Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced that a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit regarding Regional Efficiency Standards for residential gas furnaces and central air-conditioners finalized by the Department of Energy (DOE) in Oct. 2011.

The settlement would remand the efficiency standards for gas furnaces, forcing the DOE to re-assess efficiency standards in a more transparent manner.

The increase and regionalization in the standards for central air-conditioners will remain, but the DOE has allowed for a “sell-through” period of 18-months and agreed not to penalize HVACR distributors as part of the enforcement of the Regional Standard. Additionally, the DOE has agreed to engage in a process to review the regulatory processes that established the Regional Efficiency Standards.

“Our goal from the start has been twofold," said Royce Henderson, HARDI president. "The first was to provide relief to our members who faced damages as a result of DOE’s actions. The second has been to fix the process, so this will never happen again. We believe this settlement accomplishes both goals to the greatest extent possible.”