Essentially, Mandyck said, Carrier is opposed to the R-22 loophole because it’s “bad environmental policy.” He noted that the company is committed to the phaseout of ozone-depleting refrigerants to prevent the “continued degradation of the earth’s ozone layer.”

Furthermore, Mandyck said, “Our industry had a longstanding understanding that January 2010 was the cut-off for HCFC-22 for new air conditioning products. What changed is that two weeks before the deadline took effect, the EPA changed its interpretation of how an air conditioning condensing unit is defined. That change forced the entire industry back into R-22 after everyone had gotten out.”

He noted that Carrier believes “a repair should be a repair — not the wholesale change-out of a condensing unit.” And, he added, “I think it’s fair to say this was not the intended policy, and that the loophole has put the industry and environmental policy on a different course.”

Seeking Stable Regulations

Mandyck noted that the loophole has been a setback for manufacturers, who rely on stable regulations to guide their product development. “For us, uncertainty is the enemy of innovation,” he said, adding that Trane, Johnson Controls, Lennox, and Daikin McQuay also joined Carrier in writing a joint letter to the EPA earlier this year asking that the loophole be closed.

“Our entire industry, Carrier included, prepared for those environmental regulations in good faith, and we did it years ago,” Mandyck said. He noted that this preparation involved inventing new technology, retooling factories to make the new units, and preparing dealers through education. “So you can imagine the concern and frustration when you do all of those things, and then have them essentially become null and void by a last-minute change in the regulations.”

Instead of spending time on R-22 units, Mandyck wants Carrier to continue to lead by reinventing its products to become more environmentally sound and energy efficient. “What we realized early on is that the drive for energy efficiency is relentless,” he said. “It comes from all corners of the globe, either by customer pull or regulatory push. We want to make sure that we’re on top of those trends so we can deliver solutions to the marketplace.”

Continuing the Dialogue

This year, Mandyck said his greatest success is that the industry is having a dialogue about the loophole. “People throughout the industry are standing up and saying, ‘Hey, is this right?’ And we have the government reconsidering a major issue,” he said. Although Carrier continues to ask EPA to accelerate its decision making process, at press time the agency was still evaluating the petition.

SIDEBAR: 2011 NEWSmaker

Name: John Mandyck

Title: Chief sustainability officer

Company: UTC Climate Controls and Security Systems

Location: Farmington, Conn.

Notable quote: “A repair should be a repair — not the wholesale change-out of a condensing unit.”

Publication date: 12/19/2011