HVAC

The US Department of Energy has announced a $250m fund to accelerate heat pump manufacturing in America.

The Trump administration is reported to be planning to restore compliance credits for US automakers that could encourage greater use of low GWP refrigerant R1234yf in car ac systems.

New US rules allowing greater charge sizes of hydrocarbon refrigerants in new domestic refrigerators and freezers will enter into force on September 7.

The US manufacturers’ group AHRI insists that the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord will not change the HVACR industry’s commitment to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.

Two major rulings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to be released in the next two to four weeks, according to Drusilla Hufford, director of the EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division.

USA: A 48-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 4½ years in prison and a fine of over $29,000 for the illegal venting of refrigerant.
The Zanesville Times reports that Shannon Wayne Harrold, 48, of Glenford, Ohio, was sentenced yesterday to 54 months in prison and ordered to pay $29,045 in restitution for violating the Clean Air Act by cutting the tubing on air conditioning units he was stealing, which released R22 into the environment.

Fluorocarbon refrigerants are synthetic chemicals which usually have a high global warming potential, and some still have the potential to cause damage to the ozone layer as well if released to the atmosphere.