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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 235 / Friday, December 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules
precisely the actions that a manufacturers representative may take.
Specifically, DOE is proposing to clarify that a manufacturers representative is allowed to support commissioning of the VRF multi-split system and to witness DOE assessment or enforcement testing, which is consistent with the current Federal test procedure. For all cooling and heating tests, DOE proposes that all control settings other than critical parameters must be set by a member of the thirdparty laboratory; a manufacturers representative may initially set all critical parameters to their certified values. For IEER cooling tests only, DOE
proposes to specify that if additional adjustments to critical parameters are required for meeting capacity targets and/or SHR limits see section III.I of this NOPR, a manufacturers representative may make such adjustments in accordance with section 5.1 of appendix D1 using a proprietary control tool. DOE further proposes that initial setting and any additional critical parameter adjustments performed by a manufacturers representative during IEER testing must be monitored by third-party laboratory personnel using a service tool. For the heating test, DOE
proposes that the manufacturers representative would not be permitted to make any critical parameter adjustments during testing and would only be allowed to initially set critical parameters to their certified values.
These proposals are a departure from the current DOE test procedure which allows manufacturer control of modulating components for the purposes of reaching steady-state operation and instead align with the latest industry test procedure AHRI
12302021 with minor clarifications in wording, as discussed.
In the case that a manufacturer is not present for assessment or enforcement testing, third-party laboratory personnel may need a manufacturers control tool to set critical parameters to their initial settings or make additional adjustments required by the test procedure.
Accordingly, DOE is proposing to amend its test notice requirements for VRF multi-split systems at 429.110b1iv to require manufacturers to include a means of control to set and adjust critical parameters with all systems provided for enforcement testing.
Correspondingly, DOE is proposing provisions for VRF multi-split systems at 429.104b that would require manufacturers to provide a means of control for assessment testing, although manufacturers would not be required to provide the VRF multi-split system for
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assessment testing. This proposal would enable the laboratory staff to perform IEER and heating tests in the event that a manufacturers representative is not available for assessment and/or enforcement testing. DOE also proposes that, if a manufacturers representative is not present for testing, a member of the third-party laboratory shall set and adjust critical parameter values in accordance with section 5.1 of appendix D1 using the means of control provided by the manufacturer in response to the test notice.
Issue 15: DOE seeks comment on its proposal to require a means of control to be provided by the manufacturer for assessment and enforcement testing.
Furthermore, AHRI 12302021 only partially addresses allowable manufacturer involvement during the CVP. Specifically, section C3.1 provides instructions that control settings must be identical to those used during the steady-state IEER tests, except that control settings for critical parameters shall not be controlled during the CVP.
However, Appendix C to AHRI 1230
2021 does not provide instruction for which parties may interact with the unit under test, and under what circumstances. Also, the wording identical to those used during the steady-state IEER tests could be interpreted to mean that steady-state IEER tests must be conducted prior to a CVP, which should not be necessary. To address these issues, DOE proposes to specify in its product-specific enforcement provisions at 429.134s2 that a manufacturers representative is allowed to support commissioning of the VRF multi-split system and witness the CVP. DOE also proposes to specify that the control settings used during a CVP must be set by a member of the third-party laboratory and must be set per the provisions in section 5.1 of appendix D1
to subpart F of part 431 except for critical parameters, which must operate automatically from the system controls and must not be controlled or adjusted at any point during the CVP.
DOE has tentatively concluded that these proposals would ensure the consistency and objectivity of the CVP.
Furthermore, these proposals are consistent with AHRI 12302021, because they ensure the manufacturers representative cannot set or adjust any parameters in the CVP that AHRI 1230
2021 specifies shall operate under commands from system controls during the CVP. Additionally, the proposed language to set control settings for the CVP except critical parameters in accordance with section 5.1 of appendix D1 to subpart F of part 431 ensures that
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the same control settings except critical parameters are used between the CVP
and IEER cooling tests, without requiring IEER cooling tests to be conducted before a CVP.
Issue 16: DOE seeks comment on its proposal to establish in 10 CFR
429.134s2 provisions regarding allowable manufacturer involvement during assessment and enforcement testing, which are consistent with AHRI
12302021. DOE also seeks comment on its proposal for allowable manufacturer involvement during the CVP.
5. Certified Critical Parameter Operational Settings As described in section III.J.2.b of this NOPR, DOE is proposing to require that manufacturers certify in the STI the operational settings for all critical parameters to be manually controlled for each of the four IEER cooling test conditions and for the COP heating test.
Because the control settings for critical parameters affect the operating state of the VRF multi-split system, the measured performance is likely to vary significantly based on the critical parameter settings selected. For example, in preliminary testing, DOE
determined that a 10 percent change in compressor speed resulted in an average difference of approximately 5 EER
points in Btu/Whr at each IEER load point. EERE2018BTSTD00030063
at p. 15. Due to the relationship of critical parameter operational settings to the measured performance of VRF
multi-split systems, DOE is making several proposals related to the certified critical parameters.
As discussed in section III.H.5, DOE
is proposing to use the CVP during assessment and enforcement testing to verify that the certified critical parameter values for IEER cooling tests are valid. The certified critical parameter values used for the heating test are not subject to validation from a CVP, as the CVP is applicable only for cooling operation. In addition to its proposals governing the use of the CVP, DOE is proposing to add a certification reporting provision specific to VRF
multi-split systems in 429.43b5.
This proposal specifies that if a manufacturer becomes aware that any of the certified operational settings for the critical parameters are determined to be invalid according to the results of a CVP, whether that CVP be performed by the manufacturer or another party, the manufacturer would be required to recertify the operational settings of those critical parameters for all affected basic models, as well as re-rate and re-certify the affected basic models. Notably, DOE
is not proposing a requirement that
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