AHAM’s recent annual meeting, Organized for Opportunity, held in April had very good attendance, which was somewhat of a surprise given the state of the economy. There are many industry events sponsored by associations and others that have either been canceled or have suffered low attendance this year. I attribute our healthy turnout to two facts. The first is that the meeting was held in Washington, D.C., the central point of efforts to heal the ailing economy. Our industry is obviously very interested in what the federal government is doing in this regard. The second is that attendees wanted to learn how AHAM will handle the challenges and opportunities presented in the energy and environmental issues being driven by the Obama Administration and Congress.

Attendees took advantage of a meeting with White House and Department of Energy staff at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to urge prompt release of the $300 million appropriated by Congress for state rebate programs for consumers who purchase Energy Star appliances to replace older, less efficient units. There was strong interest by the Administration to get these funds to consumers as soon as possible.

The breadth of the topics affecting the industry was captured by three concurrent workshops held at the meeting on climate change, product recycling, and the smart grid. On climate change, attendees received information on how the major climate and energy bill under consideration in Congress directly impacts appliances. The Waxman bill would establish a federal requirement to phase down the production and use of high Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, beginning with a cap on total production and usage in 2012.

AHAM helped negotiate language in the bill, recently approved by a House Committee, which would lessen the impact of the annual reduction requirements on high GWP gases in products produced domestically or imported over a period of 20 years. Allocation rights to produce or import gases and products containing them would be subject to fees, which AHAM also was able to cap at around $1 per million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in the first few years.

Importantly, AHAM support for this system is predicated on a reasonable phase-down of HFCs and authorization of financial assistance for product manufacturers to make the transition to low-GWP alternatives.

The product recycling workshop focused primarily on understanding the changing role of responsibility for recycling from municipalities to manufacturers. This includes efforts of Canadian provinces and the U.S. to expand manufacturer take-back requirements to include small appliances and ultimately major appliances. British Columbia has issued regulations requiring product stewards, essentially brand owners, to have product recycling plans for portable and floor care appliances, microwaves, and room air conditioners approved by the Provincial government and in place for implementation by July 2010. AHAM has teamed with its counterpart association in Canada as well as the Canadian Housewares Association to develop a system that will comply with British Columbia and potentially other provinces that are looking into similar requirements.

The smart grid discussion was the most heavily attended session. There was significant interest on the part of appliance manufacturers and suppliers on how this massive federal initiative will impact appliances. Our members view the emerging role of the smart grid as an opportunity for their products to make an even greater contribution to sustainability.

An AHAM Smart Grid task force has been at work since last year attempting to scope out this issue, particularly what type of appliance specific standards or protocols are necessary to enable appliances to contribute to the significant energy benefits of a smart grid and to maintain consumer choice and product integrity.

There are also significant public policy issues related to smart appliances interacting with the smart grid. Energy efficiency legislation currently under consideration would add smart grid capability as an Energy Star requirement. It is also important to recognize that investments in smart appliance technology can actually deliver more energy benefits in a smart grid environment than incremental improvements to energy efficiency in some products. Deferring peak energy use not only reduces the need for additional peak power plants but can position appliances to serve as an environmentally preferable backup to power generation by renewable energy sources.

In a year of extraordinary events, both political and economic, perhaps more than ever, AHAM members are finding value in AHAM’s access, intelligence, and advocacy efforts.