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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 235 / Friday, December 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules manufacturers conduct the CVP as part of certification to DOE.
In addition to its proposal to require re-certification and re-rating of VRF
multi-split systems in the event a manufacturer becomes aware that any of its certified operational settings for critical parameters are invalid according to a CVP, DOE also proposes to amend the enforcement testing requirements at 429.110a to state that DOE may initiate enforcement testing for VRF
multi-split systems if DOE has reason to believe that the model is not in compliance, has invalid certified operational settings for critical parameter values, or has an otherwise invalid certified rating. Under this proposal DOE may initiate enforcement testing to investigate the certified critical parameter values and the associated IEER rating for VRF multisplit systems based on any of the following events:
1. DOE conducts CVP during assessment testing that results in invalidated operational settings for critical parameters for a basic model;
2. DOE conducts assessment testing for IEER and COP that creates reason to believe the basic model would be noncompliant with energy conservation standards or have an otherwise invalid rating;
3. Another party conducts a CVP that results in invalidated operational settings for critical parameters for a basic model and the manufacturer fails to recertify that basic model;
4. A CVP is conducted by DOE or another party that results in invalidated operational settings for critical parameters for a basic model, and DOE
finds that a similar basic model from the same manufacturer relies on similar certified operational settings for critical parameters.
DOE may examine multiple sources including, but not limited to, publicly available information and the STI when determining whether there is reason to proceed to enforcement testing. DOE
notes that upon initiation of enforcement testing, DOE will issue a test notice to the manufacturer to acquire the selected models and means of control, and will conduct a CVP on the certified operational settings of critical parameters before proceeding to IEER testing.
Issue 17: DOE requests comment on its proposed approaches for certification and for enforcement testing in the event that a VRF multi-split system has invalid certified operational settings for critical parameter values.

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6. Enforcement Sampling Plan DOEs regulations at 429.110e include provisions for selection of units for enforcement testing. Specifically, 429.110e2 states that for commercial air conditioners and heat pumps which includes VRF multi-split systems, DOE will use an initial sample size of not more than four 4 units when determining a basic models compliance with applicable energy conservation standards. As described in section III.J.1.b of this NOPR, DOE has tentatively determined that the testing of VRF multi-split systems is significantly more involved than the testing of other commercial HVAC
equipment. The proposed test procedure would incorporate instructions for setting the positions of multiple critical parameters during testing, which requires additional setup as compared to other kinds of commercial HVAC
equipment. DOE estimates the cost to test VRF multi-split systems to be between $7,500 and $27,000, depending on size and configuration of the system not including costs of copper piping or refrigerant. Additionally, DOE is proposing in this NOPR to incorporate the CVP into its enforcement regulations for VRF multi-split systems at 429.134s, which would add approximately eight hours of test time at each of the four IEER load conditions during enforcement testing.
Because of the involved nature of testing VRF multi-split systems, it would be unlikely that DOE would conduct assessment testing or enforcement testing on the maximum number of units currently specified i.e., four. In order to reflect what would be the expected practice, DOE proposes to amend its enforcement sampling plan requirements specific to VRF multi-split systems to require a sample size of two VRF multi-split systems. The process for determining compliance with energy conservation standards would be unchanged in this proposal, i.e., a compliance determination would be made for VRF multi-split systems using the sampling plan found in appendix B
to subpart C of part 429 with a first sample size of n1 = 2 VRF multi-split systems.
Issue 18: DOE requests comment on its proposed enforcement sampling plan for VRF multi-split systems.
K. Test Procedure Costs EPCA requires that the test procedures for commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment, which includes VRF multi-split systems, be those generally accepted industry testing procedures or rating
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procedures developed or recognized by AHRI or by ASHRAE, as referenced in ASHRAE Standard 90.1. 42 U.S.C.
6314a4A Further, if such an industry test procedure is amended, DOE must amend its test procedure to be consistent with the amended industry test procedure, unless DOE
determines, by rule published in the Federal Register and supported by clear and convincing evidence, that such amended test procedure would not meet the requirements in 42 U.S.C. 6314a2
and 3 related to representative use and test burden. 42 U.S.C. 6314a4B In this NOPR, DOE proposes to amend the current test procedure for VRF multisplit systems at 431.96 by 1
incorporating by reference AHRI 1230
2021 and ANSI/ASHRAE 372009; and 2 establishing provisions for determining IEER for VRF multi-split systems. DOE also proposes to amend its certification, compliance, and enforcement CCE provisions for VRF
multi-split systems to provide information that is necessary for testing VRF multi-split systems consistent with the updated industry test procedure AHRI 12302021. Most significantly, these proposed changes include the incorporation of the CVP from AHRI
12302021 into DOEs product-specific enforcement provisions at 429.134, as well as accompanying certification requirements at 429.43.
DOE has tentatively determined that these proposed amended test procedures would be representative of an average use cycle and would not be unduly burdensome for manufacturers to conduct. The proposed appendix D, measuring EER and COP per ANSI/
AHRI 12302010, does not contain any changes from the current Federal test procedure, and, therefore, would not require retesting solely as a result of DOEs adoption of this proposed amendment to the test procedure, if made final. The proposed test procedure in appendix D1, measuring IEER and COP per AHRI 12302021, would lead to an increase in cost from appendix D
testing. DOE estimates that the cost for third-party lab testing according to the proposed appendix D1 for measuring IEER and COP to be $7,500$27,000
per VRF multi-split heat pump system, depending on size and configuration.
As discussed in section II, the proposed test procedure provisions regarding IEER would not be mandatory unless DOE amends the energy conservation standards for VRF multisplit systems based on IEER. But, DOE
has tentatively determined that the proposed test procedure amendments would not be expected to increase the testing burden on VRF multi-split
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