Looking at potential governmental regulations, Keilly Witman, vice president for marketing for EOS Climate, said she saw no short-term changes regarding any global consensus to include HFCs in the Montreal Protocol in order to phase down production. But with that unlikely to be resolved in the near future, there could be action in areas in which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently has authority, she said. This could include the delisting of HFCs 404 and 507 for use in new commercial systems and retrofits because of their global warming potential (GWP) which is considered high.
At the same time, she suggested it is not necessary to start retrofitting systems out of HFCs especially if the systems are running efficiently. The goal she said should be to have a refrigerant management plan.