Digital Commemorative Magazine - 29

Daikin
hydroﬂuorocarbon (HFC) R-410A. The
current generation of HFCs are now being
phased down globally under the 2016 Kigali
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which
aims to reduce the environmental impact of
ozone-depleting and global warming-contributing substances and is considered one of
the most successful international environmental treaties.

for residential, light commercial, and commercial
applications in North America. R-32 provides the
most eﬀective means to reduce environmental
impact from HVAC equipment because of its
higher eﬃciency and capacity compared to
R-410A and other known A2L refrigerants.
R-32 systems are more eﬃcient, reduce energy
consumption demands, emit less carbon dioxide,
and have less end-of-life impact because these
systems are smaller and use less refrigerant.

As of October 2020, 109 countries and the
European Union have ratiﬁed the Kigali
Amendment, which restricts substances
with high-GWP that trap heat in the upper
atmosphere and includes reduction targets established based on carbon dioxide equivalent
emissions. While the United States has not ratiﬁed
the agreement, and no federal policy exists at this
time, several states, including California, are
moving ahead in the absence of nationwide
regulations. The industry will transition to lower-GWP refrigerants, and it will need to implement
solutions soon.

Working Together

Conclusion

Daikin embraces collaboration and open innovation to advance the technologies we champion.
Our research, knowledge, and successes are
shared worldwide through ASHRAE and other
organizations, along with international and academic conferences and exhibitions. One example
of the industry coming together to solve a problem
was reducing the impact of refrigerants on global
warming with ASHRAE's designation of 2L refrigerants as a subclass in 2010 and standalone class
in 2018 as found in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 34,
Designation and Safety Classiﬁcation of
Refrigerants.

Daikin is looking forward to continuing our work
with ASHRAE in its new home. We celebrate
our common goal of a better society and know
we can accomplish great things in reducing
carbon emissions, improving indoor air quality,
and creating next-generation technologies and
standards. Congratulations from the Daikin
family to the ASHRAE community.

Refrigerants used in American HVAC systems
have gone through several transitions, such as
phasing out chloroﬂuorocarbons (CFCs) and
hydrochloroﬂuorocarbons (HCFCs), with the most
recent changes taking place in 2010 when R-22,
an HCFC, was banned in new equipment.
Many ASHRAE members witnessed the industry
transition from using R-22 to the current standard

Digital Commemorative Magazine

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