March 19,2003

Deborah E. Miller

Vice President

Government and International Affairs

Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute

4100 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 200

Arlington, V A 22203

Re: Meeting Follow-up and Request for Information

Dear Ms. Miller:

It was a pleasure meeting with you, Karim Amrane, and Bill Tritsis on March 6 th to

discuss the status of the current activities of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's)

Office of Building Technologies, and of the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute

(ARI), with respect to commercial refrigeration products. This was also a great

opportunity for us to introduce the key personnel who will be involved with this work

and to get acquainted with some of the areas where we both have interests and should be

able to cooperate. This letter is a follow up to our meeting and a request for ARI

feedback and data on commercial refrigeration products.

Based on the DOE report "The FY 2003 Priority -Setting Summary Report and Actions

Proposed" on December 6, 2002, DOE is currently assessing Federal energy efficiency

regulation of two broad categories of commercial refrigeration products (reach-in

refrigerators and freezers, and beverage vending machines and beverage merchandisers).

Initially, DOE is examining whether to classify the products in these categories as

covered under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). If DOE believes

coverage is warranted, it would then review and decide what action to take with respect

to adoption of test procedures, labeling requirements, and energy conservation standards.

Currently, as part of this effort, DOE is analyzing the energy consumption of selfcontained commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers, combination reach-in

refrigerator-freezers, beverage vending machines, and beverage merchandisers on a perunit basis as well as a national-aggregate basis. The attached summary table shows some

of the information that DOE has gathered to date on these five product categories. The

table addresses the following:

1. Estimated installed base (total for industry),

2. Annual shipments

### 3. Typical equipment lifetime, and

4. Average unit energy consumption.

DOE is interested in the following:

1. Any additional data (by product category in the above four areas) that can

further substantiate the information presented in the attached table, update this

information, or demonstrate that DOE should examine these numbers further;

2. Data in these four areas concerning combination refrigerator-freezers;

3. Data on annual shipments for reach-in refrigerators and freezers that (a)

excludes exports, (b) provides figures that separate refrigerator shipments

from freezer shipments, and (c) excludes other types of commercial

refrigerators and freezers (e.g. built-ins, undercounter units, etc.);

4. Information that identifies the testing methods that your members have used

in the past, as well as methods they currently use, and the purposes for which

they have used each such method; and

5. Source of data as to imports of these products.

In addition, the following information would be useful to gain a better understanding of

the commercial refrigeration industry:

1. A list of ARI's Commercial Refrigerator Manufacturers Division members,

with the type of commercial refrigeration products each manufactures, as well

as contacts at any of these companies that would be willing to cooperate with

us in our investigation of these products;

2. For each of the commercial refrigeration categories we are investigating in

which ARI members manufacture products, ARI's estimate of either total

shipments in the US (including non-ARI members) or the percentage of total

shipments manufactured by ARI members;

3. Within commercial reach-in refrigerators and freezers, combination

refrigerator- freezers, beverage vending machines and beverage merchandisers,

any special subclasses of commercial refrigeration products that ARI suggests

that DOE should consider for federal standards; and

4. Information on definitions and test procedures of commercial refrigeration

products.

On behalf of DOE, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter with you and thank

you for taking the time to consider our request.Sincerely,

Brian Card

DOE Program Manager

AttachmentUpdatedandrefinedinformationiscurrentlybeinggatheredtodetermineenergyconsumptionforeachproductcategory.InstalledBaseAnnualShipments(units)(units)CommercialReach-1-door390,000a.260,0001.2inRefrigerators2-door845,000b.365,00033+doors65,000Total1,300,000Commercial1-door440,000a.46,6591Reach-inFreezers2-door320,000b.(seenote3)3+doors40,000Total800,000CombinationReach-inRefrigeratorFreezersBeverageVendingCans2,400,000a.353,0001MachinesBottles1,125,000Other575,000Total4,100,000Beverage1-door400,000a.175,0001Merchandisers2-door360,000(Refrigerated Display3+doors40,000Cases)Total800,000SourcesADL19964a.ApplianceMagazine49thAnnualReport(2001values)b.Freedonia200251Exportsincluded.2.Refrigeratorsincludebuilt-ins,undercounterunits,compactandstandardunits.3.Thisvaluerepresentscommercialrefrigeratorspluscommercialfreezers.EquipmentUnitEnergyNationalLifetime(years)ConsumptionAggregateEnergy(kWhlyr)Consumption(TWh/yr)8-10years1-door2,3001-door0.902-door4,3002-door3.633+doors6,3003+doors0.41Total4.948-10years1-door5,2001-door2.292-door9,8002-door3.143+doors14,4003+doors0.58Total6.007-10yearsCans3,000Cans7Bottles3,000Bottles3Other3,000Other2Total127-10years1-door3,9001-door1.562-door7,6002-door2.743+doors11,2003+doors0.45Total4.74ADL19964ADL19964ADL199644.EnergySavingsPotentialforCommercialRefrigerationEquipment,ADL1996.ThisReportlookedonlyatself-containedsolid-door,uprightreach-incabinets.5.CommercialRefrigerationEquipmentto2006,Freedonia2002.