Kelly Faloon/Contracting Business magazine
A panel discussion of the A2L refrigerant transition took place Feb. 1 at AHR 2022 in Las Vegas. Speakers were: Helen Walter-Terrinoni, vice president of regulatory affairs, Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI); Dick Lord, Senior Fellow at Carrier Corp.; Mary Koban, senior director of regulatory affairs at AHRI; and Jason Obrzut, director of industry standards and relations at ESCO.
Key takeaways:
- Phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). “The phase-down could be chaotic,” said Walter-Terrinoni. “We may see increased scarcity and prices. It’s all about balancing supply and demand.
- A2Ls and applications. “What type of refrigerant an installer uses depends on the specific application,” Ford noted. “For example, lower-pressure refrigerants would be used in unitary residential structures.”
- Safety. “A2L refrigerants went through rigorous testing at the Environmental Protection Agency before approval, and UL approved a set of standards,” Koban explained. “If installers continue using best practices, they can avoid the hazards. A2L systems will include a refrigeration detection system, an active mitigation technique where sensors are used to detect a leak and turn on the fan.
- Training. “All industry stakeholders can benefit from training,” Obrzut said. Read a summary of his Jan. 31 session
here.
