Regulatory lethargy around moderately flammable refrigerants is dousing policy intent to reduce reliance on products with high global warming potential (GWP). That could also be undermining efforts to encourage electric heat pump options in place of gas-fired heating and domestic hot water systems.
With significant steps in a global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) looming this decade, researchers and manufacturers have now done much of the work to comply, but codes and standards will need to catch up before a new generation of lower-GWP refrigerants can be used. Speaking at a Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC) conference in Toronto last week, green building specialists acknowledged this element of uncertainty in what’s otherwise considered one of the most effective paths to fuel-switching through a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system for heating and cooling.
For now, those systems employ R-410a, an HFC with a GWP of 2,088, while the anticipated lower-GWP replacement option — R-32 (GWP 675) — is classified as A2L on ASHRAE’s scale of flammability and toxicity. It’s a category that is gaining acceptance with standard developers and health and safety regulators, but at a differing pace across worldwide jurisdictions.
“The next three to four years are very critical,” advised Pushpinder Rana, senior manager, commercial products and industry relations, with Mitsubishi Canada’s HVAC division, who also chairs the technical committee of CSA B52, the Mechanical Refrigeration Code. “Currently (in Canada) you cannot sell A2L for any institutional application, and it’s inside of three kilograms for residential and 10 kilograms for commercial application.”
“We’re at an inflection point where I’m quite cautious with VRF because R-410a is something that is a little bit dicey if built into a building,” observed Cara Sloat, senior engineer with the mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm, Hammerschlag and Joffe. “R-32 is the flagship refrigerant that will replace R-410a so once that rolls out, if you have a VRF system at end-of-life, you’ll be able to replace the terminal units, but keep the piping.”
Other options such as hybrid hydronic-VRF systems, which could reduce refrigerant requirements, are expected to make a market impact relatively soon. Still, it’s considered too early to shut down any possible avenue to emissions reductions, especially when there is a high degree of certainty in the HVAC industry that A2Ls can be used safely. Rana urged all stakeholders to keep talking.
“Personally, I feel there is a lot of disconnect between people who should be connected. This has to be an ongoing effort where people are connected and they are educating the market how we should transform,” he maintained.
HFC phase-down steps slated for 2024 and 2029
Under the parameters of the phase-down, Canada and other developed nations that are signatories to the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol are slated to reduce production and consumption of HFCs by 40 per cent relative to the average from the baseline years of 2011, 2012 and 2013 as of 2024. Production/consumption is to be curbed by 70 per cent by 2029 and by 85 per cent by 2036.
However, the path for doing so is yet to be clearly established. A prohibition on the use of HFCs with GWP greater than 750 in chillers is set for January 1, 2025, along with a prohibition on HFCs with GWP greater than 2,200 in mobile refrigeration systems used in transportation. Thus far, there are no deadlines for stationary air-conditioning or VRF systems, but it’s expected that Canada may adopt the schedule recently announced in the United States.
If that’s the case, manufacturers would not be able to sell new VRF systems that use R-410a as of January 1, 2027. Like the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) before this, a diminishing supply of the refrigerant would still be available to service existing systems.
Speaking in online forum sponsored by Efficiency Canada earlier this year, Rusty Tharp, senior director, regulatory affairs, with the HVAC provider, Goodman Manufacturing, traced the trajectory of A2L refrigerants’ emerging acceptance for use in buildings. This has followed what he deems a conventional revisionary path from updated product safety standards, on to application standards and then into model codes — all unfolding with rigorous testing, risk analysis, expert input, stakeholder consultation and an eye to experiences in other jurisdictions.
“R-32 has been pretty much adopted globally and some countries have been using it for a full decade at this point,” he said.
The moderately flammable designation means that A2L refrigerants neither ignite easily nor burn rapidly. Tharp further reiterated that the combination of a leak, oxygen and an ignition source would be required for that to occur. Meanwhile, researchers with his company have concluded that GWP differentials are wider than the face-value numbers indicate.
“With R-466a, typically speaking you need about 10 to 15 per cent more refrigerant for the same efficiency as using 410a,” Tharp submitted. “When you look at R-32, because it needs less refrigerant — and it can be anywhere from 10 per cent less to 30 per cent less, depending on the type of system and technology used — the net impact is significantly lower.”
U.S. leads Canada in opening up new flexibility
Rana stresses the importance of smoothing out discordant rules in Canada and the U.S. to embrace the new allowances for A2L emerging in standards like ASHRAE 15. Otherwise, purchasers in Canada could see their options dwindle as U.S.-based manufacturers cater to the larger market share at home.
“For the manufacturer, it’s a huge undertaking to convert. Nobody can carry two lineups: R-410a for Canada; and R-32 for the U.S.,” he warned.
On the contractor side of the equation, the Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Institute (HRAI) of Canada is confronting a piecemeal regulatory outlook in its attempts to develop online safety training. Caroline Czajko, HRAI’s director of environmental services and divisions reports that manufacturers have been identified as the most practical program sponsors, at least initially, given the lack of cohesive governmental direction and the provinces’ varying progress on adopting the most up-to-date codes and standards.
The association is preparing to launch proactive training on safe handling, storage and transportation of low-GWP refrigerants, ahead of their arrival into Canada. The program will be similar to the certification the ESCO Institute offers to HVAC and refrigeration technicians in the United States, and responds to industry demand for a consistent approach to training across all provinces. Indeed, many HRAI members participating in a stakeholder consultation also expressed a preference for mandatory certification.
“Not too often do you hear that from contractors — that they want more regulation,” Czajko muses. “A2L product is not being imported into Canada yet, but we’re following all of the trends, which we’ll have in the training. Several U.S. states are allowing it and manufacturers there are requesting that contractors who are installing their equipment take the course that’s being offered by ESCO. We want to roll out this training sooner than later for the benefit of the installers.”
Barbara Carss is editor-in-chief of Canadian Property Management.
