These new requirements will directly impact all distributors in the U.S. and all installers in the Southeast and Southwest regions of the country.

The effective date of this rule is Aug. 15.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a long-awaited new rule governing enforcement of the residential central and single-package air conditioner energy conservation standards that took effect Jan. 1, 2015. Most notably, the enforcement rule includes new mandatory recordkeeping requirements.

Staying involved in the rulemaking process is going to be more important in 2016 than it has ever been before, and ensuring the HVACR industry’s interests are represented will help ensure new standards are developed fairly and properly.

The Nov. 19 publication of the NOPR tentatively ends a one-year period of uncertainty for the HVACR industry, which adapted as best it could to the new energy conservation standards in the absence of enforcement guidance from the DOE.