ASEAN Issues Guidelines for Energy-Efficient Air Conditioners
ASEAN: ASEAN has introduced Green Public Procurement Guidelines for Energy-Efficient Air Conditioners to support the adoption of higher-efficiency room air conditioners across member states. The 9th ASEAN Energy Outlook projects electricity demand from room air conditioners to increase by around 115%, from 134 TWh in 2025 to 288 TWh in 2040. The guidelines identify public procurement as a mechanism through which governments can increase demand for higher-efficiency air conditioners before stronger minimum energy performance standards are introduced more widely.
ASEAN’s regional policy roadmap has previously aligned testing and evaluation methods for room air conditioners and established a minimum level of 3.08 Wh/Wh CSPF for single-split systems by 2020, which nine ASEAN member states have adopted or exceeded. A 2021 update set a further target equivalent to 6.09 Wh/Wh CSPF by 2025. As of June 2026, Singapore had reached this level, while Malaysia had formally gazetted alignment with the 6.09 Wh/Wh CSPF level by 2030. The new guidelines provide principles, technical criteria, evaluation approaches and verification methods that ASEAN member states can adopt or adapt according to their national standards, markets and legal requirements.
Source: ASEAN Centre for Energy
