Rajendran noted that although the United States’ participation in the Kigali Amendment is murky following the recent presidential election, the path for Emerson and other global manufacturers is clear.

“As global company we have to be able to meet the needs of our customers in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and so on,” he said.  “And to the extent that all of them are going to sign on to the Kigali Amendment  and start acting upon some of these phaseouts, we are going to have to think about the products we offer to the rest of the world.  So even if we don’t necessarily go through some of [the Kigali Amendment’s] stepdowns in the United States, it is still happening elsewhere.”

John Wallace, director – innovation, Retail Solutions, then discussed the importance of refrigerant leak detection. He noted that there’s a negative economic impact to refrigerant leaks as well as an environmental cost, identified the sources of leaks as well as their causes, and laid out the key elements of a good leak detection program.

Finally, Shane Angle, vice president and general manager, commercial air conditioning, covered commercial air conditioning megatrends and regulations.

“The biggest dynamics affecting the industry are the low GWP refrigerants and the Department of Energy rooftop efficiency standards, phase one of which begins January 1, 2018,” he said.  

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