Heating Help

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) applauds the January 25, 2012, opinion and order by Judge Martha Vazquez in favor of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) in their challenge to the 2007 Albuquerque Energy Code. Several local ACCA members stood as plaintiffs in the suit. 

 

In 2007 the City of Albuquerque approved changes to the Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code that would have mandated minimum energy conservation standards for HVAC and water heating equipment that exceeded federal minimum standards. Federal law prohibits state or local jurisdiction from setting more stringent minimum energy conservation standards without a waiver of preemption from the Department of Energy. The City did not obtain a waiver and changes it proposed to the Energy Conservation Code did not relieve it of the need for a waiver.

 

As a result, AHRI challenged the Energy Conservation Code in Federal District Court for the District of New Mexico. Local distributors and HVAC contractors impacted by the proposed Energy Conservation Code were named plaintiffs and testified in the case.

 

“I want to recognize the contribution of ACCA members Affordable Services, Inc., and Thompson Heating and Air Conditioning, who stood up for the industry and agreed to be a named plaintiff in a case against the city they work in every day,” said Paul Stalknecht, ACCA President and CEO.

 

According to AHRI, in her latest opinion, Judge Vazquez confirmed her September 10, 2010, rulings (1) that the prescriptive energy efficiency standards in the 2007 Albuquerque code that are more stringent than federal minimum efficiency standards are preempted and cannot be saved from federal preemption by the availability of alternative code compliance paths; and (2) that a particular performance-based code compliance option is preempted, because it is based on a standard reference design that uses efficiency levels that exceed federal efficiency standards. Responding to a summary judgment motion filed by the City that essentially asked Judge Vazquez to reconsider her earlier rulings, she declined to do so and denied the City’s motion.

 

“Federal law is clear and was upheld in the case,” said Stalknecht. “States and localities cannot set their own standards that are higher than the federal standards without a waiver from preemption. The resulting patchwork quilt of minimum efficiency standards would be confusing to consumers and impossible to enforce.”