPACT 1992), Public Law 102–486. (42 

U.S.C. 6313(a)(4)) These types of 

covered equipment have a rated 

capacity (rated maximum input) greater 

than or equal to 225,000 Btu/h, can be 

gas-fired or oil-fired, and are designed to 

heat commercial buildings. Id. 

Section 5(b) of the American Energy 

Manufacturing Technical Corrections 

Act (AEMTCA), Public Law 112–210 

(Dec. 18, 2012), amended EPCA to 

include a requirement for DOE to 

consider amending the standards for 

certain types of commercial and 

industrial equipment 3 every six years, 

as well as a mandate that DOE must 

conduct an expedited rulemaking to 

consider amended energy conservation 

standards for any covered equipment of 

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25628 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

4 It is noted the AEMTCA inadvertently assigned 

two separate provisions to 42 U.S.C. 

6313(a)(6)(C)(vi). The provision cited above is the 

one most relevant to this RFI. 

those types for which more than 6 years 

has elapsed since the issuance of the 

most recent final rule establishing or 

amending a standard for the product as 

of the date of AEMTCA’s enactment 

(i.e., December 18, 2012). (42 U.S.C. 

6313(a)(6)(C)(i) and (vi) 4) In general, 

when conducting such a review, DOE 

must publish either: (1) a notice of 

determination that the current standards 

do not need to be amended, or (2) a 

notice of proposed rulemaking 

containing proposed standards; 

however, for those types of equipment 

for which more than six years has 

passed since the last final rule, Congress 

also set a deadline of December 31, 2013 

for publication of the determination/ 

proposed rule. Id. 

In order to meet the new requirements 

added by AEMTCA, DOE has begun to 

review its existing energy conservation 

standards for those equipment types 

listed in 42 U.S.C. 6313(a) for which at 

least six years have elapsed since 

issuance of the most recent final rule, 

including the commercial warm air 

furnaces that are the subject of this 

notice. 

Today’s notice represents the 

initiation of the mandatory review 

process required by AEMTCA and seeks 

input from the public to assist DOE with 

its evaluation of whether to amend the 

current Federal energy conservation 

standards for commercial warm air 

furnaces. In making this determination, 

DOE must evaluate whether there is 

clear and convincing evidence that 

more-stringent national standards 

would result in significant additional 

energy savings, and be technologically 

feasible and economically justified. (42 

U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)(ii)(II)) In 

determining whether an amended 

energy conservation standard is 

economically justified, the Secretary 

shall, after receiving views and 

comments furnished with respect to a 

proposed standard, determine whether 

the benefits of the standard exceed the 

burden of the proposed standard by, to 

the maximum 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 

the standard; 

(2) The savings in operating costs 

throughout the estimated average life of 

the product in the type (or class) 

compared to any increase in the price 

of, or in the initial charges for, or 

maintenance expenses of, the products 

that are likely to result from the 

standard; 

(3) The total projected quantity of 

energy savings likely to result directly 

from the standard; 

(4) Any lessening of the utility or the 

performance of the products likely to 

result from 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 standard; 

(6) The need for national energy 

conservation; and 

(7) Other factors the Secretary 

considers relevant. 

(42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(B)(ii)) 

EPCA, as codified, also contains what 

is known as an ‘‘anti-backsliding’’ 

provision, which prevents the Secretary 

from prescribing any amended standard 

that either increases the maximum 

allowable energy use or decreases the 

minimum required energy efficiency of 

a covered product. (42 U.S.C. 

6295(o)(1)) Also, the Secretary may not 

prescribe an amended or new standard 

if interested persons have established by 

a preponderance of the evidence that 

the standard is likely to result in the 

unavailability in the United States of 

any covered product type (or class) of 

performance characteristics (including 

reliability), features, sizes, capacities, 

and volumes that are substantially the 

same as those generally available in the 

United States. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(4)) 

Further, EPCA, as codified, 

establishes a rebuttable presumption 

that a standard is economically justified 

if the Secretary finds that the additional 

cost to the customer of purchasing a 

product complying with an energy 

conservation standard level will be less 

than three times the value of the energy 

(and, as applicable, water) savings 

during the first year that the consumer 

will receive as a result of the standard, 

as calculated under the applicable test 

procedure. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)(iii)) 

Additionally, when a type or class of 

covered equipment has two or more 

subcategories, DOE often specifies more 

than one standard level. DOE generally 

will adopt a different standard level 

than that which applies generally to 

such type or class of products for any 

group of covered products that have the 

same function or intended use if DOE 

determines that products within such 

group: (A) consume a different kind of 

energy from that consumed by other 

covered products within such type (or 

class); or (B) have a capacity or other 

performance-related feature which other 

products within such type (or class) do 

not have and which justifies a higher or 

lower standard. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q)(1)) In 

determining whether a performancerelated feature justifies a different 

standard for a group of products, DOE 

generally considers such factors as the 

utility to the customer of the feature and 

other factors DOE deems appropriate. In 

a rule prescribing such a standard, DOE 

includes an explanation of the basis on 

which such higher or lower level was 

established. (42 U.S.C. 6295(q)(2)) DOE 

followed a similar process in the context 

of today’s rulemaking. 

Federal energy conservation 

requirements generally supersede State 

laws or regulations concerning energy 

conservation testing, labeling, and 

standards. (42 U.S.C. 6297(a)–(c)) DOE 

may, however, grant waivers of Federal 

pre-emption for particular State laws or 

regulations, in accordance with the 

procedures and other provisions set 

forth under 42 U.S.C. 6297(d). 

B. Background 

As noted above, the current energy 

conservation standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces were set by EPACT 

1992. On October 21, 2004, DOE 

published a final rule in the Federal 

Register which adopted definitions for 

‘‘commercial warm air furnace’’ and 

‘‘thermal efficiency,’’ promulgated test 

procedures for this equipment, and 

recodified the energy conservation 

standards so that the standards are 

located contiguous with the test 

procedures in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR). 69 FR 61916, 61917. 

In the same final rule, DOE incorporated 

by reference (see § 431.75) a number of 

industry test standards relevant to 

commercial warm air furnaces, 

including American National Standards 

Institute (ANSI) Standard Z21.47–1998, 

‘‘Gas-Fired Central Furnaces,’’ for gasfired furnaces, Underwriters 

Laboratories (UL) Standard 727–1994, 

‘‘Standard for Safety for Oil-Fired 

Central Furnaces,’’ for oil-fired furnaces, 

provisions from Hydronics Institute (HI) 

Standard BTS–2000, ‘‘Method to 

Determine Efficiency of Commercial 

Space Heating Boilers,’’ to calculate flue 

loss for oil-fired furnaces, and the 

American Society of Heating, 

Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning 

Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 103– 

1993, ‘‘Method of Testing for Annual 

Fuel Utilization Efficiency of 

Residential Central Furnaces and 

Boilers,’’ to determine the incremental 

efficiency of condensing furnaces under 

steady-state conditions. Id. Then in a 

final rule published in the Federal 

Register on May 16, 2012, DOE updated 

the test procedures for commercial 

warm air furnaces to match the 

procedures specified in ASHRAE 

Standard 90.1–2010, which referenced 

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 25629 

5The AHRI Directory can be found at: http://

www.ahridirectory.org/ahridirectory/pages/

home.aspx (Last accessed on April 11, 2013). 

ANSI Z21.47–2006, ‘‘Gas-Fired Central 

Furnaces,’’ for gas-fired furnaces and UL 

727–2006, ‘‘Standard for Safety for OilFired Central Furnaces,’’ for oil-fired 

furnaces. 77 FR 28928, 28987–88. The 

current Federal energy conservation 

standards, for this equipment are shown 

in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—MINIMUM HEATING EFFICIENCY LEVELS FOR COMMERCIAL WARM AIR FURNACES

Equipment type Input capacity Minimum thermal 

efficiency level* Compliance date 

Gas-fired Commercial Warm Air Furnace ....................................................................... ≥225,000 Btu/h 80% 1/1/1994 

Oil-fired Commercial Warm Air Furnace ......................................................................... ≥225,000 Btu/h 81% 1/1/1994 

*At the maximum rated capacity (rated maximum input). 

C. Rulemaking Process 

DOE generally follows specific criteria 

when prescribing amended standards 

for covered ‘‘ASHRAE equipment.’’ (See 

generally 42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)–(C).) 

When proposing to adopt more-stringent 

standard levels than those contained in 

ASHRAE Standard 90.1, DOE must 

evaluate whether clear and convincing 

evidence exists demonstrating that such 

amended standards would be 

technologically feasible and would 

result in significant additional energy 

savings, and then must consider 

whether amended standards are 

economically justified. (42 U.S.C. 

6313(a)(6)(A)(ii)(II)) 

In assessing the appropriateness of 

amending the standards that are 

currently in place for commercial warm 

air furnaces, DOE plans to conduct its 

analyses in stages, with a positive result 

leading to a subsequent stage of the 

analysis. Under this approach, DOE 

would first evaluate whether morestringent standards are technologically 

feasible and would lead to significant 

additional energy savings. If either of 

these prongs is not met, DOE would 

conduct no further analysis, because the 

statutory criteria for adoption of the 

more-stringent standard could not be 

met. However, if this initial assessment 

is positive, DOE plans to conduct indepth analyses of the costs and benefits 

of the potential amended standards to 

determine whether such amended 

standards would be economically 

justified. The analyses would include 

the following steps: (1) Engineering; (2) 

energy use; (3) markups; (4) life-cycle 

cost and payback period; and (5) 

national impacts. If, after conducting 

those analyses, DOE reasons that there 

is a high likelihood that more-stringent 

standards would be economically 

justified, DOE will conduct downstream 

analyses including an analysis of: (1) 

Manufacturer impacts; (2) emission 

impacts; (3) utility impacts; (4) 

employment impacts; and (5) regulatory 

impacts. These analyses are the same 

ones DOE routinely applies when 

evaluating potential energy conservation 

standards for a given type of product or 

equipment. DOE will also conduct 

several other analyses that support those 

previously listed, including the market 

and technology assessment, the 

screening analysis (which contributes to 

the engineering analysis), and the 

shipments analysis (which contributes 

to the national impact analysis). As 

detailed throughout this RFI, DOE is 

publishing this notice as the first step in 

the analytical process and is specifically 

requesting input and data from 

interested parties to aid in the 

development of the technical analyses. 

Due to the relatively short timeline for 

this rulemaking set forth by AEMTCA, 

DOE anticipates moving from this RFI 

directly to publication of either a 

determination that the commercial 

warm air furnaces standards do not 

need to be amended or a notice of 

proposed rulemaking for amended 

standards by the December 31, 2013 

deadline. 

II. Planned Rulemaking Analyses 

In this section, DOE identifies a 

variety of issues on which it seeks input 

and data in order to aid its development 

of the technical and economic analyses 

to determine whether amended energy 

conservation standards may be 

warranted. In addition, DOE welcomes 

comments on other issues relevant to 

this rulemaking that may not 

specifically be identified in this notice. 

A. Market Assessment 

The market and technology 

assessment provides information about 

the commercial warm air furnace 

industry that will be used throughout 

the rulemaking process. For example, 

this information will be used to 

determine whether the existing 

equipment class structure requires 

modification based on the statutory 

criteria for setting such classes and to 

explore the potential for technological 

improvements in the design and 

manufacturing of such equipment. The 

Department uses qualitative and 

quantitative information to assess the 

past and present industry structure and 

market characteristics. For this 

rulemaking, DOE will use existing 

market materials and literature from a 

variety of sources, including industry 

publications, trade journals, government 

agencies, and the AHRI Directory of 

Certified Product Performance.5

Additionally, DOE will consider 

conducting interviews with 

manufacturers to assess the overall 

market for commercial warm air 

furnaces. 

The current standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces are specified for two 

equipment classes which are 

characterized by fuel type—(1) gas-fired 

commercial warm air furnaces with 

capacity of 225,000 Btu per hour or 

more and (2) oil-fired commercial warm 

air furnaces with capacity of 225,000 

Btu per hour or more. As a starting 

point, DOE plans to use the existing 

equipment class structure. However, 

DOE will consider additional equipment 

classes for capacities or other 

performance-related features that 

inherently effect efficiency and justify 

the establishment of a different energy 

conservation standard. For instance, 

DOE may consider adopting equipment 

classes to differentiate between 

weatherized and non-weatherized 

commercial warm air furnaces, or DOE 

might also consider creating an 

equipment class for three-phase 

equipment with an input capacity less 

than 225,000 Btu/h. Each of these 

potential new equipment classes, and 

the rationale therefore, are discussed 

immediately below. 

1. Potential New Product Classes 

a. Weatherized and Non-Weatherized 

Commercial Furnaces 

Based on a preliminary review of the 

commercial furnace market, DOE 

understands that almost all commercial 

warm air furnaces are installed outdoors 

on rooftops, but there is a very small 

segment of the commercial warm air 

furnace market that consists of units 

installed indoors. These indoor 

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25630 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

commercial warm air furnace models 

appear to consist of all the oil-fired 

furnace models on the market and a few 

gas-fired furnace models. One of the 

indoor gas-fired model lines utilizes 

condensing heat exchanger technology 

to achieve a thermal efficiency of 90 

percent. 

Installation location (i.e., indoors or 

outdoors) is significant, because it 

relates to the risk of condensate 

freezing. If the outdoor ambient 

temperature falls below freezing, the 

condensate can freeze and cause a 

backflow of condensate into the 

furnace’s internal components and 

damage them. Although use of 

condensing technology may be possible 

in outdoor weatherized furnaces (see 

section II.B.1 for further discussion), 

condensing, non-weatherized heat 

exchanger technology has been 

demonstrated as technologically feasible 

for indoor applications in both the 

residential and commercial furnace 

markets. Condensing heat exchanger 

technology is easier to employ on nonweatherized furnaces, because they are 

installed indoors and there is little to no 

risk of condensate freezing since the 

appliance will be installed in or 

adjacent to a conditioned space. Even 

indoor furnaces installed in nonconditioned spaces have minimal 

chances of freezing in comparison to 

units that are completely outdoors, 

because they can be insulated from 

outdoor conditions. Thus, if indoor, 

non-weatherized commercial warm air 

furnace units were separated from 

outdoor, weatherized units in a new 

equipment class, there would be the 

potential for additional energy savings 

by utilizing condensing heat exchanger 

technology. Consequently, DOE has 

tentatively concluded that this is a 

performance-related feature that may 

justify separate equipment classes for 

these types of equipment. 

Issue 1: DOE requests comment on the 

potential energy savings in creating a 

separate equipment classes for nonweatherized, indoor commercial warm 

air furnaces and weatherized, outdoor 

commercial warm air furnaces. DOE is 

also interested in learning about existing 

equipment that fall into this potential 

equipment class, as well as the market 

penetration of such equipment. 

b. Three-Phase Equipment With an 

Input Capacity Less Than 225,000 

Btu/h 

EPCA defines a commercial ‘‘warm air 

furnace’’ as ‘‘a self-contained oil- or gasfired furnace designed to supply heated 

air through ducts to spaces that require 

it and includes combination warm air 

furnace/electric air conditioning units 

but does not include unit heaters and 

duct furnaces.’’ (42 U.S.C. 6311(11)(A)) 

DOE notes that EPCA itself does not 

place a limit on the input capacity, 

specify a current phase type (singlephase or three-phase), or include any 

other similar criteria in the statutory 

definition that would restrict the scope 

of commercial warm air furnaces as 

covered equipment. However, when 

promulgating EPCA’s initial energy 

conservation standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces, Congress only 

included energy conservation standards 

for commercial warm air furnaces with 

input ratings of 225,000 Btu/h or more. 

In light of the above, when establishing 

its regulations for commercial warm air 

furnaces in the CFR, DOE reiterated 

EPCA’s definition of a ‘‘warm air 

furnace’’ and further defined a 

‘‘commercial warm air furnace’’ as ‘‘a 

warm air furnace that is industrial 

equipment, and that has a capacity 

(rated maximum input) of 225,000 Btu 

per hour or more’’ at 10 CFR 431.72. 

However, DOE is open to considering 

energy conservation standards for 

commercial warm air furnaces of 

different capacities as part of this 

rulemaking to consider amended 

standards. 

EPCA and the CFR define a 

residential ‘‘furnace’’ as ‘‘a product 

which utilizes only single-phase electric 

current, or single-phase electric current 

or DC current in conjunction with 

natural gas, propane, or home heating 

oil, and which— 

(a) Is designed to be the principal 

heating source for the living space of a 

residence; 

(b) Is not contained within the same 

cabinet with a central air conditioner 

whose rated cooling capacity is above 

65,000 Btu per hour; 

(c) Is an electric central furnace, 

electric boiler, forced-air central 

furnace, gravity central furnace, or low 

pressure steam or hot water boiler; and 

(d) Has a heat input rate of less than 

300,000 Btu per hour for electric boilers 

and low pressure steam or hot water 

boilers and less than 225,000 Btu per 

hour for forced-air central furnaces, 

gravity central furnaces, and electric 

central furnaces, gravity central 

furnaces, and electric central furnaces.’’ 

(42 U.S.C 6291(23); 10 CFR 430.2) 

Currently, DOE has promulgated 

energy conservation standards for 

commercial warm air furnaces (singlephase or three-phase) with an input 

greater than or equal 225,000 Btu/h (10 

CFR 431.77), as well as standards for 

residential (single-phase) furnaces with 

an input less than 225,000 Btu/h (10 

CFR 430.32(e)). Thus, there are 

presently no energy conservation 

standards for commercial three-phase 

warm air furnaces with an input 

capacity less than 225,000 Btu/h. 

Commercial warm air furnaces are 

‘‘ASHRAE equipment,’’ for which EPCA 

requires that DOE maintain efficiency 

standards at the efficiency levels set in 

ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or morestringent levels. (42 U.S.C. 

6313(a)(6)(A)) That is, if ASHRAE 

amends any efficiency level with 

respect to the equipment in ASHRAE 

Standard 90.1, DOE must either adopt 

that efficiency level or determine, with 

the support of clear and convincing 

evidence, that a more-stringent standard 

is warranted. Id. ASHRAE Standard 

90.1–2010 lists efficiency levels for 

three-phase warm air furnaces in Table 

6.8.1E, including for those with an input 

capacity less than 225,000 Btu/h. 

However, ASHRAE sets the efficiency 

level for warm air furnaces with an 

input capacity less than 225,000 Btu/h 

as a choice between 78 percent AFUE or 

80 percent thermal efficiency for units 

that are not covered by DOE’s standards 

for residential furnaces. The 78 percent 

AFUE rating is the current Federal 

efficiency standard for residential 

furnaces, and the 80 percent thermal 

efficiency rating is the current Federal 

efficiency standard for commercial gasfired warm air furnaces. 

Some residential furnace 

manufacturers offer both single-phase 

and three-phase versions of their 

furnaces, which appear (based on a 

review of product literature) to be 

otherwise exactly the same. Based on a 

review of market data, DOE notes that 

these three-phase furnaces are typically 

weatherized (i.e., outdoor) units that 

generally have the same efficiency as 

their single-phase counterpart. In other 

cases, especially for three-phase 

furnaces paired with rooftop airconditioning units with a cooling 

capacity greater than 5 tons, there are no 

single-phase counterparts. However, all 

of these models have a thermal 

efficiency of at least 80 percent, meeting 

or exceeding the current Federal 

efficiency standards for commercial 

warm air furnaces. 

DOE notes that this rulemaking 

presents somewhat unique 

circumstances, namely where ASHRAE 

in the past had acted to adopt standards 

in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for 

commercial warm air furnaces with an 

input capacity less than 225,000 Btu/h 

but DOE did not consider itself triggered 

at that time. The new statutory 6-year 

look-back review provisions for 

ASHRAE equipment (as codified at 42 

U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(C)(i) and (vi)) direct 

DOE to evaluate amended standards, 

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 25631 

assuming that DOE has already been 

triggered and set a standard at a level no 

less than the ASHRAE level for the 

equipment in question. In this case, if 

DOE does not find that clear and 

convincing evidence exists to support 

adoption of a more-stringent standard, 

DOE will adopt one of the standard 

levels in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 as the 

Federal standard (AFUE or thermal 

efficiency). 

Issue 2: DOE requests comment on the 

need to establish an equipment class for 

three-phase commercial warm air 

furnaces with an input capacity less 

than 225,000 Btu/h and the potential 

energy savings that could be achieved 

from creating such an equipment class. 

Issue 3: DOE also requests comment 

on whether AFUE or thermal efficiency 

is an appropriate efficiency metric for 

three-phase commercial warm air 

furnaces with an input capacity less 

than 225,000 Btu/h. 

B. Engineering Analysis 

The engineering analysis estimates 

the cost-efficiency relationship of 

equipment at different levels of 

increased energy efficiency. This 

relationship serves as the basis for the 

cost-benefit calculations for commercial 

customers, manufacturers, and the 

Nation. In determining the costefficiency relationship, DOE will 

estimate the increase in manufacturer 

cost associated with increasing the 

efficiency of equipment above the 

baseline at various efficiency levels up 

to the maximum technologically feasible 

(‘‘max-tech’’) efficiency level for each 

equipment class. The baseline model is 

used as a reference point for each 

equipment class in the engineering 

analysis and the life-cycle cost and 

payback-period analyses. Typically, 

DOE would consider equipment that 

just meets the minimum energy 

conservation standard as baseline 

equipment. The vast majority of 

commercial warm air furnaces on the 

market achieve thermal efficiency 

ratings between 80 percent (the 

minimum efficiency standard) and 82 

percent, inclusively, with two model 

lines achieving a thermal efficiency 

rating of 90 percent. In this engineering 

analysis, DOE is planning on analyzing 

the technology options and cost for 

equipment at 80 percent, 82 percent, 

and 90 percent thermal efficiencies. 

Issue 4: DOE requests information on 

max-tech efficiency levels achievable in 

the current market. 

Issue 5: DOE requests feedback on its 

proposed efficiency levels for analysis. 

Issue 6: DOE requests information 

regarding the technology differences 

between commercial furnaces at 80 

percent thermal efficiency ratings and 

more-efficient commercial furnaces. 

In order to determine the costefficiency relationship, DOE anticipates 

drawing upon a variety of resources. 

DOE will use knowledge gained from 

previous rulemakings for similar 

equipment and consult manufacturers, 

technical experts, and product literature 

to estimate the cost of equipment with 

increased efficiency. DOE may also use 

reverse-engineering (or cost-assessment) 

techniques that include teardown 

analysis to assist in determining the 

cost-efficiency relationship. A teardown 

analysis (or ‘‘physical teardown’’) 

determines the production cost of a 

piece of equipment by disassembling 

the equipment ‘‘piece-by-piece’’ and 

estimating the material and labor cost of 

each component. The information from 

teardowns is then inputted into a cost 

model which fully accounts for labor, 

material, overhead, and depreciation to 

develop an estimate of the total 

manufacturer production cost (MPC). A 

supplementary method called a catalog 

teardown (or ‘‘virtual teardown’’) uses 

published manufacturer catalogs and 

supplementary component data to 

estimate the major physical differences 

between a piece of equipment that has 

been physically disassembled and 

another piece of similar equipment. 

These two methods could be used 

individually or in combination to help 

DOE determine the cost-efficiency 

relationship for commercial warm air 

furnaces. If DOE finds that sufficient 

information exists, based on previous 

analyses of similar products and in 

manufacturer literature and information, 

to estimate the costs using virtual 

teardowns in lieu of physical 

teardowns, DOE may choose to use only 

virtual teardowns, an approach which 

would yield the necessary information 

while saving time and resources. 

Issue 7: DOE requests feedback on the 

possible approaches identified for the 

engineering analysis and on what the 

appropriate representative capacities 

and characteristics would be for each 

equipment class. 

1. Condensing Weatherized Commercial 

Warm Air Furnaces 

As briefly discussed in section II.A.1.a 

above, furnaces that utilize condensing 

heat exchanger technology extract more 

useable heat from the flue gas via a 

secondary heat exchanger. This extra 

heat extraction can cause water vapor to 

condense from the gas, hence the term 

‘‘condensing furnace.’’ This technology 

has not become established in the 

commercial warm air furnace market 

because of challenges associated with 

removing acidic condensate from units 

installed outdoors, which is the majority 

of the commercial warm air furnace 

market. When the outdoor ambient 

temperature falls below freezing, the 

condensate leaving the drain pipe can 

freeze and cause a backflow of 

condensate into the furnace’s internal 

components which can permanently 

damage the furnace, creating reliability 

issues. If the furnace becomes disabled 

while the outdoor ambient temperatures 

are below freezing and if the furnace is 

not repaired or replaced in a timely 

fashion, there could be a danger to 

building occupants due to exposure to 

low temperatures. Also, because this 

condensate is acidic, it may need to be 

treated with a neutralizer before 

discharging it into a sewer system, 

according to some local codes. 

In researching the potential for 

rooftop condensate disposal methods, 

DOE identified two patents from major 

manufacturers that provided methods 

for condensate disposal in outdoor 

furnaces. DOE is also aware of one 

manufacturer that markets a dedicated 

outdoor air system with an optional 

heating section that utilizes a 

condensing heat exchanger to achieve a 

thermal efficiency over 90 percent, and 

which drains the condensate into the 

heated building space to prevent 

condensate freezing. The manufacturer 

also recommends completely draining 

the condensate drain system and 

secondary heat exchanger or applying 

heat tape to the drain system in order to 

prevent condensate freezing. DOE 

tentatively plans to examine condensing 

heat exchangers as a viable technology 

option for improving the thermal 

efficiency of commercial furnaces and 

analyze it as part of the engineering 

analysis. 

Issue 8: DOE requests comment on the 

feasibility of using condensing heat 

exchanger technology in weatherized 

commercial warm air furnaces. DOE is 

also interested in comments on issues 

related to implementing identified 

condensing heat exchanger technologies 

in outdoor warm air furnaces, as well as 

costs associated with implementing a 

condensate drain into the building’s 

space. 

C. Markups Analysis 

To carry out the life-cycle cost (LCC) 

and payback period (PBP) calculations, 

DOE needs to determine the cost to the 

commercial customer of baseline 

equipment that satisfies the currently 

applicable standards, and the cost of the 

more-efficient unit the customer would 

purchase under potential amended 

standards. This is done by applying a 

markup multiplier to the manufacturer’s 

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25632 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

6Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration 

Distributors International 2012 Profit Report 

(Available at: http://www.hardinet.org/ProfitReport) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

7Air Conditioning Contractors of America 

(ACCA), Financial Analysis for the HVACR 

Contracting Industry: 2005 (2005) (Available at: 

https://http://www.acca.org/store/product.php?

pid=142) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

8U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Economic Census 

Data (2007) (Available at: http://www.census.gov/ 

econ/) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

9Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2003 

Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey 

(CBECS) (Available at: http://www.eia.gov/ 

consumption/commercial/) (Last accessed April 10, 

2013). 

10For more information on NEMS, refer to the 

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information 

Administration (EIA) documentation. A useful 

summary is National Energy Modeling System: An 

Overview 2003, DOE/EIA–0581(2003). Each year, 

EIA uses NEMS to produce an energy forecast for 

the United States, the Annual Energy Outlook 

(AEO). For this analysis, DOE intends to use the 

version of NEMS based on AEO 2013 (Available at: 

http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/). 

11 DOE plans to utilize the building types defined 

in CBECS 2003. Definitions of CBECS building 

types can be found at http://www.eia.gov/emeu/

cbecs/building_types.html. 

selling price to estimate the commercial 

customer’s price. 

DOE intends to characterize several 

types of distribution channels to 

describe how the equipment passes 

from the manufacturer to the customer. 

The first distribution channel is 

characterized as follows: 

Manufacturer ‰ Wholesaler ‰ 

Mechanical contractor ‰ General 

contractor ‰ Consumer 

In the second distribution channel, 

the manufacturer sells the equipment 

directly to the customer through a 

national account, which is characterized 

as follows: 

Manufacturer ‰ Consumer 

In addition, DOE plans to consider 

cases when the contractor’s sale of the 

equipment includes a start-up/check-out 

contract, in which cases the equipment 

markup is included in the contract 

costs. 

Issue 9: DOE seeks input from 

stakeholders on whether the 

distribution channels described above 

are relevant for commercial warm air 

furnaces. 

Issue 10: DOE seeks input on the 

percentage of equipment being 

distributed through the various types of 

distribution channels, and whether the 

share of equipment through each 

channel varies based on equipment 

capacity. 

To develop markups for the parties 

involved in the distribution of the 

equipment, DOE utilized several sources 

including: (1) The Heating, AirConditioning & Refrigeration 

Distributors International (HARDI) 2012 

Profit Report6 to develop wholesaler 

markups, (2) the 2005 Air Conditioning 

Contractors of America’s (ACCA) 

financial analysis for the heating, 

ventilation, air-conditioning, and 

refrigeration (HVACR) contracting 

industry 7 to develop mechanical 

contractor markups, and (3) U.S. Census 

Bureau’s 2007 Economic Census data 8

for the commercial and institutional 

building construction industry to 

develop general contractor markups. 

Issue 11: DOE seeks recent data to 

establish the markups for the parties 

involved with the distribution of the 

equipment. 

D. Energy Use Analysis 

The purpose of the energy use 

analysis is to assess the energy 

requirements of equipment at different 

efficiencies in several building types 

that utilize the equipment. DOE intends 

to base the energy use analysis for the 

current effort on building simulation 

data or bin method. The building 

simulation will include building 

operation hourly profiles, which are 

based on building characteristics from 

the Energy Information Administration’s 

2003 Commercial Building Energy 

Consumption Survey (CBECS) 9 for the 

subset that uses the type of equipment 

covered by the standards. Each building 

will be assigned to a specific location, 

and the approach will capture 

variability in heating loads due to 

factors such as building activity, 

schedule, occupancy, local weather, and 

shell characteristics. 

CBECS 2012 is currently in 

development but will not be available in 

time for this rulemaking. In addition, 

the 2003 CBECS sample may not 

include examples of recent innovations 

in building shell or window 

technologies that reduce cooling loads. 

Therefore, DOE intends on reviewing 

other data sets (e.g., the technology 

penetration curves used in the latest 

National Energy Modeling System 

(NEMS) 10), to determine whether a 

significant fraction of the current 

building population is not represented 

by CBECS 2003. 

Issue 12: DOE requests comment or 

seeks input from stakeholders on the 

overall method to determine the 

equipment load profiles; 

Issue 13: DOE requests comment or 

seeks input from stakeholders on the 

current distribution of equipment 

efficiencies in the building population; 

Issue 14: DOE requests comment or 

seeks input from stakeholders on how 

equipment energy use for a given 

heating load shape scales as a function 

of capacity (i.e., whether two 

commercial furnace units of a certain 

capacity use the same total heating 

energy as one commercial furnace unit 

of twice the capacity) 

Issue 15: DOE requests comment or 

seeks input from stakeholders on 

whether building simulations developed 

for small and large commercial furnace 

equipment are applicable to very large 

equipment, and 

Issue 16: DOE requests comment on 

the fraction of commercial warm air 

furnaces which are used in residential 

applications such as residential multifamily buildings as well as the fraction 

of residential furnaces that are used for 

commercial applications. 

E. Life-Cycle Cost and Payback Period 

Analysis 

The purpose of the LCC and PBP 

analysis is to analyze the effects of 

potential amended energy conservation 

standards on customers of commercial 

furnace equipment by determining how 

a potential amended standard affects 

their operating expenses (usually 

decreased) and their total installed costs 

(usually increased). 

DOE intends to analyze the potential 

for variability and uncertainty by 

performing the LCC and PBP 

calculations on a representative sample 

of individual commercial buildings. 

DOE plans to utilize the sample of 

buildings developed for the energy use 

analysis 11 and the corresponding 

simulations results. Within a given 

building, one or more commercial 

furnace units may serve the building’s 

space-conditioning needs, depending on 

the heating load requirements of the 

building. As a result, the Department 

intends to express the LCC and PBP 

results as the number of commercial 

furnace customers experiencing 

economic impacts of different 

magnitudes. DOE plans to model both 

the uncertainty and the variability in the 

inputs to the LCC and PBP analysis 

using Monte Carlo simulation and 

probability distributions. As a result, the 

LCC and PBP results will be displayed 

as distributions of impacts compared to 

the base case conditions. 

Issue 17: DOE requests comment from 

stakeholders on the overall method that 

it intends on using to conduct the LCC 

and PBP analysis for commercial warm 

air furnaces. 

Inputs to the LCC and PBP analysis 

are categorized as: (1) Inputs for 

establishing the purchase expense, 

otherwise known as the total installed 

cost, and (2) inputs for calculating the 

operating expense. 

The primary inputs for establishing 

the total installed cost are the baseline 

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12RS Means, 2013 Mechanical Cost Data 

(Available at: http://rsmeans.reedconstructiondata.

com/60023.aspx) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

13Energy Information Administration (EIA), 

Survey form EIA–861—Annual Electric Power 

Industry Report (Available at: http://www.eia.gov/

electricity/data/eia861/index.html) (Last accessed 

April 15, 2013). 

14Energy Information Administration (EIA), 

Natural Gas Navigator (Available at: http://tonto.

eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_nus_m.htm) 

(Last accessed April 15, 2013). 

15Energy Information Administration (EIA), State 

Energy Data System (SEDS) (Available at: http:// 

www.eia.gov/state/seds/) (Last accessed April 15, 

2013). 

16Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2013 

Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) Full Version 

(Available at: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/) 

(Last accessed April 15, 2013). 

17RS Means, 2013 Facilities Maintenance & 

Repair Cost Data (Available at: http://rsmeans.reed

constructiondata.com/60303.aspx) (Last accessed 

April 10, 2013). 

18American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and 

Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), 

ASHRAE Handbook of HVAC Systems and 

Equipment (2008) p. 32.8. 

19This organization has subsequently become the 

Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration 

Institute (AHRI). 

20Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 

Screening Analysis for EPACT-Covered Commercial 

HVAC and Water-Heating Equipment (April 2000) 

Continued 

customer price, standard-level customer 

price increases, and installation costs. 

Baseline customer prices and standardlevel customer price increases will be 

determined by applying markups to 

manufacturer price estimates. The 

installation cost is added to the 

customer price to arrive at a total 

installed cost. DOE intends to develop 

installation costs for commercial warm 

air furnaces using the most recent RS 

Means data available. 

Issue 18: DOE seeks input on the 

approach and data sources it intends to 

use to develop installation costs, 

specifically, its intention to use the most 

recent RS Means Mechanical Cost 

Data.12

The primary inputs for calculating the 

operating costs are equipment energy 

consumption and power demand, 

equipment efficiency, electricity prices 

and forecasts, maintenance and repair 

costs, equipment lifetime, and discount 

rates. Both equipment lifetime and 

discount rates are used to calculate the 

present value of future operating 

expenses. 

The equipment energy consumption 

is the site energy use associated with 

providing space-heating to the building. 

DOE intends to utilize calculation 

methodology to establish equipment 

energy use. 

DOE intends to determine gas, oil, 

and electricity prices based on recent or 

current tariffs from a representative 

sample of utilities, as well as historical 

State commercial energy price data from 

the Energy Information Administration 

(EIA). This approach calculates energy 

expenses based on actual energy prices 

that customers are paying in different 

geographical areas of the country. In 

addition to using tariffs, DOE plans to 

use data provided in EIA’s Form 861 

data 13 to calculate commercial 

electricity prices, EIA’s Natural Gas 

Navigator 14 to calculate commercial 

natural gas prices, and EIA’s State 

Energy Data System (SEDS) 15 to 

calculate liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 

and fuel oil prices. Future energy prices 

will likely be projected using trends 

from the EIA’s 2013 Annual Energy 

Outlook (AEO).16

Issue 19: DOE seeks comment on its 

approach for developing energy prices. 

DOE seeks input on specific data 

sources available for collecting tariffs. 

Maintenance costs are expenses 

associated with ensuring continued 

operation of the covered equipment over 

time. DOE intends to develop 

maintenance costs for its analysis using 

the most recent RS Means data 

available. DOE plans also to consider 

the cases when the equipment is 

covered by service and/or maintenance 

agreements. 

Issue 20: DOE seeks input on the 

approach and data sources it intends to 

use to develop maintenance costs, 

specifically, its intention to use the most 

recent RS Means Facilities Maintenance 

& Repair Cost Data,17 as well as to 

consider the cost of service and/or 

maintenance agreements. 

Repair costs are expenses associated 

with repairing or replacing components 

of the covered equipment that have 

failed. DOE intends to assess whether 

repair costs vary with equipment 

efficiency as part of its analysis. 

Issue 21: DOE seeks comment as to 

whether repair costs vary as a function 

of equipment efficiency. DOE also 

requests any data or information on 

developing repair costs. 

Equipment lifetime is the age at 

which a unit of covered equipment is 

retired from service. The average 

equipment lifetime for commercial 

warm air furnaces is estimated by 

ASHRAE to be between 15 and 20 

years.18 Based on these data, DOE plans 

to use a 17.5 average lifetime for 

commercial warm air furnaces as the 

primary input for developing a Weibull 

probability distribution to characterize 

commercial warm air furnace lifetime. 

Issue 22: DOE seeks comment on its 

approach of using a Weibull probability 

distribution to characterize equipment 

lifetime. DOE also requests any 

equipment lifetime data or information 

and whether equipment lifetime varies 

based on equipment class. 

The discount rate is the rate at which 

future expenditures are discounted to 

establish their present value. DOE 

intends to derive the discount rates by 

estimating the cost of capital of 

companies that purchase commercial 

furnace equipment. 

DOE measures LCC and PBP impacts 

of potential standard levels relative to a 

base case that reflects the likely market 

in the absence of amended standards. 

DOE plans to develop market-share 

efficiency data (i.e., the distribution of 

equipment shipments by efficiency) for 

the equipment classes DOE is 

considering, for the year in which 

compliance with any amended 

standards would be required. 

DOE also plans to assess the 

applicability of the ‘‘rebound effect’’ in 

the energy use analysis for commercial 

warm air furnaces. A rebound effect 

occurs when a piece of equipment that 

is made more efficient is used more 

intensively, so that the expected energy 

savings from the efficiency 

improvement may not fully materialize. 

However, at this time, DOE is not aware 

of any information about the rebound 

effect for this equipment type. 

Issue 23: DOE requests data on 

current efficiency market shares (of 

shipments) by equipment class, and also 

similar historic data. In particular, DOE 

seeks efficiency data for very large 

equipment. 

Issue 24: DOE also requests 

information on expected trends in 

efficiency for commercial warm air 

furnaces over the next five years. 

Issue 25: DOE seeks comments and 

data on the rebound effect that may be 

associated with more-efficient 

commercial warm air furnaces. 

F. Shipment Analysis 

DOE uses shipment projections by 

equipment class to calculate the 

national impacts of standards on energy 

consumption, net present value (NPV), 

and future manufacturer cash flows. 

DOE intends to develop a shipments 

model for commercial warm air furnace 

equipment driven by historical 

shipments data. The accuracy of the 

shipments model is highly dependent 

on these historical shipments data, as 

the data are used not only to build up 

an equipment stock but also to calibrate 

the shipments model. If no shipments 

data are available, DOE plans to 

consider using 1994 shipments data 

from the Gas Appliance Manufacturers 

Association 19 (GAMA) (i.e., 164,300 

commercial warm air gas-fired furnace 

shipments),20 and applying a trend 

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25634 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 85 / Thursday, May 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules 

(Available at: http://www.pnl.gov/main/

publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL13232.pdf) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

21U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2011, Table No 933—Construction 

Contracts—Value of Construction and Floor Space 

of Buildings by Class of Construction (Available at: 

https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/

cats/construction_housing/construction_indices_

and_value.html) (Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

22Building Owners and Managers Association 

International (BOMA). Experience Exchange Report 

(2013) (Available at: https://www.bomaeer.com/) 

(Last accessed April 10, 2013). 

23U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 

Statistics. Producers Price Index: Industry: 

Refrigeration and Heating Equipment (Available at: 

http://www.bls.gov/ppi/home.htm) (Last accessed 

April 10, 2013). 

based on estimated historical 

commercial warm air furnace stock 

derived from CBECS data. 

Issue 26: DOE seeks historical 

shipments data for commercial warm air 

furnaces. 

The shipments model will consider 

three market segments: (1) New 

commercial buildings acquiring 

equipment; (2) existing buildings 

replacing old equipment; and (3) 

existing buildings acquiring new 

equipment for the first time. Two stock 

categories are also considered: (1) 

equipment that has received only 

normal maintenance repairs; and (2) 

equipment that has had its useful life 

extended through additional repairs. To 

determine whether a customer would 

choose to repair rather than replace 

their commercial furnace equipment, 

the shipments model explicitly accounts 

for the combined effects of changes in 

purchase price, annual operating cost, 

and the value of commercial floor space 

on the purchase versus repair decision. 

Changes to the purchase price and 

operating costs due to amended energy 

conservation standards were the drivers 

for shipment estimates for the standards 

cases relative to the base case (i.e., the 

case without amended standards). 

Issue 27: DOE requests comment on 

the approach it intends on using to 

develop the shipments model and 

shipments forecasts for this rulemaking. 

DOE intends to utilize the U.S. 

Census Bureau data 21 to establish 

historical new construction floor space, 

as well as historical stock floor space. 

The Annual Energy Outlook will be 

used to forecast both new construction 

and stock floor space. Together with 

historical equipment saturation data 

from CBECS, DOE will estimate 

shipments to the three market segments 

identified above. The utility function to 

estimate the repair versus replacement 

decision will be based on income per 

square foot data from the Building 

Owners and Managers Association 

(BOMA) Commercial Building Survey 

reports,22 purchase price data estimated 

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics,23

and operating cost data derived from the 

LCC and PBP analysis. 

Issue 28: DOE seeks input on the 

approach and data sources it intends to 

use in developing the shipments model 

and shipments forecasts for this 

analysis. 

G. National Impact Analysis 

The purpose of the national impact 

analysis (NIA) is to estimate aggregate 

impacts of potential energy conservation 

standards at the national level. Impacts 

that DOE reports include the national 

energy savings (NES) from potential 

standards and the net present value 

(NPV) of the total consumer benefits. 

To develop the NES, DOE calculates 

annual energy consumption for the base 

case and the standards cases. DOE 

calculates the annual energy 

consumption using per-unit annual 

energy use data multiplied by projected 

shipments. 

To develop the national NPV of 

consumer benefits from potential energy 

conservation standards, DOE calculates 

annual energy expenditures and annual 

equipment expenditures for the base 

case and the standards cases. DOE 

calculates annual energy expenditures 

from annual energy consumption by 

incorporating forecasted energy prices, 

using shipment projections and average 

energy efficiency projections. DOE 

calculates annual equipment 

expenditures by multiplying the price 

per unit times the projected shipments. 

The difference each year between 

energy bill savings and increased 

equipment expenditures is the net 

savings or net costs. 

A key component of DOE’s estimates 

of NES and NPV are the equipment 

energy efficiencies forecasted over time 

for the base case and for each of the 

standards cases. To develop the various 

standards cases, DOE plans to develop 

market-share efficiency data (i.e., data 

on the distribution of equipment 

shipments by efficiency) for the 

commercial furnace equipment classes 

DOE is considering. To estimate the 

impact that amended energy 

conservation standards may have in the 

year compliance becomes required, DOE 

has used ‘‘roll-up’’ and/or ‘‘shift’’ 

scenarios in its standards rulemakings. 

Under the ‘‘roll-up’’ scenario, DOE 

assumes: (1) Equipment efficiencies in 

the base case that do not meet the new 

or amended standard level under 

consideration would ‘‘roll up’’ to meet 

that standard level; and (2) equipment 

shipments at efficiencies above the 

standard level under consideration 

would not be affected. Under the ‘‘shift’’ 

scenario, DOE retains the pattern of the 

base-case efficiency distribution but reorients the distribution at and above the 

new or amended minimum energy 

conservation standard. After DOE 

establishes the average efficiency for the 

assumed compliance date of a standard, 

it can estimate future efficiency by using 

the same rate of projected efficiency 

growth as for the base-case efficiency 

trend. 

DOE intends to determine whether 

there is a rebound effect associated with 

more efficient commercial furnaces. If 

data indicate that there is a rebound 

effect, DOE will account for the rebound 

effect in its calculation of NES. 

DOE has historically presented NES 

in terms of primary energy savings. On 

August 18, 2011, DOE published a final 

statement of policy in the Federal 

Register announcing its intention to use 

full-fuel-cycle (FFC) measures of energy 

use and greenhouse gas and other 

emissions in the national impact 

analyses and emissions analyses 

included in future energy conservation 

standards rulemakings. 76 FR 51281. 

While DOE stated in that notice that it 

intended to use the Greenhouse Gases, 

Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in 

Transportation (GREET) model to 

conduct the analysis, it also said it 

would review alternative methods, 

including the use of NEMS. After 

evaluating both models and the 

approaches discussed in the August 18, 

2011 notice, DOE published an 

amended statement of policy, 

articulating its determination that 

NEMS is a more appropriate tool for this 

purpose. 77 FR 49701 (Aug. 17, 2012). 

Therefore, DOE intends to use the 

NEMS model to conduct FFC analyses. 

The method used to derive the FFC 

multipliers will be described in the 

technical support document (TSD). 

Issue 29: In addition to historical 

efficiency data, DOE also requests 

information on expected trends in 

efficiency of commercial warm air 

furnaces over the long run. 

Issue 30: DOE requests comment on 

whether it should pursue a roll-up or 

shift approach for potential commercial 

warm air furnace standards in the 

national impact analysis. 

III. Public Participation 

DOE invites all interested parties to 

submit in writing by June 3, 2013, 

comments and information on matters 

addressed in this notice and on any 

other matters relevant to DOE’s 

consideration of potential amended 

energy conservation standards for 

commercial warm air furnaces. 

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1See Rulemaking Priorities for 2012, Agenda Doc. 

12–40 (May 24, 2012), http://www.fec.gov/agenda/ 

2012/mtgdoc_1240.pdf. 

After the close of the comment period, 

DOE will begin collecting data, 

conducting the analyses, and reviewing 

the public comments. These actions will 

be taken to aid in the development of a 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) 

for commercial warm air furnaces, if 

DOE determines that the statutory 

criteria have been met for amended 

energy conservation standards for such 

equipment. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number and/or RIN for this 

rulemaking. No telefacsimilies (faxes) 

will be accepted. 

Docket: The docket is available for 

review at www.regulations.gov, 

including Federal Register notices, 

public meeting attendees’ lists and 

transcripts, comments, and other 

supporting documents/materials. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the www.regulations.gov index. 

However, not all documents listed in 

the index may be publicly available, 

such as information that is exempt from 

public disclosure. 

A link to the docket Web page can be 

found at: http://www.regulations.gov/#

!docketDetail;D=EERE-2013-BT-STD0021. This Web page contains a link to 

the docket for this notice on the 

www.regulations.gov Web site. The 

www.regulations.gov Web page contains 

simple instructions on how to access all 

documents, including public comments, 

in the docket. 

For information on how to submit a 

comment, review other public 

comments and the docket, or participate 

in the public meeting, contact Ms. 

Brenda Edwards at (202) 586–2945 or by 

email: Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

DOE considers public participation to 

be a very important part of the process 

for amending energy conservation 

standards. DOE actively encourages the 

participation and interaction of the 

public during the comment period in 

each stage of the rulemaking process. 

Interactions with and between members 

of the public provide a balanced 

discussion of the issues and assist DOE 

in the rulemaking process. Anyone who 

wishes to be added to the DOE mailing 

list to receive future notices and 

information about this rulemaking 

should contact Ms. Brenda Edwards at 

(202) 586–2945, or via email at 

Brenda.Edwards@ee.doe.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 26, 

2013. 

Kathleen B. Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2013–10388 Filed 5–1–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

11 CFR Chapter I 

[Notice 2013–07] 

Technological Modernization 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission requests comments on 

whether to begin a rulemaking to revise 

its regulations in 11 CFR chapter I to 

address contributions and expenditures 

made by electronic means, such as by 

credit card, debit card, Internet-based 

payment processing, and text 

messaging; to eliminate or update 

references to outdated technologies; and 

similar issues. The Commission intends 

to review the comments received as it 

decides what revisions, if any, it will 

propose making to its rules. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before June 3, 2013. The Commission 

will determine at a later date whether to 

hold a public hearing on this Notice. If 

a hearing is to be held, the Commission 

will publish a notice in the Federal 

Register announcing the date and time 

of the hearing. 

ADDRESSES: All comments must be in 

writing. Comments may be submitted 

electronically via the Commission’s 

Web site at http://www.fec.gov/fosers, 

reference REG 2013–01. Commenters are 

encouraged to submit comments 

electronically to ensure timely receipt 

and consideration. Alternatively, 

comments may be submitted in paper 

form. Paper comments must be sent to 

the Federal Election Commission, Attn.: 

Amy L. Rothstein, Assistant General 

Counsel, 999 E Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20463. All comments 

must include the full name and postal 

service address of a commenter, and of 

each commenter if filed jointly, or they 

will not be considered. The Commission 

will post comments on its Web site at 

the conclusion of the comment period. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Amy L. Rothstein, Assistant General 

Counsel, or Ms. Jessica Selinkoff, 

Attorney, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694–1650 

or (800) 424–9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Election Commission is 

publishing this Advance Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking to obtain 

comments on whether to revise its 

regulations at 11 CFR chapter I to 

address electronic transactions. 

Specifically, the Commission is 

considering whether to update its 

regulations to reflect electronic 

transactions, such as those made by 

debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, 

Internet-based payment processing, and 

online banking.1 Such a rulemaking 

could address the receipt, deposit, 

accounting, recordkeeping, reporting, 

redesignation, and reattribution of 

electronic transactions, as well as 

matching funds, conduit activity, and 

contributions by text message. The 

Commission is also considering whether 

to revise its regulations by eliminating 

or updating references to outmoded 

technologies such as telegrams and fax 

machines. 

As a general matter, the Commission 

seeks to ensure that the regulated 

community is able to take advantage of 

evolving technological innovations, 

while ensuring that the use of the 

technology is consistent with the 

Federal Election Campaign Act, 2 U.S.C. 

431 et seq., as amended, (‘‘the Act’’) as 

well as the Presidential Election 

Campaign Fund Act, 26 U.S.C. 9001 et 

seq., and the Presidential Primary 

Matching Payment Account Act, 26 

U.S.C. 9031 et seq. (collectively, 

‘‘Chapters 95 and 96 of Title 26’’). More 

specifically, here the Commission 

invites comments on whether and how 

it should update its regulations to take 

into account electronic transactions in a 

manner that provides sufficient 

guidance to the regulated community 

while reducing the need for serial 

revisions to reflect new and emerging 

technologies. Should regulations 

identify specific, approved means of 

engaging in electronic transactions? Or 

should regulations provide only general 

standards or criteria? Would the latter 

approach increase the risk of corruption, 

abuse, or circumvention of the Act, or 

Chapters 95 and 96 of Title 26, that may 

not be present with a bright-line rule 

that is less technologically flexible? 

1. Updating Outmoded Regulations 

The Commission is considering 

whether it should update its regulations 

to reflect recent technological advances. 

For example, certain regulations refer to 

technologies that are obsolete or seldom 

used today, such as a ‘‘telegram’’ (11 

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