ENERGY SAVING
quantity of the chemicals that can be placed on the market by suppliers.
This regulation will reduce the availability of HFCs by 80% between 2015, when the regulation was first introduced, and 2030. The clock is ticking toward the next reduction in the F-gas quota on the 1st Jan 2021, when availability will be reduced by 45%.
Why should facility and building managers be concerned about the F-Gas Regulation?
Under the regulation, owners of equipment containing F-Gas, and those with responsibility for maintaining it, have mandatory duties to carry out regular leak checks on equipment to ensure it is not leaking refrigerant to the environment. The frequency of checks required depends on the type and quantity of F-gas contained. Any leaks must be reported, along with
any refrigerant used to top up the system. The source of the leak must be investigated and remedied within a strict timescale. There are penalties for failure to carry out these mandatory requirements.
What are the implications of the HFC phase-down for existing air conditioning systems in buildings?
Some common refrigerants used in air conditioning, chillers, heat pumps and refrigeration systems may no longer be available to top up existing systems. If equipment loses some or all of its refrigerant charge due to breakdown or inadvertent leakage, this could result in equipment effectively being made obsolete, or requiring retrofitting to operate on a safer alternative refrigerant, if this is technically possible. In addition, as supplies of affected refrigerants become scarcer, the cost is rising sharply – with some now up to five times more expensive than just a couple of years ago. In the case of some very high GWP refrigerants, it is now illegal to use newly manufactured fluids, known as virgin refrigerants, to top up equipment. For example, service top-ups using virgin R404A – mainly used in refrigeration systems – were banned from 1 January this year. Reclaimed R404A, or R404A that has been used and reprocessed to purity specifications, may still be used for top ups, although it is in short supply and very expensive.
What will it mean for purchases of new equipment?
Manufacturers are introducing new systems
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that operate on lower GWP refrigerants. One of the best-known in the UK is R32, a replacement for higher GWP R-410A in split systems and packaged chillers. Some suppliers, however, may continue to sell equipment that operates on high GWP refrigerants. Selling high GWP refrigerants is not illegal if suppliers have sufficient EU quotas to cover the F-Gas refrigerant contained. However, reductions in the future availability of the refrigerant they operate on may, for the reasons explained above, significantly reduce the working life of equipment. This could prove costly and disruptive for building owners.
Is it possible to future-proof buildings from changing F-Gas legislation?
Yes, a new generation of refrigerants is being more widely used, the hydrofluoro-olefins (HFOs), which have very low GWPs. These fall outside the scope of the current F-Gas regulation, and it is considered extremely unlikely that they would be the target of future legislation. Air conditioning chillers are already available running on HFO refrigerant, such as the Carrier AquaForce PUREtec range, and other equipment is being developed. Using systems that run on HFOs may effectively future-proof buildings from F-Gas legislation.
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