Federal HVAC and water-heater bids need a close read of DOE/FEMP efficiency tables

What DOE/FEMP published

DOE/FEMP has a reference page that organizes minimum efficiency and performance tables for federal purchases of HVAC and water-heating products. DOE/FEMP says the tables mirror ASHRAE 90.1-2019 minimum-efficiency table formats and are meant to help federal buyers put FEMP and ENERGY STAR purchasing requirements into acquisition documents.

The page is here: https://www.energy.gov/cmei/femp/incorporate-minimum-efficiency-requirements-heating-and-cooling-products-federal. The supplied evidence does not confirm whether the page was newly posted, updated, or simply refreshed on Aug. 25, 2026.

The tables include several common shop-facing categories: air-source and geothermal heat pumps, central air conditioners and light commercial HVAC, boilers, electric chillers, water-heating equipment, gas furnaces, and room air conditioners. DOE/FEMP also lists exclusions in the heat-pump and unitary-air-conditioner sections, including through-the-wall air-cooled units, small-duct high-velocity air-cooled units, water-cooled and evaporatively cooled air conditioners, and several condensing-unit categories.

What it means for the shop

If your company bids, specifies, replaces, or submits HVAC or water-heating equipment on federal work, treat the DOE/FEMP page as a submittal check before naming equipment. The practical risk is a rejected product selection or substitution if the equipment schedule does not match the federal acquisition documents.

Some listed values are concrete. For residential air-source heat pumps under 65,000 Btu/h, DOE/FEMP lists 15.0 SEER, 12.5 EER and 8.5 HSPF for single-phase split systems, and 15.0 SEER, 12.0 EER and 8.2 HSPF for single-phase single-package units. For air-cooled central air conditioners under 65,000 Btu/h, it lists 15.0 SEER and 12.5 EER for single-phase split systems, and 15.0 SEER and 12.0 EER for single-phase single-package systems.

For boilers, DOE/FEMP lists 90% AFUE for gas-fired hot-water boilers below 300,000 Btu/h and 87% AFUE for oil-fired hot-water boilers below 300,000 Btu/h. For residential gas-fired warm-air furnaces below 225,000 Btu/h, it lists at least 95.0% efficiency in the U.S. North/Canada and at least 90.0% in the U.S. South.

For electric storage water heaters rated no more than 24 A and no more than 250 V, DOE/FEMP lists integrated heat-pump water heaters at UEF ≥3.3 and FHR ≥45 gal/h. It lists integrated heat-pump water heaters on circuits above 120 V/15 A and split-system heat-pump water heaters at UEF ≥2.2 and FHR ≥45 gal/h, and heat-pump water heaters above 12 kW at COP ≥3.0.

Do not read every row as a federal purchasing requirement. DOE/FEMP footnotes say three-phase heat pumps under 65,000 Btu/h and heat pumps at or above 240,000 Btu/h are not covered by federal purchasing requirements. The same is true for three-phase air conditioners under 65,000 Btu/h and air conditioners at or above 240,000 Btu/h. DOE/FEMP also says boilers above 10,000,000 Btu/h and furnaces at or above 225,000 Btu/h are not covered by federal purchasing requirements. Those rows are presented as consistent with ASHRAE 90.1 tables.

What remains unknown

The supplied evidence does not show what changed from prior FEMP acquisition guidance. It also does not fully resolve which table entries are legally binding federal purchasing requirements versus informational ASHRAE-aligned reference values, except where DOE/FEMP footnotes expressly say a category is not covered by federal purchasing requirements.

The supplied evidence does not resolve transition issues involving SEER2, HSPF2, current DOE test metrics, ENERGY STAR criteria, or manufacturer literature. It also does not say how contractors should format proposals, submittals, substitutions, or equipment schedules beyond DOE/FEMP’s statement that federal buyers can use the tables in acquisition documents.