ASHRAE Journal Supplement - AMCA InMotion - November 2023 - 7

will mean a fan bears a label and has specifi ed characteristics
of fan models fi led in the Modernized Appliance
Effi ciency Database System (MAEDbS). Project engineers
and other market participants are to consult MAEDbS
Entering the summer of 2023, the future of CIFB reguand
other market participants are to consult MAEDbS
before purchasing a fan for installation in California.
On May 1, 2023, the DOE published a fi nal rule establishing
a federal test procedure for fans and blowers. In
the lead-up to the compliance deadline of Oct. 30, 2023,
manufacturers would have to examine their legacy test
data and determine if their fans were tested in a manner
that would yield performance data greater than or equal
to data produced using the federal test procedure. If they
were not, the fans would have to be re-tested, be re-rated,
have their ratings removed from the market, or be removed
from the market themselves. This would be a considerable
undertaking, involving changes to software, websites,
electronic catalogs, and more. Hard-copy literature, it was
determined, could remain in use until being phased out.
Unlike the Title 20 effi ciency regulation, the federal
test procedure covers embedded fans and circulating fans
that are not ceiling fans. Circulating fans in 2022 were
added to the federal rulemaking in a way allowing this
magazine to treat them separately (see " U.S. Regulations
for Ceiling Fans and Air-Circulating Fan Heads, " Page 12).
lation appeared set: The fan industry had until Oct. 30,
2023, to be in compliance with the federal test procedure
and Nov. 16, 2023, to be in compliance with the Title 20
effi ciency regulation. The DOE then would progress to
fi nalizing a federal energy standard, with publication estimated
to occur during the fi rst half of 2024. Manufacturers
would have three to fi ve years to meet the provisions of
the federal energy standard; in the meantime, they would
continue to comply with the Title 20 effi ciency regulation.
Much of the feeling of certainty regarding the regulations
was upset when, during an AMCA International
members-only webinar on June 22, 2023, the CEC
announced that it had concluded the federal test procedure
preempted the Title 20 effi ciency regulation and not only
would it be adopting the federal test procedure, it would
be expanding the scope of the Title 20 effi ciency regulation
to include embedded fans to the extent the federal
test procedure covers embedded fans. The CEC further
announced it would be initiating a " language cleanup "
rulemaking in mid-September but not extending the Nov.
16, 2023, compliance deadline. Considering the 45 days
the rulemaking would be open for public review and
comment, the regulation would have been fi nal for only
approximately two weeks prior to the compliance deadline.
Title 20 Effi ciency Regulation
Technical provisions of the Title 20 effi ciency regulation
that fan-system designers and procurers need to know
about are very few. That is not the case with manufacturers.
Resources are available for manufacturers in
the members area of the AMCA International website
(https://bit.ly/AMCA_Members) and for the public through
the website of California Public Utilities Commission
contractor Energy Code Ace (https://energycodeace.com).
System designers working on projects in California
should know that fans covered by the regulation must
be listed in MAEDbS if manufactured after the compliance
deadline. As of this writing, the compliance deadline
remains Nov. 16, 2023. That may change as a result
of the 45-day " language cleanup " rulemaking, however.
Energy Code Ace will communicate any new developments
through its website.
According to Section 1602 of the Title 20 effi ciency
www.amca.org
2023 AMCA inmot ion
7
https://bit.ly/AMCA_Members https://www.energycodeace.com http://www.amca.org
ASHRAE Journal Supplement - AMCA InMotion - November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal Supplement - AMCA InMotion - November 2023
