ASHRAE Journal - July 2022 - 7

INDUSTRY NEWS
Awareness of energy conservation is a trend cutting across
all regions of the world and has generated a demand for
efficiency. This is met by the offering of variable speed
drive compressors. However, the pace of adoption is not
the same in all compressor types and applications. Air
conditioning and heat pumps are far ahead in the inverter
adoption, especially in rotary, screw and centrifugal. In
scroll units the adoption is still patchier, due to their longer
payback period and the presence of alternatives such
as multiple compressor modulation and digital scrolls. In
refrigeration, where modular applications may be used to
offer variable load output, and also to guarantee redundancy
in critical applications, the inverter adoption curve
has been somehow flatter and delayed in time compared
to air conditioning.
All regions are in a transition phase from high global
warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to alternatives with
a lower impact on the environment, albeit at different
speeds. While China is transitioning from HCFC to HFC,
the share of hydrocarbons now accounts for more than a
third of refrigerants as they are used in refrigeration units
for household use. Natural refrigerants such as NH3 or
CO2 remain marginal. In the Americas, HFCs dominate
the sectors of space cooling, heating and refrigeration,
and the transition to alternative lower GWP refrigerants is
slowly advancing at a faltering pace. The U.S. and Canada
Industry Roundup
Danfoss Welcomes Steven Lakin as New
Director of Public and Industry Affairs
BALTIMORE, MD.-Danfoss has
appointed Steven Lakin as
its new director of public
and industry affairs. Lakin
is a government relations
and public affairs professional
with extensive
experience working across
multiple industries, with industry associations and
with policy makers at the state and federal level. In
his role with Danfoss, Lakin will engage key industry
and government stakeholders at this critical junction
where innovations in climate and sustainable solutions
are gaining momentum in our national conversation.
PHOTO
2 Market share by application in compressors in 2021 (in units).
are at the forefront of regulation in the region and most
of the Latin American countries are following with a time
lag of the process set by their northern neighbors. The
European Union is at the forefront of the battle against
global warming, as the EU F-gas regulation encourages
the phaseout of HFCs with a high GWP. In air conditioning,
R-32 has rapidly become the refrigerant of choice
replacing R-410A in small split systems, and for commercial
refrigeration applications >40 kW, CO2 has become
the main option. India is phasing out HFCs and follows
the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, aiming
at lowering high-GWP refrigerants by 85% before 2047.
Natural refrigerants such as R-290 (propane), R-717 (NH3)
and R-744 (CO2) will be used where possible.
Study: Wood-Based Foam Could
Cool Buildings
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY-Researchers at the American
Chemical Society have designed a lightweight foam
made from wood-based cellulose nanocrystals that
refl ects sunlight, emits absorbed heat and is thermally
insulating. This suggests the material could reduce
buildings' cooling energy needs by more than a third.
Considerations for Increasing the
Chances of Achieving Net Zero
MCKINSEY & COMPANY-As momentum toward decarbonization
continues to grow, some plans may be so costoptimized
they leave little room for deviation from
the plan. Myriad factors could cause plans to be easily
derailed. This article offers considerations for helping
keep them on track. https://tinyurl.com/4bzhzurd
J U LY 2 0 2 2 ashrae.o rg ASHRAE JOURNAL
7
https://www.tinyurl.com/4bzhzurd http://ashrae.org
ASHRAE Journal - July 2022

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