Policy
PRIVATE SECTOR MEETS AGAIN WITH WHITE HOUSE TO DISCUSS HFC REDUCTION End users, OEMs and component manufacturers announce many new natural refrigerant initiatives and progress reports — By Michael Garry
On
October 15, a wide range of companies involved in the HVAC&R industry convened for the second White Househosted Industry Leader Roundtable — a follow-up to the initial roundtable in September 2014 — to address ways to reduce emissions of HFCs. At the meeting, held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the White House announced new privatesector commitments and executive actions that will reduce the use and emissions of HFCs. In addition, the White House recognized the progress that has been made toward the private-sector commitments and executive actions that were announced in September 2014 to address HFCs. In 2013, President Obama incorporated HFC reduction into his Climate Action Plan, pledging to reduce emissions of HFCs through both domestic and international leadership. The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the lead in the domestic effort through its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program. (See story, page 40.) Globally, the U.S. has been working to negotiate an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs. As a complement to those governmental measures, the White House called the private sector’s commitments and progress evidence that “U.S. companies are at the cutting edge when it comes to developing the next generation of safe and cost-effective alternatives to HFCs and also incorporating these alternatives into American cars, air conditioners, refrigerators, foams, and other products.”
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Accelerate America October 2015
The following is a summary of the private-sector initiatives announced at the event, including new commitments and progress updates, related to natural refrigerant adoption. The information was adapted from a White House fact sheet that can be accessed at http://1.usa.gov/1k7Nrky. Danfoss announced its multi-million dollar investment in a state-of-the-art application development and testing center in North America that will help to facilitate the transition to low-GWP refrigerants through providing air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers with additional capacity to test new equipment using low-GWP refrigerants for performance and safety. The center is anticipated to come online in 2016 and it will accommodate equipment sizes up to 150 tons of refrigeration. Danfoss made a commitment in September 2014 to champion a stakeholder task force to accelerate the adoption of standards and building codes for low-GWP refrigerants. In the past year, Danfoss assembled a broad and diverse stakeholder group that has been working to support ASHRAE in the development of its refrigerant safety Standard 15. The stakeholder group has been actively working to raise awareness and educate model code groups to enlist their support in preparing codes once Standard 15 is ready.