Mark Vender
The Department of the Environment and Energy is seeking key stakeholders to help establish minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for industrial equipment. This will cover industrial and commercial-scale pumps, boilers and air compressors in Australia and New Zealand.
Energy efficiency requirements are already in place for a wide range of products and tools under the Greenhouse and Minimum Energy Performance Standards Act 2012. This includes household whitegoods, lighting, electric motors and air conditioners.
In an effort to further reduce energy use and costs, the Department is now looking to extend MEPS to industrial equipment. Sectors likely to feel the most impact are commercial building operation, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and food and chemical processing. Those involved in the manufacture, import, export or retail of the equipment could also be affected.
In early 2019 the Department will release a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (CRIS) listing the range of energy efficiency standards that could be imposed, and the equipment this would affect. The CRIS will present an analysis of the costs and benefits of different options, for different stakeholders.
To help develop these options, the Department is looking for industry experts to form two formal stakeholder advisory bodies.
“It’s really important that people get involved with this work on pumps and boilers because of the energy efficiency impact and the serviceability and reliability aspects,” says AIRAH’s Executive Manager – Technical Services and Government Relations, Phil Wilkinson, F.AIRAH. “For example, pumps typically will tend to run all the time that a building’s operating. It’s critical that we get components like them selected efficiently and have energy efficient options.”
Wilkinson says the MEPS approach has already worked once, and it makes sense to apply it again.
“The air conditioning minimum energy performance standards have been in place for quite some time,” says Wilkinson. “What’s happened there is the stringency’s increased and we’ve seen the worst performing equipment go off the market. It’s driven the manufacturers to design and manufacture more efficient equipment.”
Nominations for representatives are due by COB on Friday, November 2.
For further information, contact the Industrial Products Secretariat at [email protected] or call Anne Marie Sanderson on 02 6275 9525 or Daniel Loudon on 02 6274 2401.
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