The Journey Toward Super-Efficient ACs
The Foundations for Super-Efficient ACs
Successful demonstration of ACs with 5 times lower climate impact
The Global Cooling Prize highlighted two key insights: first, air conditioners in warm, humid climates often underperform by overcooling for humidity control, resulting in higher energy consumption than what gets measured by current testing standards. Second, super-efficient air conditioners with dramatically lower lifecycle costs and emissions are technically feasible and can be manufactured using existing technologies.
This journey revealed that current AC testing standards are inadequate in a warming world with rising humidity. Efficient moisture removal is crucial for comfort, yet most room ACs can only achieve this by overcooling the space, resulting in higher energy consumption than standards and performance ratings indicate. Despite 30 years of evolving test standards, misalignment with real-world conditions limits our ability to leapfrog AC performance.
We must update AC testing standards and performance ratings to reflect real-world conditions. Without these updates, super-efficient ACs can’t become a market reality.
But what are super-efficient ACs?
Super-efficient AC is an air conditioner that has key attributes of the Global Cooling Prize (Prize) winning technologies.
A typical room AC overcools the space to meet the desired humidity levels (at or below 60% relative humidity) resulting in significantly more energy consumption than super-efficient AC.
These products use high-efficiency components and are designed and optimized for real-world conditions, resulting in dramatically lower energy use while providing better comfort and reduced bills for consumers.
When operating in warm and humid climates, these products can deliver effective and efficient dehumidification without significantly overcooling the space, as typically observed with today’s products.
A super-efficient AC, when tested and normalized for performance relative to the Prize baseline unit and refrigerant global warming potential of winning prototypes, will meet the 5 times lower climate impact performance levels demonstrated under the Prize.
Full-year simulated lab testing shows ACs sold on the market today use significantly more energy to achieve desired comfort in the space compared to superefficient ACs
Global Cooling Efficiency Accelerator
Paving the Way for Super-Efficient AC
Updating AC Testing Standards
Amendments to current AC testing standards are needed to accurately characterize the real-world performance of super-efficient ACs. To accomplish this goal, our work involves:
Identifying the gap in current testing standards through scientific experiments and measured data — that is, incorporating energy penalty or additional energy use for overcooling due to inefficient dehumidification;
Updating the test methodology and performance metric to be adopted by standard-setting bodies and policymakers — that is, recognizing efficient dehumidification performance in future standards and performance rating systems.
Progress to date
Extensive lab testing on a range of AC products and super-efficient prototypes is complete and is yielding two key outcomes: a test method for accurately measuring AC performance in warm, humid climates with minimal changes to existing test setups, and a performance metric to help identify super-efficient room ACs. These results will provide data and evidence for organizations updating testing standards and labeling programs, ensuring the benefits of improved dehumidification and high-efficiency technologies are made visible to consumers.
Assess Scalability
Collaborate with partners to assess the potential of the proposed test method setup to be replicated and reproduced in multiple labs in India and around the world without any substantial material cost or complexity compared to the current setup and approach.
Engage with manufacturers
Secure manufacturer alignment on the updated test method and see that it can be applied in existing test setups with minimal additional testing time or training and does not add undue cost or complexity.
Engage standard bodies and policymakers
Share data evidence and learnings with standard-writing bodies and policymakers to inform updates to future test standards (national and international) and performance rating systems.
Real World Demonstrations
Real-world demonstrations are crucial for showcasing the true performance of current room air conditioners compared to super-efficient models optimized for real-world conditions. Data and insights from these demos, alongside lab testing, support updates to standards and design of market instruments, facilitating the initial uptake of super-efficient AC products.
Progress to date
A nine-month field testing in Palava City, India is complete.The study provides a comparison of the real-world performance of super-efficient ACs optimized for humidity control with the typical ACs (3-star and 5-star) sold in the market today.Both winners of the Global Cooling Prize (Daikin and Gree) supported this effort by providing a super-efficient AC prototype for testing. Results show the energy impact of overcooling with typical ACs set to maintain comfort (at or below 27° C and 60 percent relative humidity). It also demonstrates how adopting super-efficient ACs can save energy, reduce peak demand, lower energy bills, and cut lifecycle emissions. Learn more.
Engage with the buyer community to identify future demand signals for superefficient ACs. We are currently exploring a large-scale real-world demonstration opportunity with an interested buyer to showcase the superior performance and emission benefits of deploying super-efficient room ACs at a building level, demonstrate commercial use of super-efficient ACs in buildings, and help spur the adoption of these products in the market.
Partnering with Manufacturers
Securing cooperation and commitment from AC manufacturers is central to realizing the vision of commercialization of super-efficient ACs. We partner with manufacturers, offering testing support and feedback, to accelerate the development and production of super-efficient ACs in India.
