On Wednesday, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute announced its opposition to energy bill H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), in its current form saying that if made into law it could “quite simply create marketing and distribution chaos,” according to AHRI President Stephen Yurek.

"In its current form, the ACES Act would effectively allow any jurisdiction in the nation to enact its own energy policy through the use of prescriptive building codes, severely impacting the ability of heating, air conditioning, and commercial refrigeration manufacturers to provide products to residential and commercial customers in the most timely, efficient, and economical way," he said

AHRI much prefers the Senate's approach to decreasing energy intensity. "We, as an industry, negotiated the federal preemption provisions of NAECA and EPACT in good faith, obtaining those provisions in exchange for being regulated for the first time with regard to energy efficiency," Yurek stated, adding that, "We have unequivocally kept our end of the bargain, and our products are more efficient than they have ever been … We will vigorously oppose any attempt to change the rules that have worked so well to preserve American jobs, and protect American consumers and the environment."

Rather than allow states and localities to set their own energy conservation standards through building codes, AHRI believes that Congress should revise and expand the tax credits contained in the stimulus bill to allow more Americans to at least bring their heating and cooling systems to the federal minimum efficiency level.

“Congress needs to leave manufacturing, distribution, installation and maintenance to the experts, and concentrate on providing incentives that allow average Americans to save energy and money," Yurek concluded.