Articles by Peter Powell

In 2014, the EPA made it’s biggest splash on Oct. 16, when Gina McCarthy, administrator, EPA, signed the final rule pertaining to allowances for virgin production and importation of HCFCs, primarily R-22, for 2015 through 2019.

The five-day event did away with opening ceremonies and keynote speakers and trimmed back social events to allow more time for technical sessions, both in terms of quantity and quality.

To continue to meet refrigeration needs, f-gas proponents are turning to low-global warming potential (GWP) HFCs and hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) while advocates of so-called natural solutions — hydrocarbons (HCs), CO2, and ammonia — continue to build their cases.

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.

Here’s an interesting head scratcher for those of you who have been in the refrigeration sector of the HVACR industry for quite some time. Earlier this year, I was at an event called FMI Connect. One of the exhibitors was showing products for secondary and indirect (distributed) systems.

Contractors who have found virgin hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 readily available at their local supply houses had best prepare for a drastic drop-off in such supplies very soon.

It’s one thing to announce new refrigerants. It is another thing to figure out how they will work in real-life situations. With the industry facing an apparent shift to low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, the performance of those gases is being carefully studied.

A new form of leak sealing has been developed that can deal with a wide range of refrigeration leak issues, saving money for everyone from the cost conscious walk-in equipment owner to the cash strapped college student with a leaky refrigerator.

Earlier this year, I was editing and summarizing a report from The Freedonia Group regarding potential growth in commercial refrigeration. That name rang a loud bell with me — and not because it had anything to do with refrigeration.

Almost universally now, those in the scientific community — and, perhaps most importantly, the regulatory sector — are expressing concern over what is now being called climate change.