The New York Power Authority`s energy-efficient refrigerator program for the New York City Housing Authority -- 1997 savings evaluation

This document describes the estimation of the annual energy savings achieved from the replacement of 20,000 refrigerators in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing with new, highly energy-efficient models in 1997. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pays NYCHA`s electricity bills, and agreed to reimburse NYCHA for the cost of the refrigerator installations. Energy savings over the lifetime of the refrigerators accrue to HUD. Savings were demonstrated by a metering project and are the subject of the analysis reported here. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) identified the refrigerator with the lowest life-cycle cost, including energy consumption over its expected lifetime, through a request for proposals (RFP) issued to manufacturers for a bulk purchase of 20,000 units in 1997. The procurement was won by Maytag with a 15-ft{sup 3} top-freezer automatic-defrost refrigerator rated at 437 kilowatt-hours/year (kWh/yr). NYCHA then contracted with NYPA to purchase, finance, and install the new refrigerators, and demanufacture and recycle materials from the replaced units. The US Department of Energy (DOE) helped develop and plan the project through the ENERGY STAR{reg_sign} Partnerships program conducted by its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL designed the metering protocol and occupant survey used in 1997, supplied and calibrated the metering equipment, and managed and analyzed the data collected by NYPA. The objective of the 1997 metering study was to achieve a general understanding of savings as a function of refrigerator label ratings, occupant effects, indoor and compartment temperatures, and characteristics (such as size, defrost features, and vintage). The data collected in 1997 was used to construct models of refrigerator energy consumption as a function of key refrigerator and occupant characteristics.