HVAC engineers – Watch for January 1
November 23, 2009
By
Canadian Consulting Engineer
Beginning January 1, 2010, stricter rules come into effect governing the specifying of R-22 HVAC equipment wit...
Beginning January 1, 2010, stricter rules come into effect governing the specifying of R-22 HVAC equipment with HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) refrigerants.
The Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) has welcomed a new fact sheet from Environment Canada that explains and interprets the latest rules for the phasing out of HCFCs more clearly.
According to HRAI’s November 17 newsletter, the Environment Canada fact sheet explains that:
– HCFC-22 as a refrigerant can continue to be imported and used, but
– HCFC-22 equipment cannot be imported or manufactured. For the heating and air-conditioning sector this means that a complete system or appliance with HCFC-22 cannot be specified, bought or manufactured, but individual components and parts can continue to be imported after January 1, 2010 “to permit the industry to service the large inventory of R-22 equipment in the field.”
The rules to phase out HCFC refrigerant are part of an effort to reduce the use of ozone-depleting chemicals.
The complete text of the Environment Canada fact sheet cover HCFC-22, HCFC-141b, and HCFC 142b. The fact sheet was issued October 5, 2009 and is at www.ec.gc.ca/ozone.
