The announcement a few months ago that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was proposing to decertify certain high-global warming potential (GWP) HFC refrigerants for use in a wide range of new commercial refrigeration equipment did not come as a surprise to the HVACR industry.
A move away from HFCs in food service refrigeration has been trending in Europe for a number of years and is gaining ground in North America. At this summer’s 15th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference at Purdue University — taking place before the EPA announcement — a session on supermarket and beverage refrigeration systems looked at refrigerants and efficiencies.