The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its first-ever Energy Star specification for commercial packaged boilers.
These products incorporate a burner and hot water storage to provide hydronic space heating, and in some cases hot water, in smaller commercial buildings. Expanding into this category is consistent with the ENERGY STAR program’s goal of advancing energy efficiency in a growing number of industries and protecting the environment.
Commercial packaged boilers that meet the new requirements offer end users as much as 15% in energy savings and about $1,150 in energy cost savings per year when compared to standard models.
In commercial buildings, space and water heating dominate the gas usage, representing more than 90% of total energy consumption. By making it easy to identify high efficiency commercial packaged boilers, the ENERGY STAR label provides a meaningful opportunity for significant energy and cost savings.
If all eligible commercial packaged boilers sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR certified, the energy cost savings would grow to more than $1 billion and 23 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented, equivalent to the emissions of over 2 million vehicles.
To earn the ENERGY STAR label, products must be certified by an EPA-recognized third party, based on testing in an EPA-recognized laboratory. In addition, manufacturers of the products must participate in verification testing programs run by recognized certification bodies.
To see the boiler requirements in full, please click here.
