Page 28 - Climate Control News Magazine April 2019

New regulations
on target to begin 2021
A NEW REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR CHILLERS IS SET TO BE INTRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE CONSULTATION WITH INDUSTRY.
THE FRAMEWORK WILL address problems identified by the Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee (E3) which found chillers were not being registered correctly under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards
Act 2012 (GEMS Act).
The situation was further complicated by the nature of chillers as bespoke equipment and by the way chillers are supplied to the market.
The standard approach applied under the E3 Program to registration and compliance cannot
be applied to chillers when setting minimum en- ergy performance standards (MEPS) because it is an obsolete test standard.
It is a problem which is unique to Australia and New Zealand, according to an updated E3 briefing paper entitled “Chillers: Updated Poli- cy Position”.
To address the problem E3 will propose to the Council of Australian Governments'(COAG) En- ergy Council
that chillers be certified by the Air Condition- ing, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) or by Eurovent as meeting the applicable MEPS before they are sold in Australia or New Zealand.
This means replacing the ANZ standard AS/ NZS 4776:2008 with AHRI 551/591:2015 and the European test standards, EN 14511:2018 and EN 14825.
“E3 recognises that some suppliers of small- er chillers may not have AHRI or Eurovent cer- tification and obtaining such certification may
be an unreasonable burden. For this reason, E3 will propose that a supplier may provide a re- port of a physical test in an AHRI or Eurovent certified laboratory, as evidence that the chill- er meets the appropriate MEPS,” the briefing paper said.
“Each model registered using this alternative approach would need a separate test report. E3 is aware of only one laboratory certified by AHRI in Australia, but most suppliers of chillers within the scope of regulation would be con- nected to international supply chains, including laboratories overseas.”
E3 has also recommended that all chillers with a rated cooling or heating capacity of at least 100 kW comply with the applicable MEPS, before being sold in Australia or New Zealand.
Chillers under 100 kW in capacity will be out of scope and will not be regulated for energy ef- ficiency or performance.
“Implicit in this position is that the use of spe-
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