by Brianna Crandall — June 17, 2016 — Global building technology society ASHRAE; the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI); and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are collaborating to fund vital research on the properties and the use of flammable refrigerants, whether for air-conditioning, refrigeration systems or other uses.
This $5.2 million research program is part of an ongoing global effort to phase down the use of high global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants and identify appropriate climate-friendly alternatives. Of the total, DOE is contributing $3 million, ASHRAE $1.2 million, and AHRI $1 million.
In anticipation of a global plan to phase down high-GWP refrigerants, the industry has spent the past five years researching potential alternatives. Through that effort, several promising refrigerants were identified, many of which have low toxicity but are classified as mildly flammable or flammable. This new program will provide the technical knowledge needed to facilitate and accelerate the safe use of these refrigerants.
The results of the research on flammable refrigerants will immediately be transmitted to the committees responsible for ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 15-2013, Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34-2013, Designation and Safety Classification of Refrigerants, with a goal of using the results to update the standards as soon as possible under the ANSI consensus process.
The International Code Council (ICC) has stated that these revised ASHRAE standards will be eligible to be fast-tracked into the international codes, in accordance with ICC procedures.
ASHRAE pointed out its “strong history and commitment to refrigerants” and to this project in particular, noting that the organization wrote its first standard on the topic in 1919 and that its share of the funds for this project represent the largest transfer from its Research Reserve Fund in the organization’s 122-year history.
ASHRAE offers a list of Refrigeration Resources on its Bookstore Web site.
