ASHRAE Journal - November 2021 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS
Breaking Down the EPA's
Final Rule to Cut HFCs
ATLANTA-In late September, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule establishing
a comprehensive program to cap and phase down
the production and consumption of climate-damaging
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)-potent greenhouse gases
commonly used in refrigeration and air-conditioning
equipment.
" This means the U.S. will begin the phasedown of
HFCs next year in line with the Kigali Amendment to
the Montreal Protocol, " said Nanette Lockwood, P.E.,
Member ASHRAE, member-at-large for ASHRAE's Government
Affairs Committee, and Steve Kujak, Member
ASHRAE, chair of ASHRAE Standing Standard Project
Committee 34, Designation and Safety Classification of
Refrigerants.
This final rule is set to phase down the U.S. production
and consumption of HFCs by 85% over the next 15 years,
as mandated by the American Innovation and Manufacturing
(AIM) Act that was enacted in December 2020.
The rule specifically reduces production and bulk
consumption of high global warming potential (GWP)
refrigerants by 10% in 2022 and 2023, according to Kujak
and Lockwood.
" This means refrigerant producers will be required
to alter the refrigerants produced to reduce the higher
GWP refrigerant volumes in favor of those with lower
GWP. The next reduction is another 30% and starts in
2024, " they said, adding that another rule is anticipated
to be developed over the next year to address the restrictions
on the use of higher GWP refrigerants beginning in
2024.
As the U.S. is adhering to the schedule for the Kigali
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the availability of
high GWP refrigerants is expected to decrease.
" As high GWP HFCs become less available, lower GWP
refrigerants will become more available and preferred
solutions. It is likely that impacts to the marketplace, as
the result of the 10% reduction, will be low given many
low GWP refrigerants are already widely available and
used in products today, " they said.
6
ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg N O V E M B E R 2021
In order to be
prepared for the
next stepdown
in 2024, Lockwood
and Kujak
said ASHRAE
members should
become more
educated on nextgeneration
lower
GWP refrigerants and associated products.
The EPA estimates the total emission reductions as
a result from the rule from 2022 - 2050 could be the
equivalent of 4.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide
(CO2), which is about equal to three years of U.S. power
sector emissions at 2019 levels. In 2036 alone-the year
the final reduction step is made-the rule is expected
to prevent emissions that are about equal to the annual
greenhouse gas emissions from one out of every seven
passenger vehicles registered in the U.S.
Nanette Lockwood, P.E.,
Member ASHRAE
Steve Kujak,
Member ASHRAE
Demystifying Building Decarbonization
Building decarbonization is an industry trend,
talking point and hot topic. But
what does it all mean?
Donald Colliver, Ph.D., P.E.,
Presidential/Fellow/Life Member
ASHRAE, and Thomas Phoenix,
P.E., BEMP, Presidential/Fellow/
Life Member ASHRAE-the co-chairs of ASHRAE's
Task Force for Building Decarbonization-define
decarbonization, talk about the plausibility of
carbon goals and dispel common myth and misconceptions
on the latest ASHRAE Journal Podcast
episode.
Listen at ashrae.org/podcast or wherever you get
your podcasts.
http://www.ashrae.org/podcast http://ashrae.org
ASHRAE Journal - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - November 2021
