“The biggest thing we wanted to highlight in this discussion is that this industry is already taking the lead and moving forward very aggressively to look at alternatives, conducting research and development on this issue, and coming out with products,” AHRI President and CEO Stephen Yurek said.

AHRI said the industry is committing $5 billion over the next decade to research and develop new refrigerants and equipment to help accomplish the phasedown.

“We are just asking for two things. First, that there is coordination between DOE and EPA timelines as it relates to efficiency regulations and refrigerants so we don’t have them extend us in different directions or waste investments based upon differences in decisions from those two agencies,” Yurek said. “Second, we need government to set the objective. That needs to be a global objective that we can support. They set the objective and then let the industry that is committed to innovate start innovating and reach those requirements.”

The industry is also hoping that the EPA looks into adding HFCs into Section 608 of the Clean Air Act which covers requirements related to the enforcement of anti-venting rules.

Those in attendance at the event included Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, and State Department Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern. The event was sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and hosted by John Podesta, counselor to the president.

“Our industry has been promoting a market-based global phasedown of HFC refrigerants for a number of years,” said Danfoss Vice President of Public Affairs and Chairman of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy Robert Wilkins. “We have not been able to get legislation passed in Congress. Our industry group asked what we could do to move this ball forward. We decided to propose voluntary industry commitments to the phasedown of HFC refrigerants. Everyone with the administration was very receptive today. It helps DOE and EPA to understand some of the challenges that industry is facing and where we can use their support to help facilitate further progress.”

Wilkins pointed out that two-thirds of HFC refrigerants go into servicing existing equipment in the field and it is an obvious place to focus when attempting to reduce HFC emissions.

The Alliance said the industry is committed to an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

“That is the goal we are asking for. If they set that for us we are going to make the commitment to do the research and develop products to meet that goal. We need to know what we are aiming for. We want predictability,” Yurek said.

Yurek touted the positive, proactive efforts by the HVACR and water heating industry in energy conservation and environmental stewardship. He said that in the late 1980s, the industry supported international efforts to protect the ozone layer by developing non-chlorine-containing refrigerants, and agreeing to an aggressive timetable to phase out ozone depleting chemicals while steadily improving the energy efficiency of its equipment.

He noted that, with no encouragement from government, AHRI and its member companies launched the Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program in 2011, the first phase of which was completed at the end of 2013. The second phase of the program is currently underway. The intent of the program is to evaluate different refrigerants in several applications.

During the event, Danfoss announced its commitment to convening and facilitating an on-going Codes and Standards Task Force, which will set out to define a roadmap that will accelerate implementation of low-GWP refrigerants.

“State and local fire and building codes are major barriers to the broad deployment and adoption of low-GWP refrigerants in the United States,” explained John Galyen, president, Danfoss North America. “These codes often prohibit the use of flammable or even mildly flammable refrigerants, even in very small amounts less than a typical aerosol spray can. Since they are developed and mandated locally — across hundreds or thousands of jurisdictions, codes are difficult to change and create an effective obstacle to manufacturers offering products with low-GWP refrigerants that may be flammable or mildly flammable.

“Much work also is needed to modify underpinning national model codes and standards before local standards can be changed,” Galyen continued. “The issue is complex and requires a sequential nature of modifying standards and codes, as well as broad industry training.”

The task force facilitated by Danfoss is composed of a broad, cross-section of experts from industry, environmental NGOs, EPA, UL, fire marshals, and other stakeholders with an interest in collaboration and defining the path forward.

Since July, Danfoss has hosted three meetings to launch the Codes and Standards Task Force, with the most recent event taking place on Sept. 12.

“I am pleased the administration was interested in hearing what they can do to better support us. It is great that they will take a seat, be a voice at the table, and collaborate with industry,” Galyen said. “There is a need of education for the contractor on the flammable and mildly flammable refrigerants.”

If the reaction coming out of the White House event is any indication, it seems like the government and the industry are on the same page.

“We believe that the proven, effective model of the Montreal Protocol is the most effective tool for harnessing these innovations and reducing the use of HFCs on a coordinated global basis. We appreciate the administration’s efforts to advance an amendment to bring HFCs under the Protocol, which provides a proven, consistent, and well-understood framework to allow the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with HFCs while ensuring a smooth transition to more sustainable products,” said Kathryn K. McCord, global business director, DuPont Fluorochemicals.

Additional commitments made by members of the HVAC industry included:

• Arkema committed to reduce GHG emissions from its operations by an additional 30 percent by 2020, as well as its net energy purchases by 1.5 percent on average each year through the year 2020.

• Carrier committed to pursue the commercialization of HFC-free refrigerants in road transportation refrigeration by 2020, building on its experience with HFC-free carbon dioxide refrigerant in marine container and food retail refrigeration.

• DuPont announced that its new products are anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas content of refrigerants by some 90 million tons carbon dioxide equivalent in the U.S., and 245 million tons worldwide by 2025, reducing greenhouse gases by a similar amount. 

• Emerson Climate Technologies announced it will launch a full line of compressors, flow and electronic controls approved with three non-flammable low-GWP HFCs. These refrigerants are 50 percent lower in GWP compared to today’s choices. Emerson will also expand its full line of Scroll compressors for commercial refrigeration use in supermarkets and convenience stores that will be 15 percent more efficient than today’s products. In July 2015, Emerson will expand its solutions offering for use with carbon dioxide, a non-HFC and energy-efficient refrigerant, with its complete line of compressors, flow controls, discrete and system electronic controls. 

• Goodman announced its commitment to have a full product line of low-GWP air conditioners and/or heat pumps after completion of working with EPA and other stakeholders to permit low-GWP refrigerants in both building codes and EPA’s SNAP program.

• Honeywell plans to transition the majority of its high-GWP HFC production to new low-GWP production. These changes will reduce Honeywell’s annual production of high-GWP HFCs by nearly 50 percent on a carbon dioxide equivalent basis prior to 2020, with a cumulative elimination of more than 350 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent by 2025. To achieve this goal, Honeywell anticipates spending a total of more than $880 million for research and development and new capacity.

• Johnson Controls committed to spend $50 million over the next three years to develop new products and improve and expand its existing low-GWP portfolio, of which a significant portion of that investment will address products that traditionally use HFC refrigerants. 

Publication date: 9/15/2014

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!