New device regulations reduce emissions, but raise concerns

Increasingly hot summers emphasize the importance of access to cooling devices such as air conditioners.

However, access to these resources may look different in the future as New York adopts new refrigerant emissions standards.

State laws passed this year will begin phasing out sales of fluorocarbon appliances in 2025, just as air conditioners and freezers do now.

This would allow residents or businesses to use non-compliant devices they already have, but they would not be able to buy new devices that use hydrofluorocarbons, also known as HFCs.

The change should significantly reduce emissions, said Christina Starr, senior climate campaign manager at the Environmental Research Agency.

“While a typical home air conditioner may contain only a few pounds of these gases, the average supermarket, for example, contains about 3,000 pounds of HFCs,” she said. “And about 25% of that refrigerant leaks into the EPA on an average yearly basis. “That’s about the same as the emissions of 400 cars on the road using gasoline.”

According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, HFCs could be responsible for 10% or more of global emissions by 2050 if alternative measures are not taken.

The local company Mollenberg-Betz regularly cooperates with industrial equipment.

Company president Adam Mollenberg says updated state regulations may not work properly.

“Federal EPA guidelines that are now available. That’s a good timeline that manufacturers have already been working on across the country to meet these, these, upcoming EPA guidelines. They are prepared for it. We’re working on it. Everyone seems to agree with that,” he said. “This is a very feasible and achievable goal. And now the New York State DEC is trying to push the boundaries too far and too fast and no one is ready for it… The equipment manufacturers, the refrigerant manufacturers are not, are not going to make an effort to be ready for this, because there are 49 other states that are not will have these kinds of regulations, stick to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.”

Starr says the changes have been in the works for a long time.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to significantly reduce HFC emissions by 2036 mean the state is on track, Starr said.

“If we want to speed up this process and provide incentives to help them and support small businesses, for example, to make this transformation, we can subsidize the costs of this process, especially when it comes to replacing systems early,” she said. “They may be able to get an incentive to replace this system sooner, and these types of incentive programs have been implemented in other states outside of New York, and New York has actually done some of these types of projects under an existing grant program that has this.”

Alternatives like propane and ammonia make sense on the scale of industrial equipment, said Matthew Smith, vice president of services and operations for Mollenberg-Betz. However, he is skeptical how well these changes will translate to residential use.

“The refrigerants they will be used for, ammonia and CO2, are already here,” he said. “Propane has also been around forever as a refrigerant, but now putting it in residential homes and everything else creates other problems, not only cost, but also the safety factor.”

Mollenberg says safety is such an important factor because new environmental standards also mean ensuring that new cooling methods are conducive to home conditions.

“There are no regulations for ammonia installations in residential buildings, but this does not mean that ammonia is a good option for use in residential buildings. It’s great for industrial applications and we love it, but it’s not suitable for residential buildings,” he said. “What I mean is that if you’re going to add propane, isobutane, CO2 or ammonia, you have to follow the application regulations… and codes of compliance don’t exist, there are no building codes.”

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ammonia is considered corrosive to the lungs, skin and eyes and can also be flammable.

However, according to the EPA, one of the advantages of ammonia is that its strong odor means people can be alerted before it reaches dangerous levels.

New York’s updated refrigerant regulations will go into effect on January 1 next year.