“ASHRAE is very appreciative of this contribution from Johnson Controls toward our research on A2L refrigerants,” said David Underwood, 2016-17 ASHRAE president. “These funds will go a long way in our vital research to establish a more robust fact base about the properties and the use of flammable refrigerants.”

The drive to lower-GWP refrigerants for many applications will likely introduce a need to apply refrigerants with flammability where flammability is not commonplace.

“The refrigerants Johnson Controls chooses for our products best fit the needs of our customers and the environment based on safety, efficiency, reliability, availability and cost,” said Laura Wand, vice president of global chillers, Johnson Controls Building Efficiency Business.

Today’s financial contribution is just one example of how Johnson Controls is following through on commitments made last fall to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In response to its pledge to offer equipment that can be readily retrofitted with high-efficiency, low-GWP options, the company offers fully future-compatible R-134a screw and centrifugal chillers with the low-GWP refrigerant Opteon™ XP10 (R-513A). Johnson Controls is also involved in discussions associated with the Global Refrigerant Management Initiative (GRMI). The subject is the development and standardization of service technician and operator training for the safe use of mildly flammable low-GWP refrigerants.

The company is on schedule to meet two additional commitments: expanding the availability of high-efficiency low-GWP refrigerant options in its commercial air-conditioning and refrigeration product portfolio and developing aftermarket retrofit services for customers that desire to convert their existing equipment to low-GWP refrigerants.

To learn more about the changing landscape of refrigerants, please visit http://on.jci.com/2aWWVvI.