ASHRAE Journal - May 2009 - 7

Climate Change Proposal Includes HFC Transition WASHINGTON—With most HCFC refrigerants well into phasedown, attention is turning to a possible transition from HFCs, the primary HCFC replacement. The Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives was scheduled to begin subcommittee hearings in late April on a discussion draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. This broad climate change proposal would add HFC refrigerants to the greenhouse gases regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also would direct the EPA to begin a phasedown of HFC production. The possible phasedown of HFCs was discussed at the recent Media Roundtable sponsored here by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). This issue worries AHRI, especially as the ongoing phaseout of HCFC R-22 and the previous phaseout of CFCs have left the HVAC&R industry with limited refrigerant options. “It should be a phasedown, not a phaseout,” said Dave Calabrese, AHRI’s vice president of public policy. “As far as we can tell, there are some applications where there are no good alternatives, (and) we would need a gradual and rational reduction to give us time to find substitutes.” Calabrese told journalists that legislation is more likely now because the Obama Administration is committed to enacting climate change legislation, and there is strong support among Congressional leadership. One bill, the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner Energy Security Act, was introduced in the U.S. Senate last year but didn’t get a vote because of an expected veto from President George W. Bush. Under this bill, HFC emissions would decline from 2012 levels by at least 15% in 2020, 45% in 2030 and 70% in 2040. This would be accomplished with a cap and trade system and auction. The House bill now in discussion does not appear to include HFCs in the “tradable allowance” program but does call for a phased reduction. Tradable allowances would apply only to entities that emit more than 25,000 tons per year of CO2 equivalent. This would mainly include utilities, oil companies and large industrial sources, a group, which collectively produces 85% of all U.S. global warming emissions. Unlike last year’s Senate bill, the House discussion draft also covers energy efficiency. Provisions include training and funding assistance to states that adopt advanced building efficiency codes. It also authorizes funding for retrofitting existing commercial and residential buildings to improve energy efficiency. And it directs the EPA to develop procedures for rating building energy efficiency. The engineering disciplines fared best as a group, posting a 2.3% increase in their overall average offer, which now stands at $58,438. By specific engineering discipline, chemical engineering graduates posted the largest increase among the engineering fields. Their average offer rose 2.8% to $65,403. Computer engineering graduates posted a 1.8% increase, pushing their average salary offer to $61,017. Experiencing similar increases were civil engineering grads (up 1.7% for an average of $51,793) and mechanical engineering graduates (up 1.6% for an average of $58,749). www.info.hotims.com/25204-16 Starting Salaries Increase For Engineering Grads BETHLEHEM, Pa.—While starting salary offers to the college Class of 2009 have fallen slightly overall, students with degrees in most engineering disciplines are seeing small increases. A new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) says the overall average offer to a 2009 bachelor’s degree graduate stands at $48,515—down 2.2% from the average of $49,624 posted in spring 2008. May 2009 ASHRAE Journal 7

ASHRAE Journal - May 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - May 2009