6A-i

APPENDIX 6A. DATA FOR EQUIPMENT PRICE MARKUPS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

6A.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 6A-1

6A.2 DETAILED WHOLESALER COST DATA ............................................................... 6A-1

6A.3 DETAILED MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR DATA ............................................... 6A-2

6A.4 ESTIMATION OF WHOLESALER AND MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR 

MARKUP STANDARD DEVIATIONS ..................................................................... 6A-3

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 6A-6

LIST OF TABLES

Table 6A.2.1 Disaggregated Costs and Expenses for Wholesalers* ........................................ 6A-1

Table 6A.3.1 Mechanical Contractor Expenses and Markups Used To Scale the Incremental 

Markups* .......................................................................................................... 6A-2

Table 6A.4.1 Mechanical Contractor Baseline Markups by State, 2007* ................................ 6A-3
6A-1

APPENDIX 6A. DATA FOR EQUIPMENT PRICE MARKUPS

6A.1 INTRODUCTION

This appendix provides further details on information presented in chapter 6, Markups for 

Equipment Price Determination.

6A.2 DETAILED WHOLESALER COST DATA

Chapter 6 presents wholesaler revenues and costs in aggregated form, based on the 

Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) 2010 Profit Report 

(2009 Data). Table 6A.2.1 provides the complete breakdown of costs and expenses from the 

2010 Profit Report (2009 Data). The column labeled “Scaling” indicates which expenses were 

assumed to scale with only the baseline markup and which were assumed to scale with both the 

baseline and the incremental markups. As described in chapter 6, only those expenses that scale 

with baseline and incremental costs are marked up when there is an incremental change in 

equipment costs.

Table 6A.2.1 Disaggregated Costs and Expenses for Wholesalers* 

Item Percent of Revenue Scaling

Cost of Goods Sold 73.4%

Gross Margin 26.6%

Payroll Expenses 16.1% Baseline

Executive Salaries & Bonuses 1.7%

Branch Manager Salaries and Commissions 1.4%

Sales Executive Salaries & Commissions 0.5%

Outside Sales Salaries & Commissions 2.2%

Inside/Counter Sales/Wages 2.9%

Purchasing Salaries/Wages 0.5%

Credit Salaries/Wages 0.2%

IT Salaries/Wages 0.2%

Warehouse Salaries/Wages 1.5%

Accounting 0.5%

Delivery Salaries/Wages 0.9%

All Other Salaries/Wages & Bonuses 0.9%

Payroll Taxes 1.1%

Group Insurance 1.2%

Benefit Plans 0.4%

Occupancy Expenses 3.8% Baseline

Utilities: Heat, Light, Power, Water 0.4%

Telephone 0.3%

Building Repairs & Maintenance 0.2%

Rent or Ownership in Real Estate 2.9%

Other Operating Expenses 5.4% Baseline & 

Advertising & Promotion 0.7% Incremental

Insurance (business liability & casualty) 0.2%

Depreciation 0.4%

Vehicle Expenses 1.4%

Personal Property Taxes/Licenses 0.1%

Collection Exp (collection, credit card fees) 0.3%

Bad Debt Losses 0.3%

All Other Operating Expenses 2.0%
6A-2

Table 6A.2.1 (cont)* 

Item Percent of Revenue Scaling

Total Operating Expenses 25.3%

Operating Profit 1.3% Baseline & 

Other Income 0.5% Incremental 

Interest Expense 0.6%

Other Non-operating Expenses 0.0%

Profit Before Taxes 1.2%

Source: Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. 2010 Profit Report (2009 Data). 2010. Columbus, OH.

*Wholesaler costs and expenses are percentage values as opposed to the per dollar of sales revenue values shown in chapter 6. 

6A.3 DETAILED MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR DATA

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) uses mechanical contractor data in construction 

of distribution chains, in this case as a proxy for local or regional dealers. Based on input 

received at the Framework public meeting, DOE recognizes that customers frequently rely on 

third parties (e.g., dealers or contractors) for installation and repair work because customers rely 

on the equipment and cannot be in a situation where their equipment is not operating,1 though 

mechanical contractors, specifically, are not commonly used. Thus, DOE has retained the 

contractor channel as a proxy for the three-step chain. In the preliminary technical support 

document executive summary, DOE requests additional data from stakeholders concerning 

appropriate markups for the third step of the contractor channel. 

Chapter 6 presents mechanical contractor revenues and costs in aggregated form, based 

on U.S. Census Bureau data. Table 6A.3.1 shows the complete breakdown of costs and expenses 

provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The column labeled “Scaling” indicates which expenses 

were assumed to scale with only the baseline markup and which were assumed to scale with both 

the baseline and incremental markups. As described in chapter 6, only those expenses that scale 

with baseline and incremental costs are marked up when there is an incremental change in 

equipment costs. 

Table 6A.3.1 Mechanical Contractor Expenses and Markups Used To Scale the 

Incremental Markups*

Item Dollar Value Percentage Scaling

Total Cost of Equipment Sales $107,144,428 67.80%

Baseline

Cost of materials, components, and supplies $59,023,964 37.35%

Payroll, construction workers $31,373,558 19.85%

Cost of construction work subcontracted out to 

others 13,646,192 8.64%

Cost of selected power, fuels, and lubricants $3,100,714 1.96%

Gross Margin $50,895,129 32.20%

Payroll Expenses $27,626,376 17.48%

Fringe benefits, all employees $13,585,040 8.60% Baseline

Payroll, other employees $14,041,336 8.89%

Occupancy Expenses

Rental cost for machinery, equipment, and 

buildings; cost of repairs to machinery and 

equipment; purchased communication services

$3,436,208 2.17% Baseline
6A-3

Table 6A.3.1 (cont)

Item Dollar Value Percentage Scaling

Other Operating Expenses $6,165,776 3.90% Baseline & 

Incremental

Depreciation charges during year $2,297,550 1.50%

Computers; insurance and other business services; 

advertising and promotions; taxes and license fees $3,868,226 2.40%

Net Profit Before Income Taxes $13,666,769 8.60% Baseline & 

Incremental

Source: U.S. Census Bureau. 2007 Economic Census, Release Date: 8/14/2009, Sector 23: EC0723I1: Construction: 

Industry Series: Preliminary Detailed Statistics for Establishments: 2007. (Last accessed, March 8, 2011.)

< http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IBQTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=&-ds_name=EC0723I1&-_lang=en> 

*Mechanical contractor costs and expenses are first presented as total dollar values and then converted to percentage 

values. This is in contrast to per dollar of sales revenue values shown in chapter 6.

6A.4 ESTIMATION OF WHOLESALER AND MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR 

MARKUP STANDARD DEVIATIONS

DOE used the U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Census data to estimate automatic

commercial ice making equipment mechanical contractor markup distributions. The most recent 

census was performed in 2007. In the case of mechanical contractors, the 2007 census data 

included state-level plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning data for total value of work, number 

of firms, cost of goods sold, cost of subcontract work, cost of materials, and construction payroll, 

as shown in Table 6A.4.1. 

DOE used the state-by-state variation in mechanical contractor markups as a component 

of state-by-state variation in the life-cycle cost (LCC) studies. In the case of the contractor 

markups, the variation in contractor markup by state is captured explicitly in the subsequent LCC 

analysis. By “selecting” a state during the Monte Carlo analysis, DOE varied the installation 

costs widely. Looking at contractor markups on a relative basis, the lowest state is 90 percent of 

the average markup while the highest state is 119 percent of the average. Using population as a 

weighting factor, contractor cost was combined with other factors that vary by state to create one 

of the key sets of cost components varied during the analysis.

Table 6A.4.1 Mechanical Contractor Baseline Markups by State, 2007* 

State Number 

of Firms

Value of 

Construction 

$000

Cost of 

Subcontract 

Work 

$000

Cost of 

Materials 

$000

Construction 

Payroll 

$000

Baseline 

Markup

Alabama 1,425 2,010,305 113,782 876,341 411,100 1.435

Alaska 229 583,171 52,245 171,575 120,909 1.692

Arizona 1,510 3,522,116 179,103 1,508,903 638,469 1.514

Arkansas 1,045 1,065,754 68,417 461,924 213,054 1.434

California 7,272 16,726,969 1,070,065 6,330,469 3,464,667 1.539

Colorado 2,015 3,056,988 261,734 1,195,057 627,663 1.467

Connecticut 1,321 1,704,668 145,740 628,720 361,411 1.501

Delaware 306 481,900 D D 163,343 1.421

District of Columbia 22 34,600 D D 50,439 1.458
6A-4

Table 6A.4.2 (cont)

State Number of 

Firms

Value of 

Construction 

$000

Cost of 

Subcontract 

Work 

$000

Cost of 

Materials 

$000

Construction 

Payroll 

$000

Baseline 

Markup

Florida 5,069 9,061,426 783,859 3,736,811 1,733,721 1.449

Georgia 2,534 4,700,799 365,010 2,224,110 740,722 1.412

Hawaii 280 800,221 46,753 270,723 137,646 1.758

Idaho 594 900,698 62,252 387,181 167,732 1.459

Illinois 3,848 7,641,642 602,251 2,833,489 1,622,307 1.511

Indiana 1,867 4,002,323 431,558 1,319,523 854,157 1.536

Iowa 1,066 1,868,483 144,869 801,239 359,775 1.431

Kansas 966 1,395,359 106,307 580,764 279,636 1.443

Kentucky 1,219 1,747,925 128,902 674,500 353,958 1.510

Louisiana 1,469 1,997,044 162,063 776,784 378,582 1.516

Maine 458 580,816 46,692 234,993 113,162 1.471

Maryland 2,024 5,329,135 698,381 2,009,957 1,031,222 1.425

Massachusetts 2,520 4,099,301 488,098 1,475,525 817,754 1.474

Michigan 3,051 4,420,638 604,850 1,569,113 841,985 1.466

Minnesota 1,635 3,402,921 386,669 1,230,126 698,535 1.470

Mississippi 655 1,025,452 76,709 449,851 189,011 1.433

Missouri 1,816 3,335,124 345,285 1,319,142 689,171 1.417

Montana 432 483,578 42,988 216,792 85,678 1.400

Nebraska 683 1,004,296 94,170 455,264 205,904 1.330

Nevada 498 2,327,842 121,091 988,605 490,859 1.454

New Hampshire 531 620,761 39,784 D 128,512 1.472

New Jersey 3,551 5,062,336 496,174 1,825,407 1,015,432 1.517

New Mexico 599 891,914 67,987 356,961 170,711 1.497

New York 5,750 10,364,779 1,219,468 3,568,182 1,972,687 1.533

North Carolina 2,978 5,111,396 341,129 2,288,841 1,001,832 1.407

North Dakota 272 360,683 36,037 148,617 70,403 1.414

Ohio 3,514 5,618,591 568,837 2,115,568 1,125,401 1.475

Oklahoma 1,158 1,352,943 94,153 581,079 249,032 1.464

Oregon 1,031 1,893,678 124,070 701,468 412,418 1.530

Pennsylvania 3,653 6,487,476 579,901 2,628,602 1,370,864 1.417

Rhode Island 397 631,202 56,234 229,692 124,727 1.537

South Carolina 1,472 1,991,303 126,123 847,690 352,877 1.501

South Dakota 337 386,186 11,037 158,375 69,605 1.616

Tennessee 1,370 2,595,613 189,293 1,159,952 484,997 1.415

Texas 5,653 10,810,308 823,920 4,605,624 2,102,520 1.435

Utah 892 1,746,398 146,052 769,140 319,812 1.414

Vermont 282 294,806 21,021 D 63,015 1.472

Virginia 2,547 4,623,151 347,055 1,791,740 960,534 1.492

Washington 1,602 4,111,543 370,741 1,546,819 816,533 1.504

West Virginia 416 655,100 D D 90,660 1.464

Wisconsin 1,839 2,926,545 234,962 1,125,779 662,893 1.446

Wyoming 262 289,391 14,391 128,922 54,792 1.461

Average Baseline Markup 1.477

Standard Deviation 0.070

Relative Standard Deviation 0.048
6A-5

Table 6A.4.2 (cont)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau. 2007 Economic Census, Release Date: 11/24/2009, Sector 23: EC0723A1: Construction: 

Geographic Area Series: Detailed Statistics for Establishments: 2007. (Last accessed May 28, 2010.)

<http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IBQTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=EC0723A1&-NAICS2007=238220&-_lang=en> 

*The Census Bureau withheld data for some states due to sample sizes and the size of errors relative to means. For 

states where a D appears under the headings for Subcontractor Costs, Materials & Supplies, or Construction Payroll, 

data was withheld. States missing one or more variables were set equal to an average of neighboring states' baseline 

markup.
6A-6

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

Transcripts: Public Meeting on Energy Conservation Standard Framework Document for 

Automatic Commercial Ice-Makers, December 16, 2010, pp. 165–167. Washington, D.C. 

<http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/commercial/pdfs/acim_frame

work_public_meeting_transcript_12_16_2010.pdf>